Have you considered adding a late archery or rifle season for whitetails in lower Sawtooth region?

Thank you for sharing your observations and your idea for consideration.   There has been an increase in the number of white-tailed deer seen along the middlefork and southfork of the Payette.  Currently, white-tailed deer can be harvested by anyone who has a valid general any weapon, regular deer tag from Oct 10 - Oct 31.  They can also be harvested by anyone with a valid general any weapon, white-taileded deer tag from Oct 10 - Nov 8.  They may also be harvested with a valid tag during the archery season earlier in the fall (Aug 30 - Sep 30).   IDFG observations in the area indicate that in general the white-tailed deer use more of the river bottom and surrounding ag field interface, whereas most mule deer move further into the forest for the spring, summer, and fall period.  It appears that white-tailed and mule deer overlap the most on winter range.  A late season hunt in late November or December may allow more harvest of white-tailed deer but it would also mean that mule deer could also be impacted by hunting activity on winter range.  Also a fair amount of the river bottom where white-tailed deer concentrate in the winter is private so access to hunters may be limited.  These are just two considerations that need to be weighed in the balance for any future season change.   One of the best things that would improve mule deer odds of surviving harsh winters in those units would be an improvement to the winter range.  Currently, many of the south facing lower slopes have been over-run by invasive weeds that provide no benefit to mule deer.