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ummer is winding down and the kids have gone back to school, which can only mean one thing for thousands of Utahns — it’s time to get out on the hunt again.?

Thursday is Utah’s opening day for dove, forest grouse, cottontail rabbit and snowshoe hare, and many upland game seasons have been lengthened in the state this year.?Justin Dolling, upland game and waterfowl coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources, said DWR biologists are seeing lots of doves in Utah, and good numbers of cottontail rabbits in concentrated pockets across the state. Grouse numbers appear to be up in some areas this year and down in others, while the number of snowshoe hares is similar to last year.?

Mourning dove:

Dolling said DWR biologists are seeing above-average numbers of doves in Utah right now, which isn’t surprising considering what they saw last spring. During surveys in late May, the number of mourning doves biologists saw was up a whopping 247 percent from a year earlier.?Dolling said dove habitat is both plentiful and in excellent condition in Utah this year.?”The moisture the state received this spring and summer led to excellent plant growth,” he said. “Lots of sunflowers and weedy vegetation are available for the doves.”?

Forest grouse:

Dusky and ruffed grouse reports have been mixed. Dolling said gathering information about forest grouse is challenging for DWR biologists because they have so many other duties.?”Our biologists have to gather forest grouse information while they’re in the field working on other projects or surveying other species,” he said.?The outlook for grouse is best in the northern part of the state, where numbers of both dusky and ruffed grouse appear to be up from last year.?In Central Utah, most of the forest grouse chicks that were born last spring survived, and a lot of water and habitat are available for the birds. However, overall grouse numbers appear to be down in the northeastern, southeastern and southern regions of the state.?

Cottontail rabbit:

Cottontail populations go through a cycle that lasts about 10 years. At the start of the cycle, their numbers are high. Then the population declines for about five years before rebounding again, and so forth.?Dolling said the number of cottontails in Utah is currently increasing after bottoming out about two years ago. Early indications from surveys are encouraging, he said, with good numbers of rabbits in concentrated pockets across the state.?”Rabbit populations are rebounding,” he said, “but they haven’t reached a point where enough rabbits are available to spread out and fill all of the available habitat. If you can find a group of rabbits, you should be in for a good hunt.”?

Snowshoe hare:

The only snowshoe hare surveys in Utah, conducted by the U.S. Forest Service in the northern part of the state, indicate the number of snowshoe hares in Northern Utah is increasing slightly.?Dolling suggests trying snowshoe hunting in the winter, when there aren’t as many other outdoor opportunities. He also cautions hunters to learn the difference between a snowshoe hare and a white-tailed jackrabbit.?For that information and other details about all the hunts that begin Thursday, visit www.wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks.