# Walk-in access areas



## Hbarber (Nov 28, 2011)

I'm considering hitting a few walk-in access areas during the sharp-tail hunt. I have tags for the Cache hunt and noticed a few of the walk-in areas also offer huns and chukar. Has anybody on the forum actually hunted these areas and had success at mutliple species? Im not looking for specifics...learned my lesson on the forum when I asked for help in that regard...just wondering GENERALLY if folks have found a vareity of species to hunt in these areas.


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## Speedbump (Mar 7, 2011)

Now there are alot of walk in access areas, but all the ones I have been to have been empty of any animals.


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

WIA's get hunted *EVERY SINGLE DAY*. Think about what that means for bird populations that are not supplemented with planted birds. Grouse and covey birds are not like pheasants where only the males are shot. Pheasants can rebound every year because only the males are hunted. The egg layers get shot in these other bird populations. Putting hunters on the local sharptail population every day is going to eliminate the birds in no time flat.

People who want to hunt sharpies in Utah are much better off finding a piece of private land to hunt. I have not hunted these WIA's you are asking about. I'm just offering some perspective.


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## Moostickles (Mar 11, 2010)

BirdDogger said:


> WIA's get hunted *EVERY SINGLE DAY*.


True dat! I've hunted most of the WIAs in Cache, and that's exactly what I found. A long list of names that covered nearly every day during the upland hunts. I shot a couple doves at one once, but that was it. Don't waste your time.

When you think about it, the WIAs are tiny areas that are spotlighted on the DWR website. You see them and think, "Wow, I can hunt private property if I go there!" Well, the problem is everybody else is thinking that too. You are much better off going to public land areas, because most likely, they are hunted much less.


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## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

> You are much better off going to public land areas, because most likely, they are hunted much less.


His problem is that there aren't many sharptail grouse on public land in Utah. Guys without access to private land have a hard time finding these birds. Hint to the author of this thread: Sharptail grouse in Utah will almost always be found in cover around a dry farm. That might help you narrow down your search.

Meanwhile, Utah has millions acres of public land available to the forest grouse hunter. It's a tastier bird without question, hunted in more beautiful scenery, and we can hunt them for four months. Sharpies are practically an endangered species. You get two birds per year and you have to tag them like a deer or elk. I'm not saying I want to share the hills with anyone...


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## GCKid (Sep 11, 2007)

Moostickles said:


> True dat! I've hunted most of the WIAs in Cache, and that's exactly what I found. A long list of names that covered nearly every day during the upland hunts. I shot a couple doves at one once, but that was it. Don't waste your time.
> 
> When you think about it, the WIAs are tiny areas that are spotlighted on the DWR website. You see them and think, "Wow, I can hunt private property if I go there!" Well, the problem is everybody else is thinking that too. You are much better off going to public land areas, because most likely, they are hunted much less.


And the Division has no interest in expanding this program or making it better. They are only interested in re-signing up the same parcels year after year.


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