Salt Lake City — With several hunts recently ending and others in full swing, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is reminding hunters to submit their mandatory harvest reports for big game hunts and tundra swan hunts in Utah.
Big game hunts
Harvest surveys have been required for all limited-entry big game hunts in Utah for approximately the past 20 years. In 2023, the Utah Wildlife Board approved mandatory harvest reporting for all antlerless hunts — which went into effect in 2023 — and all general-season buck deer and bull elk hunts in Utah — which went into effect in 2024. Harvest reporting requirements now apply to all of the following general-season hunts:
- Antlerless deer and elk
- General-season buck deer
- Dedicated hunter buck deer
- Youth general-season buck deer
- General-season archery elk
- Spike bull elk
- Multi-season spike bull elk
- Any bull elk
- Youth general-season elk
"Hunters have been requesting this data for years, and technology now makes it easier to conduct these surveys and collect this information after the hunts," DWR Administrative Section Chief Kenny Johnson said. "Receiving these reports will help us to maintain more comprehensive and quality harvest data and will provide better insights into Utah's big game hunts."
Big game permit holders have 30 days to report the results of their hunt after their hunting season ends. This includes people who didn't hunt, who hunted but didn't harvest and those who did harvest an animal.
Anyone who doesn't report will be excluded from the following year's big game and antlerless applications. Anyone who reports their information late will be required to pay a fee of $50 to be eligible for the following year's big game and antlerless applications.
Swan hunts
Within 72 hours of harvesting a swan, hunters are required to check in their swan at a DWR office. In order to complete this process, hunters must submit an online harvest report before or at the time they have their swan checked. The reporting requirement applies to all tundra swan permit holders, even if they did not hunt or harvest a bird. Harvest reports must be submitted within 30 days of the end of the hunt or by Jan. 13, 2026.
Similar to the big game permits, anyone who doesn't submit their mandatory swan harvest report will be excluded from the following year's tundra swan application. Anyone who reports their information late will be required to pay a fee of $50 to be eligible for the following year's hunt application.
It is illegal to harvest trumpeter swans in Utah.
Hunters can submit all harvest reports online or by calling a DWR office.