Big Game Winter Feeding updates

When winter brings wildlife out of the hills and into contact with people, we may ask when is it appropriate to feed big game animals. The desire to feed animals is natural, yet from past experience, Fish and Game knows it is a complicated decision.

Fish and Game looks to natural forage to sustain big game populations. But when emergency conditions exist, winter feeding becomes an option. Three main conditions that can trigger winter feeding are:

Private Property Damage

To prevent damage to private property such as damage to stored agricultural crops like haystacks

Public Safety Concern

To prevent significant human safety issues such as elk congregating near a busy highway

Excessively harsh winter conditions

To prevent excessive mortality that would affect recovery of the herd such as those conditions where a high percentage of the adult females would be expected to die

The agency’s policy and actions have evolved through decades of experience with winter feeding and is done with the best interest of Idaho’s big game populations.

After the devastating winters in the late 1990’s, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission developed a policy and process to guide the agency’s decisions to feed or not to feed big game animals.

Idaho Fish and Game

News

F&G thanks all who assisted in record winter big game feeding

Thursday, April 6, 2017 - 10:52 AM MDT

What an effort it was. During peak winter, Fish and Game staff and volunteers, in cooperation with many private landowners, operated 156 feeding sites that fed more than 13,000 deer, 12,000 elk and 200 pronghorn.

Big Game Winter Feeding updates
Please avoid big game herds to let them recover from winter

Wednesday, March 22, 2017 - 2:59 PM MDT

Fish and Game officials appreciate the public’s patience and assistance in helping wildlife recover after a record winter. The difference between people complying with the closure or not could mean life and death to many animals.

Big Game Winter Feeding updates Big Game Hunting Wildlife Conservation and Management
Winter feeding in motion on Tex Creek WMA [Video]

Monday, February 27, 2017 - 1:03 PM MST

Fire burned 22,000 acres of winter range on the Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area in eastern Idaho in 2016. To support elk and deer, and prevent private property damage, Idaho Fish and Game set in motion the largest winter feeding operation in Idaho’s history.

Big Game Winter Feeding updates Big Game Hunting Upper Snake Region Elk (Cervus canadensis) Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)
2017 Winter Feeding in Video

Monday, February 27, 2017 - 1:02 PM MST

Fish and Game staff pulled out their phones and cameras to capture the scope of winter feeding efforts around the state.

Big Game Winter Feeding updates Elk (Cervus canadensis) Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)
Protecting big game doesn't end with milder weather

Monday, February 27, 2017 - 11:29 AM MST

Although animals got a much-needed reprieve with some early spring-like weather, their survival is far from guaranteed.

Big Game Winter Feeding updates Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) Elk (Cervus canadensis)
Idaho Fish and Game Authorizes Additional Winter Feeding Sites in Southeast Idaho

Friday, February 10, 2017 - 11:21 AM MST

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) with input from the Southeast Idaho Winter Feeding Advisory Committee (WFAC) has selected an additional 27 sites for baiting/feeding efforts in multiple counties in southeast Idaho. The total number of feed sites is now 89 (71 for deer, 16 for elk, and 2 for pronghorn). Over 100 volunteers are lending assistance to date.

Southeast Region Big Game Winter Feeding updates Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) Elk (Cervus canadensis) Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana)
Protecting Haystacks From Wildlife Damage

Tuesday, February 7, 2017 - 6:07 PM MST

Summer is typically the primary season for big game depredations on agricultural crops in the Clearwater Region. But with this winter’s snow depths exceeding anything seen in recent years, complaints of deer and elk getting into haystacks have been rolling in. Regional Landowner-Sportsman Coordinator Jana Ashling has responded to approximately 25 such complaints to-date. On February 7 the re

Clearwater Region Big Game Winter Feeding updates Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) Elk (Cervus canadensis)