History
The Southeast Region has significant history of winter feeding and has an active Winter Feeding Advisory Committee.
January 23, 2017 status report
Fish and Game, with input from the Southeast Idaho Winter Feeding Advisory Committee has selected additional sites for baiting/feeding efforts in Caribou, Bear Lake, Franklin, Bannock and Bingham Counties.
There is a layer of ice under much of the snow and elk are having difficulty pawing through it to get to vegetation. Baiting of elk began in the Banks Valley area and behind the Ranch Hand Trail Stop in Bear Lake County after hazing efforts were not successful in reducing elk depredations on haystacks or movement of animals across highways. In addition, Fish and Game delivered approximately 10,00 feed of panels to landowners to protect haystacks from elk and deer and assisted with the installation of the barriers.
Elk feed operations are being organized and feeding should start early next week at Banida, Burton Canyon (east of Grace), Swan Lakes and Geneva.
Fish and Game is monitoring elk situations on the southeast side of Fish Creek, 10 Mile Pass, and Georgetown but feeding has not yet commenced. Fish and Game is also communicating with the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, which has started feeding elk east of Fort Hall and in Indian Creek.
A public meeting to organize volunteer winter feeding teams was held in Montpelier on January 18. Thanks to volunteers, Fish and Game was able to establish 14 new feeding stations for deer in Bear Lake County alone. Over 50 volunteers are lending assistance to date.
Number of elk and deer at each Emergency Winter Feeding site in the Southeast Region
Five active elk feeding sites feeding approximately 1,750 elk
- Banks Valley - 800 elk
- Ranch Hand - 400 elk
- Burton Canyon - 300 elk
- Geneva - 50 elk
- Swan Lakes - 200 elk
- Banida 400 elk (note: These elk appear to have dispersed. Feeding has been suspended by staff is monitoring closely)
- Fish Creek/10mile/Georgetown - over 1,000 elk (monitoring closely).
25 deer feeding sites feeding 3,500 - 5,100 deer
- Preston area - seven feeding sites - 500-1000 deer
- Georgetown Canton - four feeding sites - 300-600 deer
- Montepelier area - four feeding sites - 600-1000 deer
- Bear Lake (west side) - six feeding sites - approximately 1,500 deer
- Ninety Percent (Soda Springs) - one feeding site -2,400 deer
- Unit 68 desert (Bingham County - three feeding sites - 200 deer depredating a number of haystacks in the Aberdeen area.
- Downata (Bannock County) - one feeding site - 2,400 deer