Commission Changes Longstanding Moose Rule

Hunters of Idaho moose can take more than one moose in a lifetime beginning with the 2005 season. For generations, hunters were limited to one moose taken in a controlled hunt. After a hunter had harvested one moose in a controlled hunt, that hunter could not apply again. As Idaho moose numbers expanded, cow hunts were added where herds came into conflict with agricultural and urban development. In recent years, those cow hunts were undersubscribed, with leftover permits as a result. Until now, a moose killed under a leftover permit would count as a hunter's lifetime moose. Achieving enough cow harvest became a problem. Meeting in Boise January 19-21, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission unanimously adopted a department recommendation to allow harvest in a controlled hunt of one antlered moose and one antlerless moose in a lifetime. The Commission also voted to change the rule on leftovers so that moose taken with a leftover permit does not count against the lifetime limit. With the change to allow an antlerless and an antlered moose, leftover permits may be much reduced. The department did not recommend wholesale reductions in the number of permits in some hunt areas so they could be managed to increase the average antler spread of harvested bulls. That idea was discussed in public meetings. Most hunters preferred a greater chance to draw than the certainty of encountering more older, larger bull moose. Instead, the department trimmed the number of permits to insure that all hunt areas produced some older bulls, but without significant reduction in hunt permits. Statewide, the Commission approved 1,086 permits for moose, and 864 permits for antlered moose, in 2005-2005, which is about 90% of the number of permits offered in 2004. Another significant change is that some new, experimental moose hunts, only one week long, will be offered in Panhandle hunt areas. These permits will be offered during the last full week of September, during the moose rutting' season, and are designed to allow hunters desiring to hunt these highly productive units a chance to improve their odds in Controlled hunt drawings.