IDFG continues working with landowners to reduce big game depredations in the Magic Valley

Idaho Fish and Game staff in the Magic Valley Region continue to work with landowners to reduce big game depredation on agricultural crops as the growing season progresses.

Consistent use of prevention measures has helped reduce or prevent chronic depredation in some areas of the region. However, new and ongoing conflicts continue to occur as big game animals move onto agricultural lands in search of food and cover.

Current depredation hotspots 

During the summer of 2026, most of the region’s depredation activity has been occurring in Gooding, Elmore, Jerome, Blaine, Cassia, Twin Falls, Lincoln and Power counties, with elk responsible for the majority of reported crop damage. Many of these conflicts occur where irrigated farmlands border public rangeland.

One of the most common situations Fish and Game staff encounters are elk moving into cultivated fields at night. This can make it difficult to address the problem through traditional hunting because the animals are often using the fields after legal shooting hours.

Damage has been documented in a variety of crops this growing season, including sugar beets, alfalfa and corn.

Standing corn continues to be one of the more difficult depredation situations for wildlife managers. Elk often use corn fields for both food and cover and may remain in the fields throughout the day, leaving primarily at night. Attempts to haze elk out of large fields are often ineffective because the animals may simply move to another portion of the field, sometimes resulting in additional crop damage.

Tools to reduce depredation

Wildlife biologists work with landowners to identify and use nonlethal measures first when possible. Hazing, fencing and other prevention methods can be effective in certain situations, depending on the location, crop and behavior of the animals involved.

When those measures are not successful and significant crop damage is occurring, Fish and Game has additional tools available to address the problem. Depending on the circumstances, those tools include using hunters wherever and whenever possible through depredation hunts or landowner permission hunts, and, when necessary, removal of animals by trained Fish and Game personnel.

Depredation Hunts

Depredation hunts are generally used to address an active or immediate wildlife damage situation. These hunts are established on short notice when animals are actively causing damage. The hunt may occur outside traditional hunting seasons and is intended specifically to reduce wildlife damage. 

Hunters apply for these hunts during the annual depredation hunt application period (May 1-June 30) and are randomly selected if a hunt is needed.

Depredation hunts are initiated by Fish and Game in response to a specific depredation situation and usually only involves a specific field or farm where the damage is occurring. 

Landowner Permission Hunts (LPH)

Landowner permission hunts (LPH) are generally used for ongoing or chronic depredation, particularly when wildlife is regularly using private property.

Fish and Game may provide vouchers to an affected landowner, who then determines which eligible hunters receive permission to participate. The hunt timing and boundaries are established by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission. 

LPH hunts may be limited to private property or, depending on the specific hunt, may include portions of public land. These hunts are usually implemented at a game management unit level or a large portion of a game management unit. 

Agency-led removals

Agency-led removals are a last-resort tool used when other depredation measures are not effective or practical.

In these situations, trained Fish and Game personnel may lethally remove animals that are repeatedly causing damage, particularly when hunting is not feasible because of access, timing, safety concerns or other circumstances.

The goal of these actions is to reduce or stop active crop damage while maintaining healthy and sustainable big game populations.

Meat from animals taken through agency-led removals are professionally processed and donated to food banks and other organizations, including Idaho Hunters Feeding the Hungry.

Working with landowners

Managing depredation is an ongoing process, and there is no single tool that works in every situation. Fish and Game staff evaluate each conflict based on the animals involved, the location, the type of crop, the severity of the damage and what prevention measures have already been attempted.

Fish and Game will continue working with landowners, hunters and other partners to address depredation while maintaining healthy big game populations and providing sustainable hunting opportunities.

For more information about big game depredation in the Magic Valley Region, contact the Idaho Fish and Game Magic Valley Regional Office at (208) 324-4359.