Meeting by conference call on April 11, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission set seasons for migratory game birds for 2019-20, and amended wolf hunting seasons in Units 51 and 50 for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.
The seasons for migratory game birds will remain mostly the same as the 2018-19 seasons, with a few exceptions:
- Ducks — Daily pintail limit was reduced form two to one
- Light Geese — Butte County and portions of Bonneville, Jefferson and Clark counties west of Interstate 15 were shifted into a different zone to allow late winter/spring hunting opportunities.
- Sandhill Cranes — The number of crane tags was reduced from 306 to 220, in response to reductions in the Rocky Mountain population numbers over the past three years.
Hunters will be able to find exact season dates, zone maps, and shooting hours in 2019-20 Migratory Game Bird Brochure later in spring and well in advance of any of the upcoming seasons.
The commission also amended to the 2019-20 and 2020-21 wolf hunting seasons in Unit 50 (excluding the portion in Blaine County) and Unit 51, to allow year-round hunting on private land.
The commission previously set statewide wolf hunting seasons in March, and intended to include all of Custer and Lemhi counties to address depredation concerns, but Units 50 and 51 were inadvertently omitted during the process.