Feb. 2 is the first day to apply

If you like to hunt bears in Utah, two big changes await you this
year:

¿       Spot-and-stalk only hunts will be held on two new units this
year.

The two units, the LaSal and San Juan units in southeastern Utah, are
among the state's most popular and best bear hunting areas.

The spot-and-stalk only hunts run Oct. 6 - 29.  Thirty spot-and-stalk
only permits will be offered for the LaSal unit, and 30 permits will be
offered for the San Juan unit.

Hunters may not use hounds or bait during spot-and-stalk hunts.
Instead, they must spot bears and stalk them.

¿       For the first time, three harvest-objective bear hunts will be
offered in Utah.

The number of hunters who can hunt on a harvest-objective area isn't
limited, so switching a limited-entry area to a harvest-objective area
gives more people a chance to hunt the area.

To protect bears on harvest-objective areas, the number of bears that
can be taken on each area is limited.  Once that limit -- also known as