Big Game Seasons Wind Down; Hunters - Remember Harvest Reports!

The Department of Fish and Game relies completely on all big game hunters to turn in their mandatory harvest reports within 10 days of harvest or within 10 days of the close of their season. These reports on deer, elk and antelope are the only way the Department has of knowing harvest levels, hunter success, and days hunted. The success rate in general antlered deer hunts from our eight opening weekend check stations was 23%, the same as in 2000. Controlled antlered deer success was 26%; permit holders for controlled antlerless deer hunts found 53% success for this year. No preliminary data is available on either elk or antelope. Since all Magic Valley Region elk and antelope rifle hunts are the controlled type, we do not operate check stations to collect harvest data on them. No summary of harvest information will be available until hunter reports are turned in and calculated. Department biologists and officers will begin in-house meetings in December to discuss next year's seasons. Hunters should plan to attend open houses in their area in late January. Harvest information turned in by then will be important in setting season dates and permit levels for 2002. Deer numbers in the northern units (43, 48, 49) were good and continue to improve. Not only did the percent of yearlings in the harvest increase by 20% across the region, the percent of bucks with greater than a 20 inch spread increased by 53%! Recovery in the southern units has been slow however, although unit 56 showed an improvement in both deer numbers and hunter success. Department personnel received numerous favorable comments on the expanded youth hunting opportunities for big game. Opening weekend youth deer hunter success was 34% region wide. An informal survey done at these check stations showed that 25% of all Magic Valley Region deer hunters were 17 years old or younger. We sampled 841 of the 2,680 hunters coming through all stations. The average age of this group of hunters was 34; the national average for all American hunters is 42. The ages of regional deer hunters ranged from 12 to 86 years. Our survey also showed that each hunter questioned had hunted for an average of 19 years. Ninety-eight percent of the hunters surveyed were from Idaho, 90% of them were male, and 72% had taken some type of formal hunter education course. Officers in the field received the usual variety of comments and complaints from the public, but this year the biggest concern was the abuse of ATV's/ORV's by hunters. Although check station information showed that only one-third of all hunting parties have a motorcycle or ATV, the perception is they are everywhere, and moreover, no one is using them responsibly. This is obviously not the case, but continued abuse of this equipment may lead to further restrictions on hunting methods or access. Another recurring topic is that conservation officers are never around when you need them! Hunters complain they have been in the field for years and never once been checked by a "warden." On the average, each officer in Idaho has approximately 1,000 square miles of patrol area. In 1980 there were a total of 12 conservation officers for the entire Magic Valley Region; today, there are still only twelve. Two bowhunters in the region were extremely successful in taking trophy animals. Zack Shetler, Shoshone, took a mule deer buck in unit 53 on September 11. The deer was a non-typical, 13 x 15 points, 36 inches wide, and scored 261 7/8 in the Pope and Young record book. This is a new state bowhunting record for non-typical mule deer, and will probably rank number four in the nation for this category. Elk bowhunter Howard Holmes of Lewiston took a 6 x 6 point bull elk in unit 49. It scored 380 points by Pope and Young standards, and breaks the Idaho state record that has stood for 20 years.