Deep snow causes concern

Hanksville — The deep snow on the Henry Mountains is making it difficult for deer to flee from people who are collecting shed antlers.

Massive antlers—like these atop a buck on the Book Cliffs—are what shed antler hunters are hoping to find on the ground this spring.

Photo by Brent Stettler

To protect the deer, the Bureau of Land Management has enacted a new travel plan. The plan requires motorized vehicles to stay on designated routes.

Before your next trip to the Henry Mountains, please call or visit the BLM offices in Hanksville or Richfield to learn where the designated routes are.

Located south of Hanksville, the Henry Mountains is one of two premium limited-entry deer hunting units in Utah. The unit is renowned for growing trophy-sized buck deer. For this reason, it attracts a large number of shed antler hunters every winter and spring. These hunters hope to collect some of the large antler racks that drop off the heads of the buck deer in the winter.

"Under normal conditions, deer can escape the inflow of people by leaving the roadways and moving to heavy cover or remote locations," says Brent Stettler, regional conservation outreach manager for the Division of Wildlife Resources.

This year is different, though, because the snowfall in southern Utah has been unusually heavy. "The snow is making the deers' fight for survival much more tenuous this spring and their ability to retreat from people much more difficult," Stettler says.

"Please help the deer by learning the new travel rules and obeying them," he says.

For more information, call the BLM at 435-896-1500 or the DWR at 435-613-3700.

For more information about gathering shed antlers in Utah, visit 'Want to gather shed antlers in Utah?.'

You can also listen to an interview at wildlife.utah.gov/radio.