Frequently Asked Questions

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You will need to complete your lifetime recertification document at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/lifetimeCertificates/ or contact our license section at 208-334-2592. Thank you.

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We do give away spawned-out salmon carcasses at our hatchery spawning locations - including Pahsimeroi.  This practice actually started in the 1970's.  We quit giving carcasses away once we started injecting adult salmon with erythomycin phosphate.  Now that we've discontinued the injections, we are again giving away salmon carcasses. Keep in mind, these salmon have not eaten for roughly 5 months.  They've been living on stored body reserves.  When spawning time arrives, the flesh quality can best be described as "poor."  They are much higher quality, from a taste perspective, when caught in April, May and June.

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There are a number of ways.  The BLM produces a nice set of maps covering most of Idaho.  Also several GPS units have programs that will show you ownership.  It is a good idea to be familiar with Idaho trespass law and posting requirements and carry a good map when hunting.

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Good question.  We are in the process of redesigning our website and in the process we will have an entirely new webpage for trapping/furbearers with its own heading.  There have been delays in the website process but it should be out within a few months.  Thanks for your comment.

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The salmon season in the upper Salmon River will close the evening of July 19th.  We predict our harvest allocation will be reached by that date.  The season lasted almost 4 weeks - which is a success compared to the average season length over the past 10 years.

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On page 110 of the 2014 big game proclamations, we have the following statement. Leftover Controlled HuntsSecond drawing: To ensure everyone has equal opportunity at leftover and unclaimed controlled hunt tags, there will be two drawings for deer, elk, pronghorn and fall black bear hunts. all unclaimed tags and all leftovers, (does not include unlimited hunts) will be available for a second drawing around August 20. The Application period is August 5 to 15. Any tags left over after the second drawing will be sold first-com, first-served. The Fish and Game Director does have the authority to designate certain leftover controlled hunt tags to become available earlier on a first-come, first-served over-the-counter basis due to the dates of the hunt. Once the Department knows the number of tags that will be available (includes unfilled and unclaimed tags), we must provide the hunting community with the information of when they will be available and how many tags are available. The Department plans to provide that information through a news release on Monday August 4. It is the Departments goal to make tags available for those hunts with an early August start date to all interested at 10 am mtn time on August 6th or August 7th. Thank you.

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Allowing the original draw to stand was a difficult decision.  It was Director Moore's decision to make and he explains why in an open letter to Idaho Sportsmen.  Click here to read the letter:  http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/specialDraw/    

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Ducks are typically banded every year.  As a member of the Pacific Flyway, Idaho has an obligation to band mallards to inform the Western Mallard model, which helps to determine waterfowl seasons.  As a result, Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) staff band ducks, with an emphasis on mallards, throughout the state.  Staff are also focusing on trapping and banding cinnamon teal.  Cinnamon teal are one of the least studied North American waterfowl and IDFG is assisting with efforts to improve information on survival and harvest rates. Canada geese have not been banded as regularly as ducks.  In recent years, geese have been banded in the Boise and Roberts areas to determine their harvest rates.

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We're talking "apples and oranges" when you mix the total number of Chinook coming over Bonneville Dam and Lower Granite with the angler sport harvest on the South Fork Salmon River. First, lets talk about the numbers of fish coming over the dams.  These numbers represent a mixture of fish returning to rivers all over the northwest.  They are a combination of hatchery and wild fish.  Big numbers of returning Chinook at Bonneville are an indicator of a strong return to Idaho - but not necessarily a strong return of Chinook to the South Fork of the Salmon River. Here is how we arrive at the quota for the South Fork Salmon River: Background - before the juvenile fish leave our hatchery in McCall and are transported to the headwaters of the South Fork Salmon, a small percentage of fish have a PIT tag inserted into their bodies.  Each tag, when passing a "reader" in the bed of the stream or on a dam, will transmit a number programed into the tag.  It's like a social security number.  Using math, we extrapolate population mortality on their downstream migration to the ocean and gain a "picture" of how many fish survived to Bonneville Dam from a particular hatchery release. Adult quota - as the adult fish begin returning to the Columbia River, we can detect those same PIT tags at Bonneville and Lower Granite Dam.  As we detect individual fish, we can again extrapolate the expected number of South Fork Salmon fish that pass Bonneville Dam and monitor mortality from the dams and downstream fisheries as the fish journey up the Columbia River and into the Snake River.  Lower Granite Dam is the last major dam they cross where we detect the PIT tagged fish headed to the South Fork Salmon River and can extrapolate how many hatchery-produced fish will return to our trap.  To arrive at the quota, 1) we take the estimated number of hatchery fish returning to the South Fork Salmon River at Lower Granite Dam - based on PIT tag detections; 2) subtract the anticipated mortality from predators, anglers, diseases, etc. on the journey from Lower Granite to the South Fork Salmon River trap; and 3) subtract the number of adult brood stock fish we need to meet our hatchery production needs.  The number of fish left is our "harvestable surplus" of returning South Fork Salmon River hatchery Chinook salmon.  We then need to divide that number in half because legal rulings have determined that Idaho Indian tribes are entitled to half the harvestable surplus of Chinook returning to the South Fork. As an example, if we estimate 5,000 adult South Fork Salmon Chinook pass Lower Granite Dam and there is a 10% mortality between the dam and South Fork trap- we have 4,500 fish remaining.  We need 2,000 Chinook for brood stock at the South Fork Salmon River trap - so we subtract that number and reach 2,500 fish in the harvestable surplus.  We then divide that number in half to reach the sport fishing quota (1,250) with the tribes being able to harvest the other 1,250 fish.

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Those who have drawn a 2014 super hunt tag in the first drawing held in June have been notified. Thank you.

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Fall Chinook have been stocked in Deadwood Reservoir for many years to help control an over-population of kokanee.   You typically need down-riggers in the summer to fish at a depth of 20+' with flashy type lures that mimic an injured fish.  Call our Nampa Regional Office at 465-8465 and ask for the Regional Fisheries Manager or a Fish Biologist.