The Utah Wildlife Board has approved some minor changes for bear hunting in Utah, along with other rule amendments, following the first year of the current three-year bear recommendation cycle. For the 2026 season, the board is creating a bear hunt with 10 permits for the new Dolores Triangle hunting unit. It will be separated from the La Sal unit to match the current boundaries of big game hunting units.
The 10 Dolores Unit permits include two spring permits, six summer permits and two fall permits. The board made no changes to the La Sal Unit, with permit numbers the same as 2025. Officials say bear and cougar populations in Utah remain stable. Guidebooks for bear, cougar and furbearer species will be combined into one, and only available digitally. It will be available on the Department of Wildlife Resources website (www.wildlife.utah.gov) and DWR Hunting-Fishing app.
The DWR officials gave board members information about a five-year study on targeted cougar removals for the next three years on six hunting units: the Boulder, Monroe, Stansbury, Pine Valley, Wasatch East and Zion. The study aims to assess whether targeted reductions in mountain lion populations can result in a corresponding increase in mule deer populations. This is being done in areas where deer GPS collar data suggests that mountain lions are suppressing deer population growth.
Under the Utah Predator Control Program, the DWR provides incentives to hunters to help control coyote populations. The program offers $100 for documented coyote harvest in deer habitat and $50 for each documented harvested coyote outside of deer habitat. Coyotes primarily kill deer fawns and can produce more than six pups per year. They have high reproductive potential and can be difficult to hunt.
The wildlife board approved changes to the current rule to specify that the GPS data for predator harvest locations be classified as protected and therefore restricted from public disclosure.
