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Idaho Fish and Game

Black bear with huckleberries in the background

Bear hunters in southeast Idaho take note: Spring bear hunt rules for 2018 still in effect

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Recently approved big game hunting seasons and rules, which included expanding bear hunting opportunity in southeast Idaho, take effect July 1, 2019.

In March, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission set big game hunting seasons and rules for 2019-2021, which included expanding bear hunting opportunity in the Southeast Region.  With spring bear hunts upon us, hunters are reminded that bear hunting regulations this spring are the same as they were in spring 2018. The recent changes to bear hunting regulations in southeastern Idaho are not applicable until after the approved big game rules take effect July 1, 2019.

Specifically, harvest of black bears in Units 71, 72, 74, 75, 77, and 78 is ILLEGAL during the upcoming spring bear hunt. Harvest opportunities for black bears in those units will begin Fall 2019.

"We don’t want to see well-intentioned hunters inadvertently breaking the rules, ” says Jennifer Jackson, Regional Communications Manager with Idaho Fish and Game’s Southeast Region. “Folks need to remember that the spring 2019 bear hunting season was set two years ago during the prior season setting process.”

The 2019-2021 Big Game Hunting Seasons and Rules brochure will be available online at https://idfg.idaho.gov sometime in early April and at Fish and Game license vendors soon thereafter.