Commission Awards Sheep Tags, Sets Quotas

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission Thursday, July 11, awarded bighorn sheep tags for auction and lottery by the National Wild Sheep Foundation and the Idaho Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation. Proceeds from the auction and the lottery go to benefit bighorn sheep in Idaho. Also during the July 11 meeting, the commission approved the allocation of animal damage control funds with $50,000 going to control wolves in elk management zones at or below objective, and $12,000 leftover from last year going to a Fish and Game raven control project. Commissioners set nonresident tag quotas and outfitter nonresident set-aside quotas. They set nonresident quotas of 12,815 elk tags, 14,000 regular deer tags, 1,500 white-tailed deer tags; and nonresident deer and elk tag outfitters set-asides of 1,985 deer tags and 2,400 elk tags. Wildlife officials presented briefings on possible sage-grouse and waterfowl seasons. Final season recommendations for both will be made to the commission in August. A possible sage-grouse season would include a restricted season of seven days with a one-bird limit in the southern part of the Big Desert. Eastern Owyhee and Twin Falls counties, the east Idaho uplands area, Elmore County and the west central part of the state would be closed. The rest of the sage-grouse range in Idaho would be open under a restrictive season of seven days with a one-bird limit. As for waterfowl, early indications suggest a liberal 107-day season with a seven-bird limit for ducks and a four-bird limit on geese. The commissioners also heard an update on Fish and Game's elk management plan revision progress. They were told to expect a draft of the new plan within about two weeks.