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Idaho Fish and Game

Pheasant Season Opens Saturday in North Idaho

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The regular 2013 pheasant season opens October 12 in northern Idaho, Area 1, and runs through December 31. In the rest of the state, the season opens October 19. It runs through November 30 in Area 2 and through December 31 in Area 3. Shooting hours start one-half hour before sunrise in all three areas, except on Fort Boise, C.J. Strike, Montour and Payette River wildlife management areas, where shooting hours start at 10 a.m. Area 1 includes Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce and Shoshone counties. Area 2 includes Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Bonneville, Butte, Caribou, Clark, Custer, Franklin, Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi, Madison, Oneida, Power and Teton counties. Area 3 includes Ada, Adams, Blaine, Boise, Camas, Canyon, Cassia, Elmore, Gem, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, Minidoka, Owyhee, Payette, Twin Falls, Valley, and Washington counties, including all islands in the Snake River except Patch and Porter islands. The daily bag limit is three cocks, and the possession limit is six after the first day, except on wildlife management areas where pheasants are stocked, in which case the daily limit is two cocks and four in possession. All hunters must carry a valid 2013 Idaho hunting license. And hunters 17 and older need a WMA upland game bird permit to hunt on Idaho Fish and Game wildlife management areas where pheasants are stocked. The permit must be signed in ink by the holder. The permit allows hunters to take two pheasants per day and up to six total in possession. Idaho Fish and Game releases pheasants at nine wildlife management areas in southern Idaho: Fort Boise, Payette River, Montour, C.J. Strike, Sterling, Market Lake, Mud Lake, Cartier Slough and Niagara Springs. All upland game hunters are required to wear a minimum of 36 square inches of hunter orange during the pheasant season when hunting on wildlife management areas where pheasants are stocked. The non-native ring-necked pheasant is widely distributed in agricultural areas. Important habitat needs are grassy areas or other dense nesting cover at least 18 inches high, permanent cover that provides protection from winter weather, and abundant water and food, especially grain. Pheasants are common in this type of habitat along the Snake River Plain from the Oregon border to central Idaho. They are present in lower densities in agricultural habitats below 5,000 feet in eastern Idaho and below 4,000 feet in northern Idaho from Benewah County south to Whitebird. Please consult the 2013 upland seasons and rules brochure for details - available at all license vendors, Fish and Game offices and online at: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/hunt/rules/?getPage=67.