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Idaho Mule Deer Proposals: You got 4 days!
Robby hosts David Vedder of the Southeast Idaho Mule Deer Advisory Group. David explains the Idaho Mule Deer proposals they want to send to the Idaho Fish and Game commission
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thanks for participating in the discussion and letting F&G know what you think *fist bump emoji!Good podcast on the mule deer committee. I put in my comments on the Fish and Game proposal section.
Even though I don't hunt the east side of the state I think it's a good idea to try the muzzleloader seasons and
see how it turns out. Maybe we can have more muzzleloader hunt opportunity through out the state.
yes, he talked about the committee hoping we could run the seasons at least two managment cycles, so 4 years total.If the changes are made, how hard is it to change back? Would it just be another year, another comment period?
Ah I missed that. My Spotify skipped quite a bit of the deer discussion somehow.yes, he talked about the committee hoping we could run the seasons at least two managment cycles, so 4 years total.
this would help get better data and possibly smooth out other influences like favorable/unfavorable weather, hunter migration in and out, etc.
but yes, it would be on the table every two years for discussion of continuance/discontinuance
is that you David?Thanks a bunch for getting this episode out. It was fun to chat mule deer, and hopefully a bunch more people jump on and check out the proposals and provide feedback!
Thank you Robby for helping explain to people how important it is to save our “general seasons”. Waiting years to hunt is not a good solution.
thanks for sharing, make sure you vote. They need to hear from you!Really good informative podcast. I had the question on why not open sight rifle seasons but makes sense the legal wording is not put into place to allow that to happen. I love that Idaho is trying something besides cutting tags or going to a draw. What would be really cool is to see is the draw go away and instead go to general season open sights rifle hunt. If we went to 70 76 78 all general season open sight rifle hunts it would displace everyone who is willing to take off the scope and provide more opportunities. I don’t think 70, 78 is growing the caliber of deer everyone hoped for with it being in the draw. I personally think open sight rifle seasons are the way to go. I don’t see youth or even the average Idaho deer hunter who hunts 4 days willing to quite go fully muzzleloader. I don’t know just some thoughts…… Im very open to trying something besides cutting tags or going to draw.
thanks man!Good discussion. And I can second David's recommendation to read through the meeting meetings of the committee, there is a lot of good context and biological information there.
I really appreciated Robby bringing out the latest F : D ratios. That is great news for the future and that is what will put more bucks on the mountain. Just a couple years of that kind of growth will make a huge difference in the deer population, and consequently, the buck population and age class.
Robby and David hit on a lot of the reasons why I think that Idaho has a great hunting season structure. General seasons are great. I can hunt every year and learn an area. Hard work can produce results as opposed to waiting years to luck out in a drawing. I'd rather work hard, and hunt every year to kill a big buck every 3-4 years, than wait every 3-4 years for the chance to hunt a big buck.
The proposed muzzleloader seasons in unit 76 and 73A will be an interesting experiment. I just don't think it is necessary. With 80:100 fawn to doe ratio the herd is on its way up. Hunter numbers are already naturally down. A couple more years of mild winter and good spring/summer moisture and we'll see big gains in numbers of deer and age class of bucks. That said, I much prefer the proposed muzzleloader seasons to any kind of limited entry solution. And I clicked "support with concerns" to say what I typed above.