Youth Pheasant Hunt Opens Oct. 5

The Youth Pheasant Season opens at noon on Saturday, October 5, 2002 in the Magic Valley Region. This special season is open for two days (October 5 and 6) statewide for all licensed hunters 15 years of age or younger, resident and non-resident alike. All youth hunters must be accompanied by an adult 18 years of age or older, but the adult does not have to be a licensed hunter. One adult may take more than one youth hunter into the field that weekend. The daily bag limit is three roosters, and the possession limit after the first day six roosters. A minimum of 50 adult rooster pheasants will be stocked at the Niagara Springs Wildlife Management Area (NSWMA) in Gooding County prior to the youth hunt opener. Young hunters participating in this Youth Pheasant Season and hunting on any Idaho Department of Fish & Game wildlife management areas are not required to purchase the special pheasant permit. However, beginning this fall adult hunters will be required to purchase these permits for Niagara Springs WMA. These permits have not been required in the past on this WMA. The Department releases gamefarm rooster pheasants on nine wildlife management areas in southern Idaho. Hunting for pheasants on these wildlife management areas during the regular pheasant season requires the special WMA Pheasant Permit. Hunters over the age of 17 must have a valid WMA Pheasant Permit in possession while hunting pheasants on these lands. In this region, Niagara Springs is the only WMA where pheasants will be released. When a pheasant is harvested on a WMA, the hunter must enter the month and date of harvest in the space provided and enter the location code (Niagara Springs WMA is code 09). Each $21.50 permit is valid for a total of six roosters; multiple permits may be purchased. The general pheasant season in the Magic Valley region opens at noon on Saturday, October 19. In our region, the season ends on November 30 in Minidoka and Cassia counties. For Twin Falls, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, Blaine, Camas, Elmore and Owyhee counties, the season runs through December 31. Bag and possession limits in all of Idaho are three and six. There is no season for hen pheasants in Idaho.