Lake Record Catfish Caught in Huntington North Reservoir

Price resident Calvin Grogan landed a lake-record catfish at Huntington North Reservoir on Aug. 8 at 10:20 p.m. The channel catfish measured 36 inches and weighed 27 pounds.

Grogan was fishing from the bank near the boat dock. He baited his size 2 treble hook with raw chicken meat and liver. Once hooked, it took Grogan 20 minutes to land the fish.

This latest catch breaks a lake record, established recently by Clifton Elliot of Price, who landed a 25-lb. 34-inch catfish on 7-26-07.

The catch still falls short of the state record channel cat. It was caught in 1978 at Utah Lake, and tipped the scale at 32.5 lbs. and measured 39.75 inches.

Harvest Number Needed for Those Planning
to Hunt Doves or Pigeons

If you plan on hunting doves or pigeons this fall, you need to get a Migratory Game Bird Harvest Information Program (HIP) number for the 2007 season. Your HIP number from last season won’t work.

“I think our new 365-day licenses may have caused some confusion,” says Tom Aldrich, migratory game bird coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources.

“Even if the license you bought last season will be still valid for part of this season, your HIP number from last season isn’t valid. You need to get a new HIP number every season.”

While some hunters aren’t getting a new HIP number every season, others hunters are getting too many. Aldrich offers the following reminders:

If you obtained a HIP number after Feb. 1, 2007, your number is valid for the 2007 season.

If you obtain a HIP number for the 2007 season, and your 365-day license expires during the dove and pigeon season, simply transfer the HIP number from your expired license to your new license. You don’t need to get another HIP number for the 2007 season when you buy a new license.

If you haven’t obtained your HIP number for the 2007 season, it’s easy to get one. Just log onto www.uthip.com or call 1 (877) UTAH-744 (1-877-882-4744).

You’ll need your hunting license to register, so make sure you have it with you before you log onto the Web or call. It only takes about 10 minutes to register.

Trapping and
Cougar Hunting Rules Approved

Animals that trappers aren’t trying to trap will have an easier time escaping from snares in Utah. And the number of cougars that hunters take in Utah this season should be similar to the number taken during the past three seasons.

Both of these items are an outcome of decisions made by the Utah Wildlife Board at the board’s Aug. 8 meeting in Salt Lake City.

Starting with Utah’s 2007 – 2008 season, trappers in Utah must use breakaway snares. These snares allow bigger animals to escape if they’re accidentally trapped.

“Larger animals should be able to escape from these snares,” says Kevin Bunnell, mammals program coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources. “These animals include deer, elk, cougars and black bears. When one of these animals puts enough pressure on the snare by pulling on it, the snare releases and lets the animal free.”

The only exception to the breakaway snare rule are traps set in water, or traps that have a loop size that’s less than three inches in diameter. “These traps aren’t big enough to trap larger animals,” Bunnell says.

Bunnell says the cooperation the DWR received from the Utah Trappers Association is one of the main reasons the board approved the change. “The Utah Trappers Association was very supportive of this change,” he says.
Cougar Hunting

Hunters will probably take about 300 cougars in Utah during the state’s 2007 – 2008 season. That would be similar to the past three seasons in Utah, when an average of 311 cougars were taken each season.

“An effort was underway a few years ago to reduce the number of cougars in Utah,” Bunnell says. “The goal was to bring them into better balance with the deer, bighorn sheep and other animals that cougars prey on.

Overall, the board reduced the number of hunting permits for Utah’s limited entry units, and the total number of cougars to be taken on the state’s harvest objective units, by about seven percent for the upcoming season.

DWR Proposes
Major Turkey
Hunting Change

More hunters could be hunting wild turkeys in Utah next spring.

The Division of Wildlife Resources will present two turkey hunting proposals at a series of upcoming public meetings. The first proposal would increase the number of turkey permits in Utah by 30 percent for the spring 2008 hunts.

The second proposal would more than double the number of permits. It would also create a third hunting season and would allow hunters in two regions—and a part of a third—to hunt across those regions during the third season.

Proposed waterfowl hunting changes also will be discussed at the meetings.

The meeting date for the Southeastern Region is Aug. 15, 6:30 p.m. at the John Wesley Powell Museum in Green River.