Utah DWR Votes to BAN Scopes during Muzzleloader Hunting Seasons | Muzzleloading News
In January 2022, the Utah Wildlife Board asked the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to create a technology committee to address the increased use of new technology in hunting.
The committee — made of a diverse group of stakeholders — has met nine times since April 2022 and has proposed a variety of changes since then. "The goals of the committee are to preserve hunting traditions into the future, help wildlife managers meet their objectives in species management plans and to increase opportunities for hunters," DWR Utah Wildlife Migration Initiative Coordinator Blair Stringham said.
After assessing the committee's feedback and recommendations, the board voted to approve the following changes, which will go into effect in 2024:
Remove the length restrictions on arrows and bolts for airgun, archery and crossbow hunting in Utah.
Prohibit the use of scopes stronger than 1× power on muzzleloaders for all muzzleloader hunts.
This restriction would apply to all big game muzzleloader hunts, including general-season, limited-entry, management, and handgun-archery-muzzleloader-shotgun-straight walled rifle-only hunts. Scopes of any power will still be allowed on muzzleloaders during any-legal-weapon hunts, and visual-impairment certificates of registration for scopes would still be allowed. Otherwise, only open sights, peep sights, a red dot or scopes with 1×power or less will be allowed on muzzleloaders in those hunts.
Editor’s comment: Where Utah hunters will find a scope with less than 1x power, I don’t know.
As of writing in December, 2023, the State of Utah has no language in their muzzleloader hunting regulations that associates the season with any kind of traditional, historic, or primitive mission. Utah, like many other states, allows modern inline muzzleloaders with blackpowder substitutes and modern projectile designs.
A Brief History on Muzzleloader Season Tags in the West
Historically speaking, and speaking very generally here, muzzleloading in the west has had its ups and downs. Originally, muzzleloading season tags were made more plentiful due to the perceived difficulty of using a muzzleloader effectively during a hunt. Pre-1985 there was no widespread use of an “inline muzzleloader”, leaving hunters with more “traditional” options with side locks and loose components.
Fast forward to today, we have a widespread proliferation of modern inline muzzleloaders that have been designed to follow the state game rules of these western states and utilize the increased number of tags for muzzleloader seasons. Combine the muzzleloading industry growth with the rapid acceleration of non-resident western hunting thanks to the internet and we have been in a perfect storm of easy access to muzzleloaders and high demand for what used to be plentiful muzzleloader season tags. In short, a rising tide raises all ships, and the Utah State Game Board has recognized this change and has made a move they think will guide the state in a direction they want to see. The change is made all the more interesting when we put into account the industry-DNR relationship that we all know exists. These entities talk, presumably a lot. We saw it when inlines became popularized in the early 2000s and we’re seeing it now with the “Firestick” breechloading “muzzleloader”. One has to wonder, how much discussion goes on when bringing about this “mild intervention” of a rule change. Whether it’s a change that hunters want to see is another story.
I’m not in any way trying to sew dissent here, these discussions are good and as long as the discussions include hunters and enthusiasts I don’t think much harm could be done, but I think that relationship is an important part of these discussions.
What are both sides saying?
Utah DNR states their data shows a scope is used in 3% of successful hunts, this is their main citation for the rule and why they think it won’t affect too many hunters. I find it interesting that they use this data to support the rule change to benefit the game numbers AND no detract from the sale of muzzleloader season tags. We cannot forget that these state game boards are balancing the animal herd sizes and revenue generated from the sale of hunting tags.
Will this 3% change matter? Is an additional 3% success rate enough to help the herd ( or state game board’s goals), or is this a small rule change made to slightly limit hunters while not crippling resident and non-resident muzzleloader tag revenue?
Those happy about the rule are pleased to see another state recognize the advantage modern muzzleloaders have over their traditional counterparts and many want to see the rules go further. They say that if the Utah DWR wanted to see a major change, or seriously limit technology, they’d limit the actual muzzleloaders being used in the seasons. Scopes have been used since and just after the American Civil War, the advent of black powder substitutes, ballistically excellent projectiles, and 209 primers is much more recent than a scope or red dot sight. One could even consider the machining processes used to create locks, actions, and barrels today (in any muzzleloader) are vastly superior to our 19th-century forefathers.
Those against the rule change are rallying behind the concern over more animals being wounded because of a more difficult sight picture. The clarity afforded by modern glass is second to none, especially in varying light conditions. Combine that with the vast expanse of the American West and it’s easy to see how a telescopic optic can help with a more ethical kill. This argument attempts to appeal to the state game board and their concerns over animal well-being. Another argument being presented is that this rule change goes against the majority of hunter’s wishes, combined with the DNR’s own statistic of scopes contributing to a 3% larger success rate, the rule seems ineffective and only stands to hurt or restrict hunters.
My Thoughts
I do my best to present these stories as plainly as I can, I hope that if you’ve read this far on this and other stories in the same vein, you’ll begin to see the pattern or puzzle that I do. I don’t think this is a topic that will ever be laid to rest or “Solved” in any way. I do think it’d be wonderful for all states to have a “Heritage” muzzleloader season to connect hunters with their state’s history, but it’s a long shot. That being said, we have to recognize that the cat is out of the bag in these seasons. States need to sell tags, Natural resource departments want to maintain populations, manufacturers want to sell muzzleloaders, and hunters want to hunt. In my head, I see a weird, octopus-like scale that tips in a variety of directions with each rule change. What’s fascinating to me is how quickly it seems this scale can tip one way or the other. After New Mexico’s similar ban on scopes during muzzleloader seasons, we saw an immediate response from the muzzleloading industry to work within the rules, coordinating with sight manufacturers to provide accessible options for hunters preparing for the next season. We’ll likely see similar marketing pushes in Utah for 2024. In the end, if this 3% stat is right, we shouldn’t see much change. What that means for the state, hunters, manufacturers, and ultimately the game herds no one can say right now. Only time will tell.
Sources:
Utah Hunting Regulations 2023 - https://wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks/2023_field_regs.pdf