How to help fight poaching in Utah

Salt Lake City — Several hunting seasons are in full swing, and Utah's general-season deer hunt — arguably the state's most popular hunt — starts Oct. 23. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources conservation officers are hard at work patrolling the state to protect wildlife and make sure hunters are obeying the laws.

During this fall's hunts, conservation officers have contacted 13,350 individuals and inspected the hunting licenses of 5,116 people from Aug. 1 to Sept. 23. During those interactions, the officers detected 504 violations and discovered 92 illegally killed animals, including deer, elk, pronghorn, desert bighorn sheep and fish, ducks/geese, furbearers, turkey and raptors. Of the animals killed, 45 were big game species. During that time frame, officers issued 393 citations, and they will continue to investigate other violations and turn them over to the court system.

"Hunters need to take the responsibility of knowing the law, having a current hunting or combination license and knowing what species and areas their permits allow them to hunt," DWR Capt. Wyatt Bubak said.

From Aug. 1 to Sept. 23, conservation officers have also received 204 tips through the various reporting tools, which they say is incredibly valuable in helping them investigate poaching cases. There are currently 35 DWR officers patrolling all of Utah, and they can't be everywhere.

"We need your help," Bubak said. "Please keep your eyes and ears open and report suspicious activity to us. Working together, we can enforce wildlife laws, which help with wildlife conservation and maintaining healthy populations, and also keep our recreating public safe."

While wildlife violations can happen any time of the year, a spike typically occurs during the fall hunting seasons. If you'd like to help in the fight against illegal hunting in Utah, here's what you should do:

Get a license plate number

If you see someone who is potentially breaking Utah's wildlife laws, getting a license plate number is the most critical piece of information you can provide to conservation officers. If you're not able to get a license plate number, provide the officer with as much information as you can.

"Having a license plate number will lead us to the individual, so we can interview the person and start investigating," Bubak said. "Other helpful details include the type and color of the vehicle the person was driving, how many people were involved and a description of what you saw. And, if you can give us a GPS coordinate, that can guide us quickly to the area where the possible violation occurred."

Don't confront the individual

Don't confront someone who might be committing a violation, just observe from a distance and take note of as many details as you can.

"We don't want anyone to be put in harm's way or to be in a situation that makes them uncomfortable," Bubak said. "Report what you saw, and let us contact them."

Report the information to the DWR using one of these channels

While reporting a wildlife violation in a Facebook message will eventually get to a conservation officer, it is much more efficient and effective to use the proper channels. Here are the various ways you can report illegal wildlife activities:

• Call the Utah Turn-in-a-Poacher hotline at 1-800-662-3337. (The UTiP hotline is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is the quickest way to report a wildlife violation. The number is printed on your hunting and fishing licenses.)
• Use the UTDWR Law Enforcement app
• Text officers at 847411
• Report online through the DWR website

The UTDWR law enforcement app was launched in March. Since then, conservation officers have received 308 tips through the app.

Another option is to call the nearest local police dispatch. Those numbers can also be found online. If you can't find those phone numbers, you could also call 911. However, you shouldn't call the police unless you are absolutely sure you have witnessed a poaching violation, you can't find the UTiP number and you feel the incident must be reported immediately.

"If you have a license plate number but you can't get cell reception, it's totally fine to wait and report the incident when you get better cell service," Bubak said. "A license plate number gives us a great starting point for our investigation."

Don't call UTiP for information

Please remember that the UTiP hotline is not an information line. Only call it to report possible poaching and other wildlife-related crimes.

"Every time our officers receive a UTiP call, even if it isn't related to a wildlife crime, they have to file a follow-up report," Bubak said. "Filing the report takes time away that could have been spent fighting wildlife crime in Utah. Please call the UTiP line only to report wildlife crimes. If you're simply looking for information, call the nearest DWR office."