Idaho 10a deer hunting

[grundy53]

I’ve got a question for those who aren’t “trophy hunters”. Do you shoot the first legal animal that you see when you go out hunting?  Which in the case of 10a would likely be a doe.

i also don’t think just because you pass up a little 2 or 3 point makes you a trophy hunter.

True. But wanting to take other people's opportunities away to grow more big bucks does.

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[andrew_in_idaho]

Another big change was a nonresident cap on the unlimited draw hunts in unit 26&27. They capped nonres in 27 to 51 tags, last year there were 461 nonresidents that did that hunt.


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I talked with IFG about this hunt (27) back in January and they told me it wasn’t as good as it used to be because of over hunting and changes were coming. He also told me that if I was looking for a true “wilderness hunt” not to do it because there is a ton of people in there during hunting season.

Well this cap is going to cut the overall hunter numbers by more than half in those units. 2017 numbers showed 461 nonresidents versus only 209 residents. So if we assume a slight increase in resident hunters there might be 300 people in there this fall


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It should only take a couple years for the area to get back to the quality it used to have as long as there is no harsh winter kill in the unit. Of those 670 hunters, how many deer were killed?  IFG told me that a lot of those camps were heading in the last week of October so that they could kill 1 deer in the general season plus 1 on their controlled hunt which meant they were leaving with 2 bucks and possibly an elk. He said there were stories of camps of 6-7 hunters leaving with 12-14 bucks and half a dozen elk. I don’t care how good an area is with hunting like that the quality won’t last. I’m glad to see Idaho is doing something about it before the area is completely ruined.

Better check the harvest statistics 90 - 100% success on deer and elk in 27?  I don't think so.  I think that's nothing but stories.  Kinda like the 2lbs bass that turns in to 6lbs after the story has been passed through a few people.

26 was 91% success last year, 27 was 75% almost 80% 4 point or better bucks


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[HookedOnQuack]

My family has a cabin in Pierce that we built for hunting purposes, several in our party take the entire month of November off and hunt hard almost everyday. there is anywhere from 8-15 of us there and about half buy 2 tags. Last year of the 4 i know of for certain that had 2 tags, 1 deer was shot. This wasnt because they werent seeing deer they are just the trophy hunter type and unless its a 4-5 year old 4point or masher 3 it just isnt getting shot. My dad and his buddies have been there since the early 90s and have told me that when they first started they would see less than 10 other hunters for the 2 weeks they were there. I know there are several people on here that hunt this area and you can go behind some of the gates now and see more than that! With that being said i actually think the deer numbers have recovered quite nicely in the last few years since wolf hunting has been allowed. There are still lots of nice mature deer in the area as we have 20-30 cameras up from the time the snow lets us up to our areas thru the end of season. I can be fine with the no second tags for a few years or forever really but cutting the season down is the part i really dont care for. We have started having our Thanksgiving dinner in camp every year and mixed with the excitement of still being able to hunt has made that week awesome!

[grundy53]

My family has a cabin in Pierce that we built for hunting purposes, several in our party take the entire month of November off and hunt hard almost everyday. there is anywhere from 8-15 of us there and about half buy 2 tags. Last year of the 4 i know of for certain that had 2 tags, 1 deer was shot. This wasnt because they werent seeing deer they are just the trophy hunter type and unless its a 4-5 year old 4point or masher 3 it just isnt getting shot. My dad and his buddies have been there since the early 90s and have told me that when they first started they would see less than 10 other hunters for the 2 weeks they were there. I know there are several people on here that hunt this area and you can go behind some of the gates now and see more than that! With that being said i actually think the deer numbers have recovered quite nicely in the last few years since wolf hunting has been allowed. There are still lots of nice mature deer in the area as we have 20-30 cameras up from the time the snow lets us up to our areas thru the end of season. I can be fine with the no second tags for a few years or forever really but cutting the season down is the part i really dont care for. We have started having our Thanksgiving dinner in camp every year and mixed with the excitement of still being able to hunt has made that week awesome!

I totally agree with you.  Especially the last part. Thanksgiving won't be the same. I would be fine if it was limited to just one tag. It's the shortening of the season that I'm upset about. Plus it's going to concentrate the hunters even more.

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[meatwhack]

Didn’t 10a used to close November 20th about 10 or so years ago. I know some of the bordering units did but I can’t remember about 10a.

[HookedOnQuack]

Didn’t 10a used to close November 20th about 10 or so years ago. I know some of the bordering units did but I can’t remember about 10a.

Yes sir it did

[lord grizzly]

Another big change was a nonresident cap on the unlimited draw hunts in unit 26&27. They capped nonres in 27 to 51 tags, last year there were 461 nonresidents that did that hunt.


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I talked with IFG about this hunt (27) back in January and they told me it wasn’t as good as it used to be because of over hunting and changes were coming. He also told me that if I was looking for a true “wilderness hunt” not to do it because there is a ton of people in there during hunting season.

Well this cap is going to cut the overall hunter numbers by more than half in those units. 2017 numbers showed 461 nonresidents versus only 209 residents. So if we assume a slight increase in resident hunters there might be 300 people in there this fall


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It should only take a couple years for the area to get back to the quality it used to have as long as there is no harsh winter kill in the unit. Of those 670 hunters, how many deer were killed?  IFG told me that a lot of those camps were heading in the last week of October so that they could kill 1 deer in the general season plus 1 on their controlled hunt which meant they were leaving with 2 bucks and possibly an elk. He said there were stories of camps of 6-7 hunters leaving with 12-14 bucks and half a dozen elk. I don’t care how good an area is with hunting like that the quality won’t last. I’m glad to see Idaho is doing something about it before the area is completely ruined.

