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Idaho Fish and Game

Comment on Archery, Blackpowder Methods Sought

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Should Idaho rules on archery and muzzleloader hunting reflect recent developments in equipment? Idaho Fish and Game is currently seeking public comment on a couple of possible changes that have the support of a number of individual hunters. The Fish and Game Commission will set final rules for the 2004 seasons in March. The department wants hunters to discuss changes to two technology rules. Hunters are currently limited to compound bows that have a 65 percent let-off. Let-off is the amount of pressure on the string when the bow is at full draw. Many bows now on the market have an 80 percent let-off -making it easier to hold the bow at full draw for a longer time while the archer aims. Pope and Young, the archery club that monitors hunting records of archery hunters, recently changed its rules to allow hunters to use bows with an 80 percent let-off and qualify their animals for the record book. Some muzzleloader hunters have requested that the department consider allowing the use of "209" shotgun primers or musket caps rather than be limited to the current No. 10 or 11 percussion caps as an ignition device. The issue is that shotgun primers or musket caps provide a more dependable ignition. The department also wants to gauge public opinion on a number of other minor nonbiological rules. These include the question of allowing hunters to buy more than one leftover nonresident deer or elk tag. Another question is whether nonresident junior mentored hunting licenses should be treated the same as hunter graduate licenses and 10-11-year-old small game licenses by requiring that they be accompanied in the field by a licensed adult. "Accompanied" has been defined as being within normal talking distance without the aid of electronic equipment. The department is proposing to make it illegal to kill wild big game animals within a fenced enclosure and to clarify the rules to say that hunters checking in a lion must allow the removal of a premolar tooth, the same rule that applies to bear. Another proposal is to allow people to cancel their controlled hunt application at regional offices and reapply in case they change their mind or the initial application was in error. Proposed new rules would make motorized travel restrictions consistent between traditional weapons hunts and the new Motorized Vehicle Rule and would drop the requirement for transporting the lower jaw of elk and deer. Comment can be made at public meetings scheduled in each region of Idaho, visiting with regional staff members, or writing to IDFG Wildlife Bureau, P.O. Box 25, Boise, ID 83707.