{"id":1256,"date":"2023-06-10T09:24:14","date_gmt":"2023-06-10T09:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americangunpeople.com\/?p=1256"},"modified":"2023-06-10T09:24:14","modified_gmt":"2023-06-10T09:24:14","slug":"utah-axes-trumpeter-swan-quota-to-save-tundra-swan-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americangunpeople.com\/?p=1256","title":{"rendered":"Utah Axes Trumpeter Swan Quota to Save Tundra Swan Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The Utah Department of Wildlife Resources has approved a plan<\/a> to eliminate all legal trumpeter swan harvest for the upcoming waterfowl season. The rule change, which DWR approved at a public meeting<\/a> on June 8, is intended to give Utah waterfowlers a full tundra swan season.<\/p>\n

For anyone who has held a Utah swan tag over the last four seasons, the opportunity has probably felt more like a race against the clock than a hunt for a limited-opportunity species. In previous years, the DWR shut down the entire tundra swan season as soon as 20 trumpeter swans had been killed statewide. The trumpeter swan quota, which was intended to avoid criminalizing tundra swan hunters for identification mistakes, has ended the entire season early for four years in a row\u2013most recently by 24 days in 2022. That\u2019s due in part because some hunters intentionally target trumpeters.<\/p>\n

Related: <\/strong>Some Hunters Target Trumpeter Swans. Utah Wants to Stop It Before All Swan Hunting Gets Shut Down<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fairly contentious,\u201d Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Utah chapter chair and waterfowler Perry Hall says of hunters\u2019 reactions to the new rule. \u201cThere\u2019s a contingent here that will be upset because they\u2019re interested in targeting trumpeters.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, some hunters fear criminal penalties for shooting the wrong bird. Other hunters are relieved that this rule change will better insulate the state\u2019s tundra swan season from attack by environmental groups.<\/p>\n

Those hunters gaming the incidental-take quota for tundra swans ultimately prevented hunters who hadn\u2019t yet killed their tundra swan from continuing to hunt. The rule change is supposed to give those hunters their full season back, while further protecting the federally-managed trumpeters in the process. (Trumpeter swans were removed from the endangered species list<\/a> in 1968 and number around 63,000 globally<\/a>, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service still manages harvest quotas.) The DWR has not specified the consequences for a tundra swan hunter who shoots a trumpeter this coming season.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The rule] has always been \u2018Hey try not to shoot these swans, please,\u2019\u201d Hall says. \u201cNow, it\u2019s \u2018You cannot shoot these birds.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Trumpeter Obsession<\/h2>\n

Amid a growing tundra swan population, Utah increased its available swan permits from 2,000 to 2,750 and USFWS raised the trumpeter quota from 10 to 20 in 2019. Trumpeter harvest had never reached its limit before\u2014until that year.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to 2019, we\u2019ve only had 20 harvested trumpeter swans recorded in the state,\u201d DWR upland game coordinator Heather Talley said in a presentation<\/a> about the proposed rule. \u201cSince 2019, 85 trumpeter swans have been reported in Utah\u2019s harvest data.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there are the hunters who have no interest in shooting a trumpeter swan, but still fear punishment for false species identification. For those folks, swan hunting might look a little different with these new rules in place, Hall says, using the challenges of identifying ducks for comparison.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are going to shoot too many mallard hens because they thought it was a gadwall coming into the spread. I\u2019ve been hunting ducks for years and sometimes I still make that mistake,\u201d Hall says. \u201c[False identification] is going to happen, people are going to get in trouble for it. This is why antler restrictions don\u2019t always work. If someone accidentally shoots a two-pointer and there\u2019s a two-point antler restriction, some of them will walk away and shoot a three-pointer instead. There\u2019s always that risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hunters can distinguish trumpeters from tundras by their trumpet-like vocalizations and large size. They also lack the telltale yellow markings near their eyes. Utah DWR already requires that all swan hunters take an orientation course on species identification before opening day. But beyond that, hunting within the bounds of the law will be up to the hunters themselves, Hall says. This might mean changing up their strategy.<\/p>\n

Read Next:<\/strong> What Happens to Duck Hunting When the Great Salt Lake Dries Up?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will probably spend a lot more time trying to get the birds to decoy rather than pass shooting,\u201d he says. \u201cHaving done a lot of both, I\u2019d rather get the birds to work into a decoy spread. It\u2019s more fun. But a lot of people will have to do a little bit more work. It\u2019s not \u2018no harm no foul\u2019 anymore if you shoot the wrong species. These hunters will have to get the birds in close.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n