Ask Fish and Game

Q: I understand Idaho resident elk hunters can take a second elk if they buy a leftover non-resident tag. With increased pressure on our elk herds, should we really allow hunters to harvest two elk in a single season? A: The number of hunters harvesting elk using leftover tags is much lower than you might imagine. In 2004 Idahoans purchased 246 leftover non-resident elk tags. Fish and Game received reports from 217 of those hunters. The results of that survey show that 73 elk were taken using leftover non-resident tags. That accounts for less than one half of one percent of the annual harvest of more than 18,000 elk in Idaho.