Short deer season and delayed opening on La Sal Mountains

Unless you have read the 2009 Utah Big Game Guidebook very carefully, you may have missed a very important point, if you plan to hunt the LaSal Mountains.

That critical piece of information is that the deer season does not open on Saturday, October 17 like the rest of the state. It opens the following Wednesday!

When you see all the ads on television or radio, urging you to buy hunting accessories and equipment, and the mention is made of the statewide opening on Saturday, October 17, don’t be misled. The La Sal hunt doesn’t open for another four days in the middle of the following week--on Wednesday, October 21.

The La Sal unit isn’t alone. The late start is shared by the South Slope near Vernal, the Central Mountains-Nebo, the Oquirrh-Stansbury, and Monroe hunting units. Each of these units has suffered from low buck to doe ratios, causing the Wildlife Board to shorten the season on these five units.

If you’re a resident of northern San Juan County and have always hunted in your backyard, you’ll need to find somewhere else to hunt, at least for the first few days.

A nearby alternative is the Abajo Mountains, where the buck to doe ratio is higher and harvest success has been a little better. The important message is to avoid the LaSal Mountains until Wednesday, October 21.