1/23/2006

Apply For Black Bear Permits

Applications will be available by Feb. 1 to hunt black bears during Utah's 2006 spring and fall hunts.

Hunters who have applied for a black bear permit at the Division of Wildlife Resource's Web site in past years will receive a postcard by Feb. 1, encouraging them to apply on the Internet again. Hunters may apply at the Web site beginning Feb. 1 (the Web site address is wildlife.utah.gov).

Hunters who have applied with a mail-in application should receive a preprinted application in the mail by Feb. 1. Beginning Feb. 1, hunters also may obtain applications from hunting and fishing license agents statewide, Division of Wildlife Resources offices and the DWR Web site.

To be included in the draw for permits, mail-in applications must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Feb. 28. Applications submitted through the DWR Web site must be received no later than 11 p.m. on Feb. 28.

Draw results will be posted by March 29.

Judi Tutorow, wildlife licensing coordinator for the DWR, says an instruction sheet to help hunters complete their application correctly will be included with the preprinted applications hunters receive in the mail. "Read through it completely before filling out your application," she advises.

Hunters who don't apply on the Internet are encouraged to mail their application early. "It will take a few days for your application to arrive in the mail, so you need to mail it early enough to give it plenty of time to arrive before the 5 p.m., Feb. 28 due date," Tutorow said.

She reminds hunters that they must specify whether they want a limited entry bear permit, or a limited entry bear archery permit, by checking the correct box on their application. Applications will not be accepted if a box isn't checked.

Tutorow also encourages hunters to obtain written permission from landowners before applying for a hunt that occurs on private land. "Written permission is required to hunt private property, and we encourage hunters to obtain that permission before applying," she says. "We don't want hunters to draw a permit and then find they can't use it because landowners won't give them permission to hunt the area."

The DWR doesn't have a list of people who own land where black bear hunts occur, so hunters need to take time to locate the landowners.

Less than 25 percent of Utah's black bear hunts occur on private property. Hunts that do occur on private property are indicated by an asterisk in the 2006 Utah Black Bear Proclamation, which will be available by Feb. 1.

Utah's spring bear season runs April 8 - May 31. The state's fall hunt runs Aug. 26 – Sept. 30 and Nov. 1 – 26.

For more information, call Utah Wildlife Administrative Services at 1-800-221-0659, the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR's Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.

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