idaho non resident tag decrease, fee increase

[Karl Blanchard]

Very well said. Probably won’t happen as folks want opportunities and 40lbs of meat rather than good bucks.

  So now you're shaming guys For not shooting big deer? Last time I checked the text didn't say trophy class buck only on them

[Cheif]

Hmmmm never took a tooth at any borders or game checks.  Must be a real legit study on animal age class!!

[Cheif]

Very well said. Probably won’t happen as folks want opportunities and 40lbs of meat rather than good bucks.

  So now you're shaming guys For not shooting big deer? Last time I checked the text didn't say trophy class buck only on them

Where’s the shaming btw?  Let me guess, you hunt for meat?? 

[fishngamereaper]

I hunt for meat...

[bigmacc]

I’ve hunted B.C., Alberta, Washington, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona,Oregon, Hawaii Montana, Wyoming all numerous times, only teeth aged were a lion and a couple bear. Someone is misinformed.

Ive actually been asked asked 4 times for teeth here in Washington, a 13 by 7, a 13 by 9, a 11 by 7 and a 7 by 6 all mule deer and 12 and a half y.o, 10 and a half, 10 and a half and 5 and a half (in order), none were mandatory, was just asked.

[Karl Blanchard]

2018 in CO it was a 100% MANDATORY submittal of all elk and deer withn an 8 gmu area where we hunt. 100%.

[Cheif]

How bout Idaho whitetail?

[Cheif]

I guess my point is Karl Blanchard, the posted study was wrong, plain and simple

[buglebrush]

The idea that the October 10 opener just anything to do with it is a farce.  I've hunted the panhandle for well over 20 years, every year.  You can directly link the deer decline to the Wolves. 
Have a listen to the latest Stuck N The Rut podcast.  I grew up with those guys, and no-one spent more time in the Panhandle woods in the last 25 years.  Anyone who's been hunting it hard the last 25 years will tell you where to lay the blame. 
If you are so tore up, go wolf hunting.  The season is open   

[Karl Blanchard]

I guess my point is Karl Blanchard, the posted study was wrong, plain and simple

I said no fewer than three or four times that I didn't necessarily agree with it. My only point was it's a bit lame to tell a guy his "facts" are wrong without disproving it. Without some data his "facts" are no more valid than your "facts". Elkboy has been a great member of this forum and deserves a bit more respect than that. You are pretty new here but seem very comfortable telling people they are full of it, no good meat hunters getting their "40lb of meat from their dink bucks",  and ATTEMPTING to take a shot at me about sitka gear but failing to realize that tag line in my profile is a fantastic joke that goes back to my Alaska mountain goat hunt.

This is an amazing community full of some of the best and most knowledgeable humans I have ever been privileged to converse with. I hope you can take a breath and a step back and become one of those members.

Hi, my name is Karl

[Alan K]

When I first started hunting whitetail in the panhandle about 12 years or so ago while in school at UI we'd see 15-20 deer a day and generally 4-5 of them were bucks. Usually a couple were mature dandies.  Was just a matter of getting a good shot off.

Our experience has progressively gone downhill since.  This last year we hunted hard for 7 days and ended up seeing 16 deer total, and 4 bucks. We brought 3 home with us... Two were mature, and one probably a 2.5 year old.

It may well just be the area is down, but talking with college buddies still over there it sounds like a problem in a lot of units.

In our particular area I'd say 80% of the camps have WA plates in them, and a fair amount of locals day tripping. We arrived at camp this last year as some fellow Washingtonians were packing up. They said they didn't see any bucks this year, but filled their tags on does.  We small talked them, and it had been 3 years since either of the two guys had killed a buck, but they've managed to have filled their tags every year with does.

Now I am guilty of taking 'meat bucks' home on a couple occasions, so I am no saint it this whole thing. I felt like I needed to take some meat home for the price of the out of state tags.  I haven't taken does though.  I do think that WA non-residents are having a big impact on the decline in numbers, particularly when taking out the fawn factories.  Over here guys are jacked to find that barely legal deer and fill their tag.  Unfortunately I think we're taking our low standards from Washington to Idaho and dragging that once great hunt down.  Just my honest opinion.

