UTAH BOARD APPROVES CHANGES TO MUZZLELOADERS- In a recent article, we mentioned that there were some proposed changes in Utah. The changes were significant, and could impact Utah hunters in many ways. This past week, the Utah Wildlife Board approved some of the changes approved some of the changes.
Changes To Weapon Technology
During the regional RAC meetings held in November, the RAC committees reviewed several proposed changes. These changes include antler point requirements, season date changes, and several other items. These items were met with a lot of questions and concerns. Due to those concerns, most of the items related to mule deer were pushed to the Mule Deer Committee to determine the need.
There were a couple items that were approved by several RAC boards and by many board members. These changes were sent to the Utah Wildlife Board, and the board approved the two changes. First, high magnification scopes were to be removed from muzzleloaders. Under the new rule, muzzleloaders can’t use a scope with more than a 1x power. The other change was the removal of the minimum arrow length for the archer hunts.
Prohibit the use of scopes stronger than 1× power on muzzleloaders for all muzzleloader hunts. This restriction would apply to all big game muzzleloader hunts, including general-season, limited-entry, management, and handgun-archery-muzzleloader-shotgun-straight walled rifle-only hunts. Scopes of any power will still be allowed on muzzleloaders during any-legal-weapon hunts, and visual-impairment certificates of registration for scopes would still be allowed. Otherwise, only open sights, peep sights, a red dot or scopes with 1× power or less will be allowed on muzzleloaders in those hunts.
Other Changes
In the press release, the UtahUtah DWR released other updates. These updates include changes to the hunt survey process, the translocation of pronghorns, and changes to the dedicated hunter program. To read the full article, click here to read more.
What are your thoughts on the changes in Utah? Do you feel that removing scopes from muzzleloaders will accomplish the goals of the public and the board?
