(Salt Lake City, UT) - You can apply for next year's most prized Utah big game hunting permits — 2013 sportsman permits — starting Oct. 30.

Only Utah residents can apply for sportsman permits. One sportsman permit is offered for each of the following species: Desert bighorn ram, Rocky Mountain bighorn ram, buck deer, buck pronghorn, bull elk, bull moose, hunter's choice bison and hunter's choice Rocky Mountain goat.

Sportsman permits are also offered for three species that are not big game: Black bear, cougar and wild turkey.

If you draw a sportsman permit, the dates you can hunt vary. But in most cases, the dates are longer than the regular season dates. You can also hunt on almost any unit in Utah that's open to hunting the species you drew a permit for.

Judi Tutorow, wildlife licensing coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources, says sportsman permits are highly prized among hunters. "If you're one of the lucky hunters who draws one," she says, "you'll have plenty of days — and plenty of areas — to hunt."

You can apply for a sportsman permit starting Oct. 30 online. Applications must be submitted no later than 11 p.m. on Nov. 20.

Draw results will be posted by Nov. 29. If you draw a permit, you'll also receive a letter in the mail. "That's a letter you'll probably want to frame," Tutorow says.

You can call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR's Salt Lake City office at 801-538-4700 for more information.