Idaho proposes giving outfitters bigger share of NR deer/elk tags

[idahohuntr]

I haven't looked closely at this proposal in detail, but it appears it would cut about 2k NR deer tags from the general NR pool and add them to the outfitter set aside.  The impact to elk tags would be a few hundred fewer for non outfitted non-residents. 

Link to some detail and comment box below:

https://idfg.idaho.gov/about/rules/potential-change-outfitter-set-aside-rule-general-hunt-elk-and-deer-tags

[kentrek]

Seems to be a steady trend in nearly every state..

[KFhunter]

Ya, what gives?

Idaho just did a bunch of changes and lost quite a few nr hunters. Guess they wanna loose more?

DIY hunters spend more in local establishments than guided hunters who stay with the outfitter the whole time.

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[Magnum_Willys]

Put your voters first I guess, go figure ?  Seems reasonable. 

[Karl Blanchard]

I recall leftover outfitter tags getting rolled over into the regular NR quota pool pretty much annually. Why do they need more to go unsold  click on that link and vote at the bottom. Takes 4 seconds.

[ThurstonCokid]

I recall leftover outfitter tags getting rolled over into the regular NR quota pool pretty much annually. Why do they need more to go unsold  click on that link and vote at the bottom. Takes 4 seconds.

This is exactly what i was thinking. Why would they want to wait to sell them.


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[bracer40]

Took me 10 seconds to open the link and answer the single question!
Of course the vote was NO!

[High Climber]

Voted no

[Stein]

Voted no, super easy to do - so everyone should do it!  I don't even hunt in ID, but what goes in one western state often goes in others as they follow the herd as well as sticking up for those that hunt in ID.

[fishngamereaper]

I recall leftover outfitter tags getting rolled over into the regular NR quota pool pretty much annually. Why do they need more to go unsold  click on that link and vote at the bottom. Takes 4 seconds.

This is exactly what i was thinking. Why would they want to wait to sell them.


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I don't see a ton of people using outfitters as it is...unless they plan on restricting area's to outfitter only hunter's.  Doesn't Wyoming require a resident or outfitter to hunt certain wilderness area's.  Pure speculation on my part.

[Stein]

If they sell out of NR DIY tags, a few guys (or many?) will go the outfitter route that didn't really want to.  Like other states, there will be outfitters that offer up the minimum required to qualify and they think their customer base will grow if people are forced to use an outfitter to get a tag.  It's basically an added fee from the NR DIY hunter who has the cash to play.

That's my guess anyway.

[bearpaw]

I'll offer some insight as best that i can regarding the new licensing system and this outfitter allocation tag proposal in Idaho.

First I want to point out that contrary to many comments I have seen the same number of non-resident tags were available to non-residents in Idaho with the new system. The new system is meant to more evenly distribute non-residents across the entire state by putting limits on each unit. Some units will have fewer NR hunters and other units will have more NR hunters, the total statewide tag numbers are the same but NR hunters will be more evenly spread across the entire state.

Whether by accident or by design this move by IDFG has proved to be marketing genius, NR tags sold quicker than ever before, most non-resident elk and deer tags are already sold out. But if you really want to hunt Idaho there are still deer tags available for some units.

Some people will complain about tags selling out fast but the fact remains that Idaho is one of very few states still offering over the counter tags for deer and elk in most units of the state, even at a time when Idaho is the fastest growing state in the nation, that in itself is a testament to IDFG's mission to provide ample opportunity to hunters. I wished I could say the same for all states!

There are some details regarding outfitting that have not been provided or are not accurate. The fact is that Outfitter quotas for capped zones was limited to a specific total number of tags for the state, in many units and zones many outfitted hunters would acquire their own tags and then hunt with the outfitter, so in reality all outfitted use in the state was not coming from outfitter allocation tags, now that every unit and zone in Idaho has a capped quota it means that outfitters would only receive 60% of their historic use in tags due to the outdated statewide quota which was created when there were far fewer capped areas, now that all units and zones are capped the whole state falls under the same old statewide limitation on capped tags for outfitters. Most outfitters were faced with losing 40% of their business overnight with the new licensing change. This scenario was realized in advance and outfitters were advised to purchase tags for clients out of the general pool of tags to try and make up the loss of business that would happen. However, the new sales system was so successful at selling out many units and zones within hours or even minutes that many outfitters were not able to get many if any tags for their hunters, so many outfitters were still faced with losing 40% of their total business and potential for business failure. In fairness and to save many outfitting businesses from significant losses, the outfitter quota was temporarily increased to 100% of historic use for this year.

I have seen and heard comments that non-outfitted hunters spend more dollars in local economies. Studies have proven that's simply not true, the studies have proven that outfitted hunters spend more money and provide a greater benefit to local economies. While I am not suggesting non-outfitted hunters are not important to local economies, I am simply pointing out that this argument is incorrect.

I don't know anyone who is suggesting that all nonresident hunters should have to use an outfitter, however, there has been a growing trend of hunters both residents and non-residents desiring to use an outfitter to some extent whether for guided hunts or for unguided or pack in trips, in my opinion it's due to the strong economy in our country. My long term experience in the industry is that when the economy slows so will the number of hunters wanting to use the services of an outfitter, I've been through several of these economic cycles.

Idaho legislation strictly controls outfitting, the system has evolved over the years and is designed to allow contractions and increases in outfitted hunts based on industry demand. Every few years outfitter hunter numbers are reviewed and outfitter allocation numbers are adjusted based on use. So the result is that during periods when outfitted hunts are in demand outfitted allocation tag numbers will increase, when outfitted hunter numbers decrease so will outfitter tag allocation. Regardless of what some people may think, it's the public demand for outfitted trips that determines the number of outfitted tag allocation in Idaho and of course there is the statewide cap on outfitters that restricts the total outfitter use across the state.

It wasn't too many years ago that many outfitters had to shut down due to decreases in license sales, Idaho was not even selling all of the tags every year that are available to non-residents and resident hunter numbers were down as well. We were lucky, we've managed to survive the lean years. Now that the economy is strong so is demand for tags and for outfitted hunts, it's a cycle that I'm sure will repeat itself and possibly sooner than later.

[idaho guy]

  thanks bearpaw that explanation actually makes sense. Seemed like a stupid move at first glance but I can see what they are actually doing now.

[idahohuntr]

If you are a DIY Non-resident hunter, this proposal is detrimental to your ability to plan a hunt/secure a tag (deer tags in particular); especially if western big game hunting demand continues on its current trajectory. 

I see this as mostly a hedge by the Outfitting industry against the increasing popularity of NR DIY hunting across the West.  A lot of these tags ultimately go back on sale in August and are available to NR DIY hunters...but if current trends continue, that might not be so common in the future.

[harveymarv]

voted no