Yes, taking yearling bucks and does is legal, but I personally enjoyed Idaho as a place for a great chance at harvesting a mature buck in the peak of the rut OTC. The opportunities still come here and there, but things sure aren't what they used to be. Getting to be more like WA's crappy hunting.

 

[BULLBLASTER]

I guess my point is Karl Blanchard, the posted study was wrong, plain and simple

glad you had to try and insult him by being a so called meat hunter and Sitka wearer to get that point out there. 

[Karl Blanchard]

When I first started hunting whitetail in the panhandle about 12 years or so ago while in school at UI we'd see 15-20 deer a day and generally 4-5 of them were bucks. Usually a couple were mature dandies.  Was just a matter of getting a good shot off.

Our experience has progressively gone downhill since.  This last year we hunted hard for 7 days and ended up seeing 16 deer total, and 4 bucks. We brought 3 home with us... Two were mature, and one probably a 2.5 year old.

It may well just be the area is down, but talking with college buddies still over there it sounds like a problem in a lot of units.

In our particular area I'd say 80% of the camps have WA plates in them, and a fair amount of locals day tripping. We arrived at camp this last year as some fellow Washingtonians were packing up. They said they didn't see any bucks this year, but filled their tags on does.  We small talked them, and it had been 3 years since either of the two guys had killed a buck, but they've managed to have filled their tags every year with does.

Now I am guilty of taking 'meat bucks' home on a couple occasions, so I am no saint it this whole thing. I felt like I needed to take some meat home for the price of the out of state tags.  I haven't taken does though.  I do think that WA non-residents are having a big impact on the decline in numbers, particularly when taking out the fawn factories.  Over here guys are jacked to find that barely legal deer and fill their tag.  Unfortunately I think we're taking our low standards from Washington to Idaho and dragging that once great hunt down.  Just my honest opinion.

Yes, taking yearling bucks and does is legal, but I personally enjoyed Idaho as a place for a great chance at harvesting a mature buck in the peak of the rut OTC. The opportunities still come here and there, but things sure aren't what they used to be. Getting to be more like WA's crappy hunting.

 

I don't think it's a resident/non resident thing at all. I see just as many, if not more ID, CO, WY, MT, etc RESIDENTS shooting young bucks. They are less invested into a tag so why not. On the other hand, NR are invested a LOT of money into their tag and trip therefore many choose to bring home meat.

As long as there are bucks, does will breed. The two schools of "science" come to play here. Shoot the small bucks and let the mature deer survive and get big or let the little guys walk but in turn you tend to knock the top off the age class pyramid. Half dozen in one hand 6 in the other. As was also stated, Idaho doesn't really "manage" Idaho whitetails. It's a volume game. As long as harvests stay up they just let it all ride.

My standards are always based off the status of my freezer. If I'm low, I'm gonna bring home a "meat buck" at the end. If I'm sitting good, I'll eat my tag if I don't find what I want. I've also been at this a long time so I've come to peace with the intentional eating of tag soup.

Like Idaho guy said earlier, I always buy my second tag but I seldom fill it. As much as I love them, I wish they would do away with them.

[Karl Blanchard]

What really annoys me around here though is one guy saying "you're wrong! I've been hunting here for 20 years and this is how it is!". Well that has been that person's LITTLE view of their own world. That DOES NOT discredit another guy who has seen and experienced different in his own 20 years in that same area. We are all guilty of it, me included, but we gotta be better at gleaning info from others experiences and not being so foolish as to think we know it all 

[Alan K]

I dont think that last one was directed at me, but my previous post was just my anecdote and observation from the area we hunt. (8, 8A, and 10A)

I do agree we only have our own experiences to reflect and form our opinion on. Anyone claiming to know the answer with certainty is full of it!