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Hunting and pursuing cougars in Utah
Cougar Guidebook
The Utah Cougar Guidebook summarizes the laws and rules that govern hunting and pursuing cougars in Utah. The Utah Wildlife Board approved a new timeframe for the cougar regulatory cycle, which allowed for alignment with the black bear timeframe.
- Please refer to the 2021–22 Utah Cougar Guidebook for hunting regulations through June 30, 2022.
- Refer to the 2022–23 Utah Cougar Guidebook for hunts beginning in July 2022. Note: The application period for 2022–23 hunts is Feb. 1–22, 2022. Remaining limited-entry and harvest-objective permits, if available, will be sold beginning June 28, 2022.
Previous editions
View 2021–22 guidebook updates
Corrections
Page 36: Due to a predator management plan order from the DWR Director, the harvest-objective hunt date for the Morgan-South Rich unit (hunt #CG7503) has been changed to 2/21/22 – 6/30/22 (instead of 2/25/22 – 5/31/22, as was in the printed edition of the guidebook). The online edition of the guidebook has been updated with this change.
Page 37: By emergency order, the DWR is implementing predator management plans allowing for the unlimited harvest of cougar for the following hunting units, which have been removed from the "Harvest-objective hunts" table on page 37 and are now found with updated season dates on the "Harvest-object units with active predator control" table on page 38:
- Box Elder, Desert (hunt #CG7601), new season dates: 2/1/22 – 6/30/22
- Chalk Creek (hunt #CG1033), new season dates: 2/1/22 – 6/30/22
The online edition of the guidebook has been updated with this change.
Page 38: By emergency order, the DWR is implementing predator management plans allowing for the unlimited harvest of cougar for the following hunting units, which have been added to the "Harvest-object units with active predator control" table:
- Box Elder, Desert (hunt #CG7601), new season dates: 2/1/22 – 6/30/22
- Chalk Creek (hunt #CG1033), new season dates: 2/1/22 – 6/30/22
- Morgan-South Rich (hunt #CG7503), season dates: 2/21/22 – 6/30/22
The online edition of the guidebook has been updated with this change.
View 2022–23 guidebook updates
Corrections
Page 3: At the direction of the Utah Wildlife Board, cougar spot-and-stalk hunt dates for the 2022–23 season are July 1, 2022–June 30, 2023 (not Aug. 1–Dec. 31, 2022, as was printed in the guidebook). The online edition of the guidebook has been updated with this change.
Page 7: At the direction of the Utah Wildlife Board, cougar spot-and-stalk hunt dates for the 2022–23 season are July 1, 2022–June 30, 2023 (not Aug. 1–Dec. 31, 2022, as was printed in the guidebook). The online edition of the guidebook has been updated with this change.
Page 11: At the direction of the Utah Wildlife Board, cougar spot-and-stalk hunt dates for the 2022–23 season are July 1, 2022–June 30, 2023 (not Aug. 1–Dec. 31, 2022, as was printed in the guidebook). The "Spot-and-stalk permits" section should read as follows (correction in bold): "A spot-and-stalk permit, which costs $30, allows you to use any legal weapon to harvest one cougar on any hunting unit July 1, 2022–June 30, 2023." The online edition of the guidebook has been updated with this change.
Pages 18–19: At the direction of the Utah Wildlife Board, cougar spot-and-stalk hunt dates for the 2022–23 season are July 1, 2022–June 30, 2023 (not Aug. 1–Dec. 31, 2022, as was printed in the guidebook). The "Spot-and-stalk permit" section should read as follows (corrections in bold):
- "The spot-and-stalk cougar hunt is now an annual hunt in Utah. The 2022–2023 spot-and-stalk cougar hunt has the following rules and restrictions:"
- "The spot-and-stalk hunting season runs from July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.
The online edition of the guidebook has been updated with this change.
Page 36: By emergency order, the DWR is implementing a predator management plan that will allow unlimited cougar harvest in the Morgan-South Rich unit (hunt #CG7503). This unit has been deleted from the "Limited-entry units" table and is now listed in the "Harvest-objective units with active predator management plans" table on page 38 with updated season dates (7/1/22 – 6/30/23). The online edition of the guidebook has been updated with this change.
Page 37: By emergency order, the DWR is implementing predator management plans that allow unlimited cougar harvest in some units. The following units have been deleted from the "Harvest-objective units" table and are now listed in the "Harvest-objective units with active predator management plans" table on page 38.
- Box Elder, Desert (hunt #CG7601)
- Chalk Creek (hunt #CG1033)
The online edition of the guidebook has been updated with this change.
Page 38: By emergency order, the DWR is implementing predator management plans that allow unlimited cougar harvest for the following hunting units, which have been added to the "Harvest-object units with active predator control" table:
- Box Elder, Desert (hunt #CG7601), season dates: 7/1/22 – 6/30/23
- Chalk Creek (hunt #CG1033), season dates: 7/1/22 – 6/30/23
- Morgan-South Rich (hunt #CG7503), season dates: 7/1/22 – 6/30/23
The online edition of the guidebook has been updated with this change.
Hunting maps
Harvest-objective permits
Harvest-objective permits are available over-the-counter. Before each hunting trip, make sure you verify that the unit is still open.
- Visit Cougar harvest-objective information to see which units are still open. This information is updated often during the season.
Cougar orientation course
- A straightforward, voluntary course to help you identify cougar age and gender in the field. — PDF
