Mandatory Report Returns, Includes Antelope

The "mandatory report" system for tracking hunter participation and harvest is back for 2001. Deer, elk and antelope hunters will be issued a report form with each tag and must submit the completed form within 10 days of harvest, or of the end of the season for which their tag was valid. Hunters who have already purchased tags will receive the report forms in the mail. This year, hunters can report by mailing the form to Hunter Harvest Reports, P.O. Box 70007, Boise, ID 83707-0107, or on the Fish and Game Internet website at http://www.state.id.us/fishgame. A fax number and toll-free phone number will be announced when the information becomes available. The report this year is required of both successful and unsuccessful hunters for deer, elk and antelope. Early reporting is encouraged, since a license for the following year will not be issued until the report is received. Early reporting has other benefits, too. Every hunter who files the report within 10 days of harvest or 10 days of the end of the season for which their tag was valid, will be entered into a drawing for one of 10 supertags. Winners will still have to buy their tag, but it will be valid for any open deer, elk or antelope (the hunter picks which) hunt in the state. Supertag holders can go from hunt to hunt until they take an animal of the chosen species. They need to pick which species they want to hunt by May 1, so that they can apply in the controlled hunt drawings for the others.