What’s wrong with Any Bull Units in Utah?

Do you feel like there is a problem in the way the any bull areas in Utah are managed?  Are you tired of seeing only a few elk and maybe only getting a chance at a spike?  Is waiting 10 years for you name to come up in the Lottery the only way to get a decent bull?

I think there is a better way. 

Let’s look at what they have:

1. Prime trophy hunting.  Utah has some of the best trophy elk hunting.  I recently purchased and watched Utah’s Raging Bulls and it is obvious that Utah has some of the best trophy elk hunting. 
2. Spike only hunting.  Because the DWR has done so well at managing the limited entry units and the elk herd in general there is an ample supply of spikes to be harvested each year during the spike only hunts.  These spike only units serve a multitude of purposes. Examples include: Deer hunters that want to take a crack at something bigger can try their luck in a spike only unit.  Large groups (families) can still get tags and hunt together.  In spike only areas there is generally a high concentration of elk so there are plenty of opportunities to see and interact with elk and hone those hunting skills.  Since the mortality rate on spikes is 50% in the wild, harvesting these animals has no negative impact on the health of the heard.  In fact harvesting spikes reduces undue pressure on the winter range.  Also if a spike makes it past that critical year he has a high probability a long rich life.
3. Antlerless hunts.   Again because of the well managed elk herds in Utah opportunities to hunt cows area available.  I like the fact that the DWR uses head counts and carrying capacities of the winter range to determine the number of tags they make available.  During these hunts the hunter feels justified in reducing the herd numbers for the betterment of the entire herd.  Antlerless hunts serve as a replacement for wild predators which would naturally reduce the herd numbers and it gives the hunters the opportunity to fill there freezer.
4. Any Bull hunting.  I believe the true goal for these areas is to provide hunting opportunities for everyone else that don’t fit in the other categories.  These units are more marginal in habitat or are more difficult to access (such as the wilderness areas).  These units provide a wide range of possibilities for elk hunters. Big bulls do exist in these units as I have seen evidence.  I have personally seen 3 large 5 point bulls while hunting in the Uintas, and found the remains of a small 6 point.   Everything seems to be good, right?

So what seems to be the trouble?

Here are some of the issues I feel affect the hunting opportunities in the any bull units:

1. The any bull units receive a lot of hunting pressure.  High hunting pressure on all bulls leads to low survival rates. This leads to poor bull to cow ratios.  It is hard for us hunters to have the same information that the DWR has but I look at cow to calf ratios to determine how effective the breeding season is.  My experience in the any bull units is that the cow to calf ratio is poor, meaning that proper breading is a problem.  This leads to an un healthy herd as cows go longer without being bread the general age of the cow herd gets older and more unlikely able to produce offspring. This means reduced opportunities for reproduction.
2. Over hunting.  Are we just over hunting these areas?  Should we just reduce the number of hunters and things will get back in balance?  It is true that if hunting pressure was reduced the herds would improve but there may be better ways to solve this problem without reducing our opportunities over the long term.
3. Winter range.  Some of the any bull units have little or marginal winter range.  Winter range is a major factor in determining the carrying capacity estimates.   If winter range could be expanded and/or enhanced it could improve opportunities in any bull units.
4. Number of breeding bulls.   Most of the hunting pressure occurs after the breading season has completed.  All that is necessary for healthy herds is to have enough mature bulls available each year to do the breeding.  Over hunting bulls, especially young bulls before they are old enough to breed, reduces breading opportunities for cows which often results in calves that are born later in the year and are at risk when winter comes.   I have seen herds of 25 cows in any bull units without calves which indicate that there wasn’t sufficient bulls in the area to do the breeding.

What can we do to improve hunting in these units and deal with some of these problems?

1. Improve winter range.  This will help but it is a costly proposition and will not significantly improve the number of breading bulls in the any bull units.
2. Provide a way for younger bulls to reach breeding age before they get harvested.  With proper breeding, all healthy cows can reproduce and insure that the herd remains healthy. 
3. Allowing young bulls to be excluded from hunting pressure until they reach  a decent breading age insures that proper breeding occurs and that there will be ample bulls to hunt after the breading season is complete.  More importantly each consecutive year there will be sufficient number of breading bulls maturing insuring that the process can sustain itself.  Those who are satisfied with harvesting spike bulls can transfer their efforts to the spike only units which will continue to produce well because of the ample abundance of breeding bulls in those units.

What policy changes would be needed?

Change the any bull units to 4 point or better restriction (also know as any bull with brow tines 6 inches or longer) similar to the policy used in Colorado.  Basically this allows the bulls to reach a viable breading age and then it gives the hunters the chance to harvest decent sized bulls after the breeding is done.  A new crop of breeding age bulls will mature for the next season which will insure the sustainability of the herd.  Studies in Colorado show that soon after the 4 point restrictions were put in place the harvest numbers returned or exceeded their previous levels. 

In Summary

The biggest problem that I see is that the any bull areas just plain get over hunted. When you can shoot any bull on the mountain few bulls survive for the next season.  It is true that spike bulls can breed cows but the efficiency isn’t there and the calves are often born late and have a high mortality rate in the winter.  Poor breeding rates coupled with delayed births result in poor production and survival rates causing a downward spiral that leads to large numbers of cows not being bread.  The herd of 25 cows in my example would require a bull to migrate into the area where these cows lived in order for the breading to get started again.  

I love hunting elk and want the chance to harvest a decent bull each year while I try to draw on one of the limited entry areas.  Utah has wonderful trophy areas. It also gives people opportunities to hunt spikes in the spike only areas. But the bulls in the any bull areas are few and far between. I have hunted in Colorado in their 4 point or better areas and opportunities are much better because the bulls get a chance to get some size to them. I wish that Utah would change the any bull areas to 4 point or better. This would provide a wider range of opportunities for all hunters. You could go to the spike only areas for spikes or the any bull areas for better bulls and then to the draw only areas for trophy bulls. This would also insure that proper breading would occur in the any bull areas because 4 point bulls would be more efficient at insuring that all the cows would get bred.

Make your voice heard by speaking up when the DWR asks for input on how elk hunting can be improved in Utah.  Who knows in a couple of years you may run into that big six point you have always been dreaming of in one of these any bull units.

Hondo






Copyright Feb 2011 Harlan Pooley