DWR Press Release
Wildlife Board approves upland game hunting changes
Salt Lake City — Starting this fall, it’ll be easier to know when Utah’s pheasant hunt begins and ends. And, if you own or have written permission to hunt on private property, you’ll have more days to hunt.
At their June 1 meeting in Salt Lake City, members of the Utah Wildlife Board approved rules for Utah’s 2017, 2018 and 2019 upland game hunting seasons. One of the rules the board approved is a single statewide pheasant hunt that runs from the first Saturday in November to the first Sunday in December.
Jason Robinson, upland game coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources, says, in the past, season dates on private land have differed from dates on public land. And, even on public land, the dates have varied depending on the county you’re hunting in.
“This change makes the dates the same,” Robinson says, “no matter where in the state you’re hunting. And, because season dates on private land have been shorter in the past, the change gives those who hunt on private land more days to hunt.”
Utah’s 2017 pheasant hunt runs Nov. 4 – Dec. 3. The conservation group Pheasants Forever brought the idea to change the season dates to the DWR.
More changes
All of the changes the board approved will be available in the 2017 Utah Upland Game & Turkey Guidebook. The free guidebook should be available at www.wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks by June 19. The following are among the changes the board approved:
· A special pheasant hunt—for those 17 years of age or younger and adult hunters, who have never hunted pheasants before—will be held on the Pahvant and Annabella wildlife management areas in southwestern Utah.
The special hunt will be held Nov. 11. Both WMAs will be closed to all other hunters that day.
· The sandhill crane hunt in Uintah County has been moved from September to October. Three different hunts will be held in October.
Robinson says October is the month in the fall when the number of sandhill cranes peaks in the county.