During the past couple of weeks, IDFG has received a number of calls, comments and inquiries about some of the changes made to the Weiser River elk zone this year. Most callers have asked why a couple of these changes were made; we’ll try to explain that here, as well as our plans going forward.
The three changes that have received the most attention, and have generated the most comments, are:
- Adding cow hunting to the A-tag
- Placing a quota on the A-tag. Combined with adding the cow hunting, this meant some long-term Weiser archers were unable to acquire a Weiser A tag this year.
- Adding a rifle hunt that overlaps 2 December muzzleloader hunts
IDFG made these and other changes to the Weiser Zone this year in an effort to move this population towards objectives in Idaho’s Elk Management Plan. These objectives were set to strike a balance between maintaining enough elk to provide hunting opportunities and minimizing elk impacts to private lands. The herd in the Weiser Zone is far over State Elk Management Plan objectives (more than 3200 "extra" cow elk) despite 10 years of increasing controlled cow hunt tags to try to reverse that trend. For more on IDFG’s elk management objectives, you can visit our elk management plan at: https://idfg.idaho.gov/old-web/docs/wildlife/planElk.pdf
For some additional data about Weiser Zone elk numbers and harvest trends, you can visit this page: https://idfg.idaho.gov/blog/2017/02/weiser-elk-zone-gmus-22-32-32a-summ…
We anticipated that adding cow hunts to the A and B tags would make those hunts more attractive to some hunters. During our season setting process, hunters expressed concerns that adding general cow hunting could result in drastic increases in hunter participation. Therefore, a quota was put on both the A and B tags to ensure that we did not overharvest elk. The quota of 1900 was set above the average number of A tag hunters (about 1550) to offset some of the additional interest in hunting the zone that was anticipated.
The December rifle hunt was added in addition to three hunts in January and February. The intent of these hunts is to specifically target elk that are accessible during winter, and particularly ones that are creating conflicts on private lands. The December rifle hunt overlaps the muzzleloader hunts, but includes 2 additional GMUs. That, combined with the month-long season, should afford hunters the chance to spread out. This will hopefully minimize any crowding or conflicts.
We understand that these changes resulted in impacts to traditional hunts for some hunters. Beginning this winter, we will review harvest data and population survey data to evaluate whether the additional cow hunting has moved the population towards management objectives. We will also review harvest success rates, and hunter participation, in both general hunts and controlled cow hunts. Using all this information, we may be able to make changes that reduce the negative effects on hunters while still reducing the elk population and providing relief to private landowners.