The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is proposing to reinstate a bighorn sheep hunt on the Box Elder, Pilot Mountain hunting unit, after the population in the area recently increased. The DWR is also recommending the renewal of Utah's Cooperative Wildlife Management Units and Landowner Associations for 2027–2029 — along with their respective permit allocations — and is seeking the public's feedback on the proposals.
Recommendation to reinstate bighorn sheep hunt
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the Nevada Department of Wildlife jointly manage the bighorn sheep herd on the Pilot Mountains, a range that spans the border of Utah and Nevada. The states take turns allocating hunting permits for this area.
Utah's most recent hunt was in 2020, and then Nevada chose not to offer the hunt for a few years, due to a lack of mature rams. The population in the area has since increased, and in 2026, Nevada allocated one hunting permit.
The DWR is recommending to reinstate the bighorn sheep hunt on the Box Elder, Pilot Mountain unit for 2027. The proposed hunt dates would be from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, 2027.
2027–2029 CWMU recommendations
The DWR oversees the Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit program, which allocates hunting permits to private landowners who then provide hunting opportunities to public and private hunters for a variety of wildlife species. The CWMU program in Utah has opened more than 2 million acres of private land to the public for hunting.
The DWR is proposing to approve applications for three new CWMUs and renew 83 other CWMU applications, for a total of 130 CWMUs for the 2027–2029 hunting seasons. The DWR is also proposing a total of 1,994 private permits and 1,265 public permits for CWMUs during each of those years.
2027–2029 Landowner Association recommendations
The DWR also oversees the Landowner Association program. This program helps build tolerance for wildlife on private lands within limited-entry units. It provides transferable vouchers for hunting permits to those landowners whose properties are located on limited-entry hunting units and provide habitat for deer, elk or pronghorn. Depending on the amount of private land enrolled in the LOA program, the association receives a number of permits based on a percentage of the total number of limited-entry permits for bull elk, buck deer or buck pronghorn on the unit where the association properties are located.
There are two options for where LOA vouchers may be used:
- Option 1: Vouchers are valid for the entire unit, and LOAs must allow assigned public hunters access to all LOA lands.
- Option 2: Vouchers are valid only for LOA lands, and no public access is required.
The DWR is proposing the renewal of various species vouchers for several LOAs for option one, and the renewal of various species vouchers for one LOA for option two.
Give feedback
The public meetings for the recommendations can either be viewed virtually or attended in person. You can view the biologists' presentations before the meetings and share your feedback about them on the DWR website. The presentations are also available on the DWR YouTube channel, but comments can only be submitted through the forms on the DWR website.
The public comment period opened on Oct. 21 for each of the five Regional Advisory Council meetings and for the Utah Wildlife Board meeting. Public comments submitted within the online-comment timeframes listed below will be shared with the RAC and wildlife board members at each respective meeting. Members of the public can choose to either watch the meetings online or attend them in person. If you wish to comment during the meeting, you must attend in person. Online comments will only be accepted until the deadlines listed below.
The meetings will be held on the following dates and times:
- Central Utah RAC meeting: Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. at the DWR Springville office at 1115 N. Main St. in Springville. (Online comments must be submitted by Nov. 5 at 11:59 p.m.)
- Northern Utah RAC meeting: Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. at the Weber County Commission Chambers at 2380 Washington Blvd. #240 in Ogden. (Online comments must be submitted by Nov. 5 at 11:59 p.m.)
- Southern Utah RAC meeting: Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. at Southern Utah University in the Charles R. Hunter Room at the Hunter Conference Center at 646 N. Main St. in Cedar City. (Online comments must be submitted by Nov. 12 at 11:59 p.m.)
- Southeastern Utah RAC meeting: Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. at the John Wesley Powell Museum at 1765 E. Main St. in Green River. (Online comments must be submitted by Nov. 12 at 11:59 p.m.)
- Northeastern Utah RAC meeting: Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. at the DWR Vernal office at 318 N. Vernal Ave. (Online comments must be submitted by Nov. 12 at 11:59 p.m.)
- Utah Wildlife Board meeting: Dec. 3 at 9 a.m. at the Eccles Wildlife Education Center at 1157 South Waterfowl Way in Farmington. (Online comments must be submitted by Nov. 24 at 11:59 p.m.)