Commission Sets Waterfowl Seasons

Meeting by conference call August 16, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission set waterfowl hunting dates and limits for the 2002-03 season. Federal season frameworks allowed for a season for both ducks and geese of 107 days, less any youth hunts and early seasons. For pintails, only a 60-day season is allowed. There will be no season on canvasbacks. Biologists recommended, and the commission approved:

• Youth Waterfowl Hunt: September 28 to September 29 (2 days)
  
  
• Ducks: Saturday, October 12 2002 to Friday, January 24, 2003 (105 days)
  
  
• Geese: Saturday, October 19, 2002 to Friday, January 24, 2003 (98 days)
  
  
• Pintail: Saturday, October 12, 2002 to Tuesday, December 10, 2002 (60 days)
  
  
• Canvasback: Closed
  
  

Seasons in the Fort Hall zone will likely open one week earlier on October 5. The Shoshone-Bannock tribe will set those seasons at an August 27 meeting. The Commission also modified boundaries to simplify descriptions by placing all of Blaine County in the eastern Idaho goose zone and all of Elmore County in the western zone; and increased the limit in the southwest region by one goose to four, making the limit uniform statewide except for the Magic Valley Region. The limit there remained at three due to public input. Duck limits remain the same as last year, with a total of seven allowed daily. This can include no more than two female mallards, one pintail (in season), two redheads and four scaup.