Better check the harvest statistics 90 - 100% success on deer and elk in 27?  I don't think so.  I think that's nothing but stories.  Kinda like the 2lbs bass that turns in to 6lbs after the story has been passed through a few people.

26 was 91% success last year, 27 was 75% almost 80% 4 point or better bucks


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It’s not a hard place to fill a tag once your in there. I’m all for any reduction non red tags. Good move F&G 

[Sitka_Blacktail]

It should only take a couple years for the area to get back to the quality it used to have as long as there is no harsh winter kill in the unit. Of those 670 hunters, how many deer were killed?  IFG told me that a lot of those camps were heading in the last week of October so that they could kill 1 deer in the general season plus 1 on their controlled hunt which meant they were leaving with 2 bucks and possibly an elk. He said there were stories of camps of 6-7 hunters leaving with 12-14 bucks and half a dozen elk. I don’t care how good an area is with hunting like that the quality won’t last. I’m glad to see Idaho is doing something about it before the area is completely ruined.

As far as I can figure there were 883 hunters that hunted 27 in 2017. So about 223 in the early regular season and the 670 in the draw season.  The total harvest was was 291 deer.

As for the stories, they could just be stories. I'd have to see documentation before I believed them. The harvest stats don't indicate a lot of double dipping.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

26 was 91% success last year, 27 was 75% almost 80% 4 point or better bucks

Not sure where you're getting your stats, but on the Idaho fish and game site, it says the success rate for 26 was 23.2% or 49 deer for 211 hunters and for 27 it was 32.9% or 291 deer for 883 hunters.

https://idfg.idaho.gov/ifwis/huntplanner/stats/

[Northwest Adventurer]

The statistics are there. There are 2 hunts—-one general and one draw. Add both together and the harvest has been high. I personally gave up on the Frank a few years back and although the new changes limit my chances to return, I think Idaho F&G made the right choice. To be fair to all, maybe a full on “limited draw” would have been a better choice, but this is a step in the right direction. If you look back, you’ll see stories right here about the kind of thing Idaho F&G references in their decision to cut these tags back. As hunters, if we wish to keep enjoying what we love, sometimes we have to make sacrifices. Had we “self managed” over the past few years, there may have been a different result here.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,164521.0.html

And, as for the one tag in 10a, that’s where I’ll be. This was
another much needed and appropriate move by IDFG.

Happy Hunting.

[andrew_in_idaho]

26 was 91% success last year, 27 was 75% almost 80% 4 point or better bucks

Not sure where you're getting your stats, but on the Idaho fish and game site, it says the success rate for 26 was 23.2% or 49 deer for 211 hunters and for 27 it was 32.9% or 291 deer for 883 hunters.

https://idfg.idaho.gov/ifwis/huntplanner/stats/

Those are the general season harvest stats. The controlled hunt season takes place in November and has much higher success rates. The numbers I quoted were direct from the harvest stats


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[idaho guy]

No more seconds tags, sweet!!  I think that is a great change!
[/quot



  I agree although many years I have bought the second tag and taken 2 bucks I think it’s better one deer per person. I bought the second elk tag this year and killed 2 bulls also. So I have taken advantage of the second tag but don’t think it’s the best thing for our herds especially the deer since taking two deer for me usually requires a lot less work. Also it is usually the most successful hunters I think that buy a second tag so I feel like the second tag is more often used than if it were sold to a non residents who might not have as much knowledge of the area. I know a lot of out of state guys buy and fill the second tag also but again it seems to be the real dedicated guys who are more successful or one who wants a meat buck (young) and then “trophy “ hunt with their second. I would like to see panhandle deer seasons also go back to opening November 1 I think our age structure got hurt really bad when they moved deer to 10-10 and left it open for 2 months of rifle. There you go I have benefited from 2 tags and if that’s the rule I will still probably buy 2 sometimes in the future but I think fish and game is doing the right thing at least in 10a

[Sitka_Blacktail]

No more seconds tags, sweet!!  I think that is a great change!
[/quot



  I agree although many years I have bought the second tag and taken 2 bucks I think it’s better one deer per person. I bought the second elk tag this year and killed 2 bulls also. So I have taken advantage of the second tag but don’t think it’s the best thing for our herds especially the deer since taking two deer for me usually requires a lot less work. Also it is usually the most successful hunters I think that buy a second tag so I feel like the second tag is more often used than if it were sold to a non residents who might not have as much knowledge of the area. I know a lot of out of state guys buy and fill the second tag also but again it seems to be the real dedicated guys who are more successful or one who wants a meat buck (young) and then “trophy “ hunt with their second. I would like to see panhandle deer seasons also go back to opening November 1 I think our age structure got hurt really bad when they moved deer to 10-10 and left it open for 2 months of rifle. There you go I have benefited from 2 tags and if that’s the rule I will still probably buy 2 sometimes in the future but I think fish and game is doing the right thing at least in 10a

There is the money trap again though. If you have 1,000 unsold non resident tags, that represents $300,000 in revenue the state isn't getting. That is why they allow them to be sold to residents as second tags after a certain date. It's an important money stream and if they don't get that money, they have to get it somewhere else.

[meatwhack]

The season change in 10a will have no effect on whether tags sell out. I’ll bet they sell out even earlier this year than last.

[chuck270]

  Well, I have enjoyed hunting the Thanksgiving week up there many times but I did feel this year, particularly after last years hard winter, that many part of that unit could use a break.   This last season there were areas and elevations that were completely devoid of deer (like not even a single set of tracks though the snow for over two weeks) that just the year prior was crawling with deer.   That said, Whitetail Deer multiply like rabbits and can recover numbers quickly.  Things change and you need to change with them and things may change again in the other direction in just a couple of years.