09-10-2007, 03:10 PM
LONG SEASON AND TWO CANVASBACKS
Rules approved for Utah's waterfowl hunt
SALT LAKE CITY - A long 107-day season and a seven duck bag limit-which includes two canvasbacks-await Utah's waterfowl hunters this season.
This is the first time in more than 35 years that Utah's duck hunters can take two canvasbacks, and two redhead ducks, in the same day.<br />
"This is really amazing. The number of canvasbacks has reached an all-time high," says Tom Aldrich, migratory game bird coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources.<br />
Aldrich has worked for the DWR for 23 years. He says he's never seen more canvasbacks in Utah than the numbers he saw during surveys flown last fall. "It appears that most of the canvasbacks that were here and in other states last fall survived to breed this past spring," he says. "Because canvasbacks are doing so well, we can allow hunters to take an extra bird this season."<br />
In addition to the season lengths and bag limits, members of the Utah Wildlife Board also approved the following at their Sept. 6 meeting in Salt Lake City:
Utah's Special Youth Hunting Day will begin a little earlier this season. The day will still be held on the last Saturday in September-Sept. 29-but youth hunters can start shooting 30 minutes before sunrise. In the past, they had to wait until 8 a.m. The special youth hunt is open to hunters 15 years of age and younger who have passed Utah's Hunter Education course. They must also be accompanied by an adult while hunting.<br />
Utah's general waterfowl season begins at 8 a.m. on Oct. 6 in Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder and Cache counties. Across the rest of the state, the hunt begins 30 minutes before sunrise on Oct. 6.<br />
For more information, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR's Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.
Rules approved for Utah's waterfowl hunt
SALT LAKE CITY - A long 107-day season and a seven duck bag limit-which includes two canvasbacks-await Utah's waterfowl hunters this season.
This is the first time in more than 35 years that Utah's duck hunters can take two canvasbacks, and two redhead ducks, in the same day.<br />
"This is really amazing. The number of canvasbacks has reached an all-time high," says Tom Aldrich, migratory game bird coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources.<br />
Aldrich has worked for the DWR for 23 years. He says he's never seen more canvasbacks in Utah than the numbers he saw during surveys flown last fall. "It appears that most of the canvasbacks that were here and in other states last fall survived to breed this past spring," he says. "Because canvasbacks are doing so well, we can allow hunters to take an extra bird this season."<br />
In addition to the season lengths and bag limits, members of the Utah Wildlife Board also approved the following at their Sept. 6 meeting in Salt Lake City:
Utah's Special Youth Hunting Day will begin a little earlier this season. The day will still be held on the last Saturday in September-Sept. 29-but youth hunters can start shooting 30 minutes before sunrise. In the past, they had to wait until 8 a.m. The special youth hunt is open to hunters 15 years of age and younger who have passed Utah's Hunter Education course. They must also be accompanied by an adult while hunting.<br />
Utah's general waterfowl season begins at 8 a.m. on Oct. 6 in Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Box Elder and Cache counties. Across the rest of the state, the hunt begins 30 minutes before sunrise on Oct. 6.<br />
For more information, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR's Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.