Turkey Idaho ?

[bearpaw]

If I were Idaho I would shut the state down to non resident hunting through the summer and would seriously consider keeping it shut down this coming fall as well.

Why hasn't the whole country done this already? What would be the problem in that? According to all you folks, going hunting is practically how all of this spreads anyhow. According to all the fear mongering concern trolls on this forum everyone should be calling their fish and wildlife departments and begging them to shut down all activities indefinitely!

Not everyone agrees with the hunting and fishing closures. I think travel restrictions or a travel advisory would have been much better than closing hunting and fishing. People who have hunting and fishing out their back door are being penalized by this herd mentality of closing it all! In fact many states are encouraging people to hunt and fish. It comes as no surprise that Washington would use this as an opportunity to close all hunting and fishing when at the same time they are advising many types of other outdoor recreation! 

The question is, how would they go about setting those distance requirements as to what is authorized travel and what isn't? I think even more people would complain about this because they would feel excluded...  I think far more people have to travel more than a few miles to hunt or fish versus those that are lucky enough to have it in their "back yard" 

We already have a stay home stay safe order with exceptions for recreating near your home.

yep but as we can see from a lot of threads "near" is a loose term that can easily be stretched and skewed to justify the trip. It sucks all the way around but I think they had no choice other than to do an all or nothing

So why are some other states giving away hunting and fishing licenses? Could it be that they understand there is a lower chance of infection when hunting and fishing?

[Stein]

On a good hunting year, there are no shortage of people not following the rules.  I'm not sure how we could make those rules much tighter and harder to follow and expect better compliance.

It's pretty evident that we have to go further than probably necessary because there are so many people that don't follow directions.  Spring break, funerals, parties, trailheads, stores, it's all the same and I can't find a reason hunting would be different.

For what it's worth, the same thing is going on in Europe even lately. 

[vandeman17]

If I were Idaho I would shut the state down to non resident hunting through the summer and would seriously consider keeping it shut down this coming fall as well.

Why hasn't the whole country done this already? What would be the problem in that? According to all you folks, going hunting is practically how all of this spreads anyhow. According to all the fear mongering concern trolls on this forum everyone should be calling their fish and wildlife departments and begging them to shut down all activities indefinitely!

Not everyone agrees with the hunting and fishing closures. I think travel restrictions or a travel advisory would have been much better than closing hunting and fishing. People who have hunting and fishing out their back door are being penalized by this herd mentality of closing it all! In fact many states are encouraging people to hunt and fish. It comes as no surprise that Washington would use this as an opportunity to close all hunting and fishing when at the same time they are advising many types of other outdoor recreation! 

The question is, how would they go about setting those distance requirements as to what is authorized travel and what isn't? I think even more people would complain about this because they would feel excluded...  I think far more people have to travel more than a few miles to hunt or fish versus those that are lucky enough to have it in their "back yard" 

We already have a stay home stay safe order with exceptions for recreating near your home.

yep but as we can see from a lot of threads "near" is a loose term that can easily be stretched and skewed to justify the trip. It sucks all the way around but I think they had no choice other than to do an all or nothing

So why are some other states giving away hunting and fishing licenses? Could it be that they understand there is a lower chance of infection when hunting and fishing?

Some of those other states don't have the widespread numbers that we have, especially from the big 3 counties. I hate it as much as you do Dale, but I also understand the logic when you take out the specific activity involved. I, for one, have said that when we started the shelter in place that it needed to include much more things that many people on here complain about still being open like coffee shops, pot shops, liquor stores etc but these threads aren't about those.

[MerriamMagician]

Bearpaw, it sounds like you are opposed to the hunting and fishing shutdowns and I agree with most of your justifications of why it shouldn't be based on the other types of activity that continue to go on. As a hunting guide, how would these shutdowns affect your business and livelihood if they are implemented?

[Stein]

Idaho is starting to look like they might have a problem.  Their flu like visits to the doctors offices are spiking much worse then most other states and the positive cases are jumping as well, over 25% yesterday.  Hopefully it's just a daily fluctuation and not a new hotspot.

[MonstroMuley]

...
The question is, how would they go about setting those distance requirements as to what is authorized travel and what isn't?

Exactly!  Need to clarify ... allowed for those who have opportunity to hunt out of backyard/neighborhood Vs.
those who must travel cross counties and states for ID/WA.

Unable to even find an open place to camp in Idaho?
Forced to sleep in the cab front seat on a dirt road turn-out? 
Like Montana ... they may require mandatory 14 day quarantine (not work related) once you get there ...?
 
Interesting that we are not alone in our diverse opinions on long distance travel ...
other Outdoor Forums share similar thoughts ...
NW Hikers See [Page 2]
"How to hike in the COVID-19 era"
http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8031536&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

[bearpaw]

Bearpaw, it sounds like you are opposed to the hunting and fishing shutdowns and I agree with most of your justifications of why it shouldn't be based on the other types of activity that continue to go on. As a hunting guide, how would these shutdowns affect your business and livelihood if they are implemented?

We've been in business over 40 years, and we are fine for the long term, however, it hurts to be shut down when we are at the age we need to be expanding our retirement nest egg as much as possible, this could potentially set us back a year or two.

I was on a national outfitting industry trade organization webinar with over 160 other business owners last week for a couple hours, several polls were taken during the webinar, one poll asked how many businesses could financially make it through a three month shutdown, 41% said they could not make it.

I have been in touch with IDFG and they are not expecting recreation to be closed in Idaho, the manager I talked to said Governor Little has remained supportive of keeping recreation open. I just sent out messages to my usual spring guides who depend on spring employment. Due to the Washington closure I'm going to employ an extra guide in Idaho and use another guide for miscellaneous work around our Washington home in order to keep them employed.

According to industry organizations I should be able to apply for an SBA loan that has some forgiveness (essentially a partial grant) to help with employee wages, I sure hope so since I'm going to try and keep as many employed as possible even though we don't need them all.

My wife and I agree, if this would have happened 20 or 30 ears ago it could have wiped us out. I'm sure this will hit younger and less established business owners very hard, in many different business sectors. I know of numerous small business owners around our little town who were already struggling before the virus hit, this could be their demise. The worst part, after their business fails, where are they going to get a job?

[Stein]

The small business loans are going fast, I think B of A alone had $9B in applications TODAY.  They look to be a good way to help the businesses, if I owned a business I would likely be finding a banker as soon as I could.

[jackelope]

Idaho needs to be careful. 218 new cases just yesterday. They're close to 1,000. Will probably be there end of day today.

[bearpaw]

Before I get slammed for endangering people's lives, let me say this, the industry has some recommended additional health and safety guidelines, we are implementing additional cleaning, cooking, eating, and distancing strategies to reduce the danger to our guides and guests. 

[Naches Sportsman]

https://idfg.idaho.gov/press/fg-commission-holding-emergency-special-public-meeting-teleconference-april-4

[Gobble Doc]

Idaho needs to be careful. 218 new cases just yesterday. They're close to 1,000. Will probably be there end of day today.

Yep. Just getting going.  Note that tri cities went from 5 to 12 deaths overnight.


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[jackelope]

Idaho is at 1012 cases and 10 deaths now.

[Gobble Doc]

Doubling every 3 days.


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[Big game archer]

FYI, Idaho just closed to non-residents, unless you've already bought a tag