Want to know the laws for hunting bobcats in Utah? This article covers many of the fundamental laws you will need to know to get started. It also provides information such as seasons, harvest limits, and required permits for bobcat hunting in Utah. It is not a legal document and is not intended to cover all hunting laws and regulations.
In Utah, the bobcat hunt season runs from November 18, 2022, to March 1, 2023. Hunting hours are from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. The bag limit is 1 per permit, up to a maximum of six. You must have a valid Utah furbearer license before obtaining a bobcat permit.
The Utah bobcat hunting regulations are incredibly lengthy. Please make sure you read them carefully.
Purchase a Utah hunting license here.
Check out all the Utah Hunting Seasons.
If this is your first time hunting bobcats, please give these two articles a read.
How to read and age bobcat sign.
Three vital tips for a successful bobcat hunt.
Related: You can also hunt coyotes in this state. Learn the rules for hunting coyotes in Utah.
Related: Learn the rules for hunting fox in Utah.
General laws for hunting bobcats in Utah.
Suppressors. Legal for use while hunting bobcats.
Night hunting. Prohibited for the hunting of bobcats.
Electronic callers and decoys. Appear to be legal at this time. Please check for updates and changes.
While electronic callers are expensive, mouth and hand callers are cheaper but harder to use.
Read this article and watch the video to learn how to use a closed reed rabbit squealer.
Follow along as call manufacturer Brian Rush shows you three open reed calls you can learn and use today.
You can check the price for an electronic caller on Amazon.
Related: You can read about some highly effective but inexpensive ($20) coyotes decoys here.
Can I kill a bobcat on my property in Utah?
Under Utah Admin. Rule R657-11-21:
A Wildlife Services agent may remove or harvest a depredating bobcat as long as the agent is supervised by the USDA Wildlife Services program and following Division-approved procedures.
A livestock owner or the owner’s employee may take bobcats that are harassing livestock. The employee must be on a regular payroll and not hired specifically to take furbearers.
Any bobcat harvested by a livestock owner or an employee must be surrendered to the Division within 72 hours.
Hunting bobcats in Utah: Licensing steps.
If you are a Utah resident born after December 31, 1984, you must provide proof that you’ve passed a furharvester education course approved by the Division before you can:
• Obtain a furbearer license.
• Obtain a bobcat permit.
• Obtain a marten permit.
You must obtain a permit before hunting bobcats in Utah.
Beginning October 4, 2021, at 8 a.m. MDT, you may purchase bobcat permits at wildlife.utah.gov, from a Division office or at license agent locations.
This year, you may purchase no more than six bobcat permits.
Bobcat permits will be sold until 11 p.m. MDT on October 31, 2021. There will not be a cap on the total number of available permits this year.
You must have your current furbearer license, bobcat permit, and trap registration license on your person while hunting or trapping a bobcat.
If you obtain a bobcat permit in 2021, it is valid for the entire 2021-2022 bobcat season. The season runs from November 18, 2021, to March 1, 2022.
Obtaining and using bobcat tags.
As soon as you harvest a bobcat or marten, you need to attach the temporary possession tags. Then, you should contact a Division office and make an appointment to have a Division employee attach the permanent tag.
Tagging Bobcats:
Utah Code §23-20-30 & Utah Admin. Rule R657-11-5:
You may only kill and tag a bobcat if you possess a valid bobcat permit issued in your name and you find a bobcat in your own marked trapping device or a trapping device you have written authorization to check. You must have both the permit and tags on your person when checking the traps. (See page 15 for the requirements you must meet to check someone else’s trapping devices.)
After you kill a bobcat—but before you move the bobcat’s carcass or leave the site of the kill—you are required to attach your own bobcat tags to the carcass.
You’ll find both tags attached to your permit. There’s one tag for the pelt and one for the jaw.
Tagging process for hunting bobcats in Utah.
The tagging process requires you to:
• Completely detach the tags from the permit.
• Remove the notches that correspond with the harvest date and the animal’s sex.
• Complete the required county and license number information at the bottom of the tag.
• Attach the temporary possession tag to the unskinned carcass or green pelt so that the tag remains securely fastened and visible.
Later, you can remove the lower jaw of the bobcat and tag it with the numbered jaw tag that corresponds to the number on the pelt tag.
While tagging a bobcat, you may not remove more than one notch indicating date or sex, nor can you tag more than one bobcat using the same tag.
The temporary possession tag must remain attached to the green pelt or unskinned carcass until a permanent bobcat tag has been affixed. You may not use a bobcat permit to hunt, trap or pursue bobcat after any of the notches have been removed from the temporary possession tag or the tag has been detached from the permit. Possession of an untagged green pelt or unskinned carcass is considered a probable cause of unlawful taking and possession.
Permanent possession tags for bobcats.
If you harvest a bobcat or marten, you must make an appointment to have a Division employee attach a permanent possession tag to the pelt no later than Friday, March 11, 2022.
You may not buy, sell, trade or barter a green pelt from a bobcat or marten that does not have a permanent tag affixed.
Obtaining permanent tags
When you bring a bobcat pelt into a Division office, a Division employee will attach a permanent tag and take possession of the bobcat’s lower jaw. When you bring in a marten pelt, a Division employee will simply attach a permanent tag. For either type of permanent tag, you must make an appointment.
You can also have permanent possession tags attached at the Utah Trappers Association Fur Sale.
Transporting pelts to obtain tags when hunting bobcats in Utah.
Bobcats and martens that were legally harvested may be transported by someone other than the furharvester to have the permanent tag affixed.
If you transport a bobcat or marten for another person, you must have written authorization that includes all of the following information:
• Date of kill
• Location of kill
• Species and sex of animal being trans-
ported.
• Origin and destination of transportation
• The name, address, signature and furbearer license number of the furharvester.
• The name of the individual transporting the bobcat or marten
• The furharvester’s marten permit number, if marten is being transported.
You can download an authorization form at wildlife.utah.gov/furbearer that makes it easy to collect all of the required information.