Skies should be clear and temperatures in the mid 60’s this weekend as hunters head to the hills for the first weekend of the rifle deer season. But good weather may be a detriment to hunters’ success.

“The recent snow storm will help hunters because it should drive the deer to lower elevations. And up in the snow hunters should be able to see the deer better,” said wildlife officer Troy Hammond.

“I think there will be plenty of deer, but from what I’ve seen bucks will probably be a bit smaller than usual. There are always a few good ones to be taken,” Hammond said.

With temperatures on the upswing and snow melting, finding deer could be tougher. More than 72,000 hunters, plus their family and friends are expected afield for Utah’s most popular hunt.

“The deer are wearing their winter coats right now. When the weather is warm like it’s been, they don’t like to be out during the day,” said Anis Aoude, big game coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources. “Instead, they move around at night. Then they bed down before the sun comes up.”

Aoude says DWR biologists manage Utah’s general-season units so there’s between 15 to 20 bucks per 100 does in the herds after the hunts are over in the fall. “Almost all of the state’s units are meeting that goal,” he said.

“The guys that are successful year in and year our do their homework,” Aoude said. “They get out before the season and find the places where the bucks are.”

Avid bow hunters Jay and Saranell Walk of Grantsville killed two nice buck toward the end of the limited entry bow season in the Vernon unit.

“We were seeing a lot of nice deer and we passed up on a lot of them early in the hunt. There were some that we couldn’t get up to,” Jay Walk said. “We both felt really good though being 71 years old and both able to shoot deer.”

The deer herds in the western portion of the region (west of I-15) are still recovering from drought and severe weather over the past few years.

“The buck-to-doe ratios in the region is about 12 bucks to 100 does,” says wildlife biologist Tom Becker. “That’s still a little below our minimum objective of 15 bucks per 100 does.

“Deer hunters in some portions of the area have increased slightly over the last few years,” Becker said. “But overall, hunters should expect to see about the same numbers of bucks as last year.”

Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com