Did anyone else notice an increase in hunter traffic this past weekend for the Utah opener?
Our group hunted on the Pavant and boy was it a zoo, even more so than last year. Every ridge and valley had multiple 4 wheelers or trucks park at the top. The main road was like a highway with none stop traffic.
I'm curious as to what the reason is for the increase in hunter numbers, I have my own theories but what are some other peoples thoughts? Is there anything that can or should be done to reduce the pressure?
Here are my reasons for increased hunter numbers:
1- The dedicated hunter program has increased the number of archery hunters. There are 14,195 resident archery tags, 1,462 non resident, and 8,000 plus dedicated hunters.
2- More advanced technology = more advance equipment = ?Better? chance for success, at least people think so.
3- Traditionally less hunting pressure.
4- The Internet has changed and will continue to change the face of hunting/fishing forever. Information of all kinds is readily available. There are no secrets anymore.
Solutions:
1- Limit dedicated hunters to a region for the archery hunt. I'm not anti-dedicated hunter. I recognize that the dedicated hunter program is good for the fact that each individual gives 8 hours of service hours each year. Those efforts have gone a long way in helping to benefit the state. But it needs some tuning.
2- Can't do anything about the other (3) mentioned points.
3- Find new hunting areas. This is a tuff one. All the traditional areas I've hunted over the years have nearby road access. It's difficult to find an area where there are good deer numbers along with good road access, with little hunting pressure that's not private land.
Maybe I just have to accept the fact that bowhunting will never be like it was 15-20 years ago. To have success now requires more effort to find places to hunt.
Our group hunted on the Pavant and boy was it a zoo, even more so than last year. Every ridge and valley had multiple 4 wheelers or trucks park at the top. The main road was like a highway with none stop traffic.
I'm curious as to what the reason is for the increase in hunter numbers, I have my own theories but what are some other peoples thoughts? Is there anything that can or should be done to reduce the pressure?
Here are my reasons for increased hunter numbers:
1- The dedicated hunter program has increased the number of archery hunters. There are 14,195 resident archery tags, 1,462 non resident, and 8,000 plus dedicated hunters.
2- More advanced technology = more advance equipment = ?Better? chance for success, at least people think so.
3- Traditionally less hunting pressure.
4- The Internet has changed and will continue to change the face of hunting/fishing forever. Information of all kinds is readily available. There are no secrets anymore.
Solutions:
1- Limit dedicated hunters to a region for the archery hunt. I'm not anti-dedicated hunter. I recognize that the dedicated hunter program is good for the fact that each individual gives 8 hours of service hours each year. Those efforts have gone a long way in helping to benefit the state. But it needs some tuning.
2- Can't do anything about the other (3) mentioned points.
3- Find new hunting areas. This is a tuff one. All the traditional areas I've hunted over the years have nearby road access. It's difficult to find an area where there are good deer numbers along with good road access, with little hunting pressure that's not private land.
Maybe I just have to accept the fact that bowhunting will never be like it was 15-20 years ago. To have success now requires more effort to find places to hunt.
