Application for Crane Hunts Begins

The time to apply for sandhill crane controlled hunt permits starts Friday, June 15 and runs through July 15. In six eastern Idaho counties 500 sandhill crane permits will be available this year. Of that total, 300 permits will be available to hunters in Caribou and Bear Lake Counties, 80 will be available in Teton County, 80 will be available in Fremont County, and 20 each in Bonneville and Jefferson counties. Crane season will run from September 1 through September 7 and September 8 through September 15. The daily bag limit is two cranes, and the season limit is nine. The first tag is offered through a standard controlled hunt drawing and additional tags, up to eight per hunter, can be purchased at any vendor as leftover tags. Once the drawing is complete, leftover permits will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis beginning August 30. Sandhill cranes are hunted in Idaho as an attempt to limit depredation to crops in eastern Idaho counties. Cranes are fully protected outside the three hunt areas, all in southeast Idaho. Applications can be made at any license vendor, Fish and Game office, by telephone at 1-800-554-8685 or 1-800-824-3729, on the Fish and Game Website at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov, or by mail to IDFG License Section, P.O. Box 25, Boise ID. All applicants will pay a $6.25 nonrefundable application fee. Successful applicants then pay $7.75 for a controlled hunt permit and $1.75 for a tag. Hunters also must have a migratory bird validation at a cost of $1.75. Each additional permit costs $15.75. Rules brochures for the 2007 crane season are available at license vendors statewide and on the internet at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/hunt/rules/crane/.