By your definition of a hunter, found on your website, it would seem that a person in the field taking pictures of wildlife could be classified as a hunter. (http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/hunt/?getPage=152)
Your definition reads:
A hunter is any person engaged in the activity of chasing, driving, flushing, attracting, pursuing, worrying, following after or on the trail of, shooting at, stalking, or lying in wait for, any wildlife whether or not such wildlife is then or subsequently captured, killed, taken or wounded.
What becomes a problem is the "whether or not" statement. Are photographers considered hunters? Follow up question: If photographers are not hunters, do the Motorized Hunting Rules apply to them?
Answer:
The full definition of “hunting” that addresses this question is in Idaho Fish and Game laws, Idaho Code Section 36-202:
"Hunting" means chasing, driving, flushing, attracting, pursuing, worrying, following after or on the trail of, shooting at, stalking, or lying in wait for, any wildlife whether or not such wildlife is then or subsequently captured, killed, taken, or wounded. Such term does not include stalking, attracting, searching for, or lying in wait for, any wildlife by an unarmed person solely for the purpose of watching wildlife or taking pictures thereof.
So if you an unarmed person watching or photographing big game, Fish and Game rules restricting motorized vehicle use for big game hunters do not apply to you. However, please note that private landowners and government land managers such as the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management may have other travel restrictions that apply to everyone, whether they are hunting big game or not.
Answered on:
Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - 9:24 AM MDT