Utah wildlife officials: Want to shoot (and eat) crow?

By Brett Prettyman

A proposal to open the state’s first crow-hunting season, likely this fall, will be presented at a series of public meetings leading up to a final decision by the Utah Wildlife Board.

A proposal to open the state’s first crow-hunting season, likely this fall, will be presented at a series of public meetings leading up to a final decision by the Utah Wildlife Board.

If passed by the Wildlife Board on June 5 as presented by the state wildlife agency, the 2014-15 crow season would run Sept. 1-30 and again from Dec. 1-Feb. 28, 2015. Licensed hunters would be allowed to take 10 crows a day and have 30 in possession.

"Over the years we have seen a dramatic expansion of crows in Utah," said Bill Fenimore, an avid birder and hunter who also serves on the Utah Wildlife Board. "They are tremendously smart birds and can be very challenging to hunt."

Wildlife officials say that increase has led to crop depredation and the hunt may help curtail agricultural losses.

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