JakeC
Well-Known Member
My buddy just asked me if I'd drawn and I checked my account in a panic to make sure there's enough for the sheep tag I'm sure to draw this year. With 3 points. Optimism is key, someone gets one with less than 4 every year.
I forgot how early the draw has happened the last couple years. He doesn't hunt anymore, he didn't hear about the withdrawals or anything, he was just curious. Now I am too. Good luck everybody.
BTW, in case you're tempted to repeat rumors (Utah's finest product), I'm not interested in hearing people say that we shouldn't hunt this year because of the bad winter. The southern 2/3 of the state had average or high survival. Most of the state will have a great summer. Only part of the state had especially high winterkill with only pockets of extreme loss, and I don't apply in those areas for a variety of reasons. If you weren't trying to change laws about destruction of winter habitat in 2022, or if you were still watering with secondary while the fawns couldn't find water on the benches, then I don't think you get to tell other people they shouldn't hunt in 2023.
I've heard people repeat the claim with a straight face that there was 70 percent loss across the entire state. Try 80 percent survival for adult deer, 90 for goats, and 94 for elk. 70 percent doe/90 percent fawn loss was in certain pockets of 3 units. If you have access to the catastrophic units, which are mostly poorly managed over-objective private, and you want to go above and beyond the 25 percent cut then that's a respectable choice. I spend a lot of time in one such unit, and if I hunted there I might feel the same. But don't tell me what I can do hundred of miles away.
Again, good luck everyone.
I forgot how early the draw has happened the last couple years. He doesn't hunt anymore, he didn't hear about the withdrawals or anything, he was just curious. Now I am too. Good luck everybody.
BTW, in case you're tempted to repeat rumors (Utah's finest product), I'm not interested in hearing people say that we shouldn't hunt this year because of the bad winter. The southern 2/3 of the state had average or high survival. Most of the state will have a great summer. Only part of the state had especially high winterkill with only pockets of extreme loss, and I don't apply in those areas for a variety of reasons. If you weren't trying to change laws about destruction of winter habitat in 2022, or if you were still watering with secondary while the fawns couldn't find water on the benches, then I don't think you get to tell other people they shouldn't hunt in 2023.
I've heard people repeat the claim with a straight face that there was 70 percent loss across the entire state. Try 80 percent survival for adult deer, 90 for goats, and 94 for elk. 70 percent doe/90 percent fawn loss was in certain pockets of 3 units. If you have access to the catastrophic units, which are mostly poorly managed over-objective private, and you want to go above and beyond the 25 percent cut then that's a respectable choice. I spend a lot of time in one such unit, and if I hunted there I might feel the same. But don't tell me what I can do hundred of miles away.
Again, good luck everyone.
