The County Advisory Board to Manage Wildlife voted to support the draft amendment to Commission General Regulation 5-21 concerning the transfer of mule deer tags to junior hunters. The rulemaking item seeks to clarify the circumstances under which a tag holder may transfer a mule deer tag to a junior hunter and includes language about who must be physically present with the junior during the hunt.

Board members noted the draft had been revised multiple times by the Technical Advisory Committee and that specifics about proximity — whether a tag holder must be within 10 feet or simply “with” a junior hunter across terrain features such as canyons — had prompted extended discussion in earlier reviews. The draft also contains a provision stating a holder may transfer a tag only once during his or her lifetime.

Scott Roberts, speaking for the Department of Wildlife Eastern Region, confirmed the language had been through TAC review and that the CAB’s action was to support the proposed amendment as drafted. A board member moved that the CAB support agenda item 20B (Commission General Regulation 5-21); a second followed and the motion carried with the chair voting aye. The CAB’s vote is a recommendation to the commission; the commission will consider and may further revise the language during its regulatory process.

The CAB did not change the draft’s specific text during the meeting; issues about exact proximity wording and the lifetime-transfer limit were noted as matters the commission and TAC have previously debated.