Utah -(Ammoland.com)- The number of cougars and bobcats taken during Utah’s upcoming hunting and trapping seasons should be similar to the number taken this past season.
Bobcats are doing well in Utah. The state’s bobcat hunting and trapping season starts Nov. 18.
Based on data collected from hunters and trappers, cougars and bobcats are doing well in Utah. Because the populations are doing well, the Utah Wildlife Board approved hunting and trapping rules that are similar to last season.
All of the rules the board approved will be available in the 2015–2016 Utah Cougar and Furbearer guidebooks. Both guidebooks should be available at wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks by Sept. 8.
Cougars
Leslie McFarlane, game mammals coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources, says hunters took 330 cougars during the state’s 2014–2015 season. For the 2015–2016 season, board members approved a slight decrease in the number of permits offered for limited-entry cougar units. They also approved a slight increase in the number of cougars to be taken on harvest-objective units.
McFarlane says the slight decrease in limited-entry permits, and the slight increase in the number of cougars to be taken on harvest-objective units, should result in about the same number of cougars being taken in Utah this season.
Bobcats
The bobcat rules board members approved are identical to last season. Each trapper and hunter is limited to six permits. Permits will cost $15 each this season. Utah’s bobcat hunting and trapping season runs from Nov. 18, 2015 to Feb. 14, 2016.
During the 2015–2016 season, trappers and hunters took a total of 2,919 bobcats in Utah.