October 2019

Fish and Game is asking the public for information regarding two suspected poaching cases in the Garden Valley/Lowman area. Citizens Against Poaching (CAP) is offering a reward for information in both cases and callers can remain anonymous. Contact CAP at 1-800-632-5999 twenty four hours a day.

Fish and Game conservation officer Corey Taylor reported that sometime during the evening of October 20th, a spike elk was shot and left to waste on the Terrace Lakes Golf Course near Crouch. The following evening around 5:00pm, a mule deer doe was shot and left to waste in the Rock Creek drainage near Lowman, Idaho. A witness to this suspected poaching incident reported seeing a late 90s white Chevrolet pickup with 2C plates leaving the area around the time of the incident.

Evidence was collected at both scenes, but Taylor hopes to learn more about these cases from an eyewitness or others who have knowledge of these incidents. “I am very interested in visiting with anyone who has information regarding these suspected poaching cases,” Taylor noted.

In addition to the CAP hotline, persons with information regarding this case may also contact the Fish and Game Nampa office at 208-465-8465 weekdays and Idaho State Police at 208-846-7550 on weekends.

- IDFG -

You can submit your harvest reports online or by calling (877) 268-9365. The phone option is available 24 hours per day and seven days per week. Please have your hunting tag number when calling.

Hunters using a boat to get to their island blind, and hunters shooting from their duck boats are going not only on a hunting trip. They are also going on a boating trip.

It is critically important that they have all of the safety equipment that a boating outing requires. In addition having safety gear, it is critical to consider the weight capacity of the boat being used.

Almost every year, there is a boating accident in northern Idaho involving duck hunters. With water temperatures just above freezing, these accidents can tragically result in a fatality.

The most common mistake waterfowl hunters make in their boating trip is overloading the boat. All vessels under 20 feet in length constructed after Nov 1, 1972 have a capacity plate permanently affixed. The plate will be in a location clearly visible to the operator while the boat is underway. The plate lists the maximum horsepower, maximum number of persons, and maximum weight capacity including all people, dogs and gear.

By the time you put on an outboard motor, add some hunters, a dog and hunting gear, it is very easy to exceed the weight capacity without knowing it.

Exceeding the weight capacity of a boat creates a very dangerous condition. Overloading reduces the amount of freeboard, which is the vertical distance measured on the boat's side from the waterline to the gunwale. Insufficient freeboard can lead to poor handling in rough water and makes it easier for the boat to swamp.

Duck hunters are often out in the worst weather where whitecaps or the wake of a passing boat could quickly send water over the gunwale and into the boat. An excited retriever can unexpectedly move in the boat adding to the danger if a boat is overloaded.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game will stock over 1,200 rainbow trout in the 10-12 inch range the first week of November in Hayden, Hyde and Kid's Creek ponds in the Salmon Region. 

Location; Week Stocked; Number of Trout

• Hayden Pond; Nov 4-8; 600
• Hyde Pond; Nov 4-8; 400
• Kids Creek Pond; Nov 4-8; 200

The number of trout actually released may be altered by weather, water conditions, equipment problems or schedule changes. If delays occur, trout will be released when conditions become favorable.

Anglers can find more detailed information on each of these waters, including maps, facilities, species present, stocking records, and fishing rules by visiting the Idaho Fishing Planner.

With final agreements now signed, hunters, anglers, trappers and other recreationists have access to 336,630 more acres of private timberland through an agreement between the landowners and Fish and Game. 

You can see locations of the parcels on Fish and Game's Map Center. 

Fish and Game officials announced the agreements in May, but multiple contracts with 12 companies in several states took longer than expected. This latest acreage is in addition to Fish and Game’s agreement with PotlatchDeltic to provide public access to 567,002 acres of that company’s timberland for access. 

The agreements came through Fish and Game’s “large tracts” land lease program that targets multi-year access to parcels 50,000 acres or larger. Fish and Game pays $1 per acre annually for the access, which includes hunting, fishing, trapping, wildlife viewing, hiking and recreational travel limited to motor vehicle travel on roads open to full-sized vehicles.

People using these lands are reminded that there are different rules for use depending on the landowner, such as restrictions on camping and ATV use, and it’s the user’s responsibility to know those rules. To get more details and links to rules for using private timberlands and other private lands, see the Hunting and Fishing Access webpage.