Southwest Region Big Game Season Open Houses and Sportsman Show

The 2015 big game hunting season in Idaho's southwest region is the subject of upcoming open houses where hunters are invited to visit directly with Fish and Game staff from both the McCall and Nampa regional offices. Three public open house meetings are scheduled for late February. Plan now to attend the open house in your area. McCall - Tuesday, February 24 - 5 to 7 pm Fish and Game Office 555 Deinhard Lane Council - Wednesday, February 25 - 5 to 7 pm Grange Hall Nampa - Thursday, February 26 - 5 to 7 pm Fish and Game Office 3101 S. Powerline Road In addition to the open house lineup, Fish and Game staff will be attending the 2015 Sportsman Show in Boise from March 5 through 8. Big game proposals for the 2015 fall season will be available at the show, and the public is welcome to review and provide proposal comments. A seminar on Fish and Game's public input process will also be held at the show on Thursday evening and again late Saturday afternoon. One 2015 Southwest Region big game season proposal involves increasing controlled hunt bull elk tags in units 19A and 23 from five tags to 10 tags each. "McCall Zone elk flights indicate a growing elk population," Fish and Game wildlife manager Regan Berkley noted. "Bull numbers are now above objective, which will allow for more hunting opportunity." In unit 39, elk numbers are at the top end of management objectives and a number of additional hunt options are being reviewed. "We're asking the public for input on several ideas," Fish and Game wildlife manager Craig White said. "These include adding a new muzzleloader controlled hunt, adding a new archery controlled hunt and adding more tags to the existing any weapon controlled antlerless hunt." A complete list of statewide deer, elk, pronghorn, black bear, mountain lion and wolf hunt proposals is now available on the Fish and Game website: https://fishandgame.idaho.gov and at both the McCall and Nampa regional offices. Individuals with disabilities may request meeting accommodations by contacting Jan Julian at the Fish and Game McCall office (634-8137), Kim Cox at the Fish and Game Nampa office (465-8465) or through the Idaho Relay Service at 1-800-377-3529 (TDD).