Utah’s deer and elk season starts on Saturday for archers and one Division of Wildlife Resources officer is enthusiastic about it.
Bruce Johnson, DWR lieutenant for the Central Utah Region, said he expects a good turnout this archery season.
“I’ve had a lot of people call and ask about the coming archery season and what we’ve been seeing, and telling me that they were looking forward to it and they’d been seeing a lot of animals,” Johnson said.
Johnson said as a DWR officer, he wants to make sure everyone is safe, and he wants to protect the wildlife resource from abuse or misuse so everyone can either hunt or just observe the animals.
“A huge majority of the hunting public are respectful of the resource, and they want to protect it,” Johnson said. “And they like enjoying it as much as we do and they don’t want any harm to come to it as much as we don’t.”
Johnson, who enjoys hunting himself, said talking to hunters gives him an opportunity to learn new techniques and find out where they are seeing various wildlife.
“The hunting season is a great opportunity for an exchange of information between our officers and the general public,” he said.