by Rod
(Holladay, Utah)
What were they thinking? The Utah Wildlife Board just announced the changes for the 2010 statewide general deer hunt.
Wow! At a time when hunting - and hunting revenue - is declining in this country, they pull this one out of their collective butts. Reducing the general season from 9 down to 5 days!
With more than 70,000 hunters still participating in the general season in Utah each October, they now have 5 days - 5 days - to try and harvest a deer. One thing though. The board made one provision by allowing youths 17 and under to continue to hunt for 9 days.
Are you serious? No wonder I stopped hunting in this state long ago. I gave up archery hunting for deer more than 10 years ago.
As right in the middle of the archery deer hunt in August in an area I had hunted for years, we were shocked by the blasting of several rifles. Unknown to us, the area had been opened up for a Limited-entry elk rifle hunt. In August! In the middle of the archery hunt!
But remember. This is democracy in action. The board voted on this proposal. And it's no wonder that hunting in this country and the revenue associated with it is declining each year. If these boards keep this up, they'll vote themselves out of existence.