Idaho Nonres Tag Sales/ Coronavirus Decrease?..

[realunlucky]

I honestly think the 2nd tag for deer saves more deer than it kills. I know there are guys out there who do fill 2 tags, but in my opinion they are few and far between compared to the guys who buy two tags and don't fill at least one of them. I know a lot of hunters who buy 2 tags every year and not a single one has ever filled two tags. Most don't even fill 1 every year. A lot of these guys are just big buck hunters who want to hunt an easy to draw limited hunt and their normal general hunt every year. They also know that buying 2 tags saves a 2-point to get a little bigger.

On the other hand I have known several nonresidents who shot a 2-point on the last day of their hunt so they wouldn't be going home to eat tag soup. I think the "hardcore" hunters who buy two tags pass on deer more than the average guy and less deer actually get killed. Of course there is no proof of this, because the numbers aren't tracked. I've always though the fish and game should do a more in depth study of what the harvest is like for people who hold two tags.

If the 2nd tag truly does put more pressure on Idaho's game animals then I would be all for getting rid of it, but from my experience it does the exact opposite and wouldn't be helping the animals at all.

I disagree with this logic. If someone shoots a good and holds thier second tag for a great buck or will eat the tag. If they only had a single tag they would have to decide if they wanted to wait on a great buck or not, possibly saving the good bucks they typically harvest to become an older buck.
I venture to guess less non residents are shooting forks vs residents but again there's no data to support it either way. People that want to just kill any buck will do so no matter the number of tags they have that's a fact- resident or non resident.

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[IdahoHntr]

I disagree with this logic. If someone shoots a good and holds thier second tag for a great buck or will eat the tag. If they only had a single tag they would have to decide if they wanted to wait on a great buck or not, possibly saving the good bucks they typically harvest to become an older buck.
I venture to guess less non residents are shooting forks vs residents but again there's no data to support it either way. People that want to just kill any buck will do so no matter the number of tags they have that's a fact- resident or non resident.

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My opinion is purely based off my experience. I just have my sample size of 8 or so guys that I know who buy two tags (16 tags) and on average about 4-5 bucks die a year. In the last 5 years that I've paid attention, never more than 8 bucks have been killed and as few as 2. Not a single 2-point in the group. I haven't filled a deer tag personally since 2016 and have had 2 deer tags several of the years since then. My personal experience is seeing a lot of deer being saved by the 2 tags.

The people who buy two deer tags don't tend to be meat hunters, but tend to be looking for big deer and having the two tags gives you more opportunity to get out in different seasons and hunt longer every year. I do know people who buy 2 elk tags (not this year!) for meat, but I don't know a single person who does that for deer. Again, my personal experience and as always experiences will vary.

If they'd just track second tags for a couple years, then we wouldn't have to guess and there would be some real numbers to look at.

 

[unchained]

I'd put my money on a resident filling two tags, over someone coming from out of state who has never been to the area, and has 7 days, filling one.

 

[switchback270]

looks like all non resident general deer tags sold out today