A hunt for California bighorn sheep and trophy mule deer on Antelope Island came closer to reality on Thursday.
A House subcommittee chaired by Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, voted overwhelmingly to support a hunt while the State Parks Board also voted in favor of the hunt as long as certain management conditions are met.
Noel said he believes trophy hunters would be willing to pay a substantial amount of money, which would go directly to support Antelope Island State Park.
The measure advances to the full House.
State Parks has been under fire from some hunting groups and state legislators for resisting a trophy hunt. State Parks is also suffering from budget cuts.
Under the management plan adopted by the Parks Board, bighorns could be hunted on the island if no suitable release sites in Utah or out of state were available and if either the population on the island exceeded 150 animals or if the ram-to-ewe ratio of 0.75-to-1 was not being met, a ratio that biologists stressed was flexible.
If one of those triggers was reached, biologists and the board would consider various population control measures, including hunting.
State Parks Board policy has been to not allow hunting on Antelope Island, other than a legislative-mandated bison hunt. There have been as many as 180 bighorn on Antelope Island in recent years since 26 of the animals were first introduced in 1996. The animals have generally thrived due to a lack of domestic sheep nearby, which can transplant disease, few predators and a lack of roads.
One factor in favor of hunting bighorns is that older rams, considered trophies by hunters, are less desirable as transplant stock. Biologists prefer to move lambs, ewes and only a few younger rams. But, as Park Board member Marty Ott pointed out, wildlife watchers who come to the island also enjoy seeing the big rams.
