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Special deer, elk hunts offered |
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October 12, 2016 |
By Mike Demick
IDFGConservation Information Supervisor
In response to a wildfire that burned about 75
percent of the Tex Creek Wildlife Management
Area near Idaho Falls, Idaho Fish and Game is
offering special controlled hunts with 500
antlerless deer tags and 500 antlerless elk tags
to be sold on a first-come, first-served basis
at 9 a.m. Thursday, October 13.
The special deer season (hunt number 1180) in
controlled hunt area 69-1X will run November
10-30. The special elk season (hunt number 2230)
in controlled hunt area 66-1X will run November
17-30.
Tags for these hunts are considered “extra”
tags, so hunters who have already bought a tag
can purchase one. There will be no tags sold
online. Tags will be available at Fish and Game
offices, businesses that sell licenses and tags,
and by phone (with a credit or debit card) at
(800) 554-8685.
Applicants will pay tag fees and controlled hunt
fees of $6.25 for residents and $14.75 for
nonresidents.
The fire burned about 53,000 acres in Eastern
Idaho, including approximately 75 percent of the
34,000-acre wildlife management area. The fire
burned most of the crucial range for about 3,500
elk, 5,000 mule deer and 100 moose that winter
on the WMA, so it can sustain fewer animals this
winter.
“There was public support for a multifaceted
approach, including increasing the harvest of
deer and elk before winter,” Fish and Game’s
Upper Snake Region Supervisor Jim White said.
Fish and Game commissioners encourage parents
and grandparents to get young hunters involved
in these controlled hunts, which are a temporary
and unexpected opportunity for antlerless hunts.
Fish and Game is also prepared to start
emergency winter feeding following the hunting
seasons. F&G officials decided a combination of
emergency winter feeding and additional harvest
is the best way to reduce over-winter mortality,
allow winter range vegetation to recover, and
reduce damage to nearby private land. |
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