The most popular hunt of the year is almost here, and the outlook for more young bucks this deer season is promising, according to wildlife officials.

The general, any-weapon deer season hunt for the central region of the state, which includes Tooele County, begins Saturday and runs through Oct. 28. More than 60,000 hunters are expected to join in the hunt, looking for a shot at one of the 320,000 adult deer in the state that were counted in the spring, according to the Division of Wildlife Resources.

There should be more young bucks this season in the central region, according to the DWR, because deer survival rates were high last winter.

"We didn't have a lot of winter kill on fawns," said Anis Aoude, DWR big game coordinator.

Projections for the hunt are based on the postseason of the previous year, Aoude said. This year it's expected there should be about 15 bucks per 100 does -- the same as 2005 and 2006.

"It's expected to go well. We should see pretty much identical results to last year, with a good success rate," Aoude said.

This year, Erda resident Troy Warr is hoping to bag a big buck. He has been hunting ever since he could hold a gun, and is looking forward to the approaching hunt. Warr has hunted all over the West, but when in Utah he hunts in Tooele County.

Masses of hunters are scouting locations throughout the county, Warr said, crowding the Oquirrh, Stansbury and Cedar mountain ranges.

"Typically, you'll find a good buck, but a lot of people are after the same buck," said Warr.

Tom Becker, DWR wildlife biologist for Tooele County, said the Oquirrh Mountains has good hunting, and is likely to be crowded. Some of the west desert ranges are also frequented by hunters, although hunting typically isn't as good there because of the rough and rugged terrain.

Warr said the number of deer this season isn't bad, but the quality isn't that impressive.

"You can shoot deer every day of the week in this county," he said, "but you'll probably hunt all week before you find a good one."

While it is unknown how the Kimbell Fire, which burned nearly 15,000 acres in the Stansbury Mountains this past summer, will affect the hunting season, Aoude suspects it won't have too much of an impact.

"The high-country stuff that was burned is probably already greened up, providing good forage," he said.

Becker said the fire could be a blessing in disguise for hunters since it eliminated natural cover.

"This year, animals might be easier to see from a distance with binoculars or a spotting scope," he said. "I expect hunters will see more deer."

However, Becker said the fire could negatively impact next year's hunt if deer starve over the winter due to lack of feed.

"Animals will have to move and go somewhere different this winter and next summer to feed," he said. "If we have a bad winter, we might actually see winter losses. We might see deer die this year."

Wildlife officials caution hunters to be aware of the Vernon limited-entry deer hunting unit -- an area which requires a permit for hunting. Portions of Tooele and Juab counties are part of this unit. Visit DWR's Web site for boundary information.

Sarah Miley: swest@tooeletranscript.com