Idaho proposed special season open sight centerfire

[HunterGatherer]

Chart by idfg.

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Just to add a bit of context to the data…

2016/17 was “Snowmageddon” and 22/23 was another major winter kill year

 

[Customweld]

Thread 'What a Recovering Mule Deer Herd Looks Like'

Apr 14, 2025

It's been hard to find good news in the mule deer world, but it's out there. At the recent Mule Deer Days, I interviewed a couple bios from the Monteith Shop. While the focus is on Wyoming, the info they present is applicable to any migrating mule deer herd limited by winter severity

Recovering Mule Deer with the Monteith Shop - Rokslide

Robby recently interviewed Rebekah Rafferty and Kevin Monteith at the Mule Deer Days in Rock Springs, Wyoming. They talk about what a recovering mule deer herd looks like in the Wyoming Range and beyond.

www.rokslide.com

or wherever you listen to podcasts

• robby denning
• Replies: 28
• Forum: Rokcast

• 

Thread 'Idaho Mule Deer Management with Eric Freeman'

Apr 23, 2024

Idaho Mule Deer Management with Eric Freeman

Robby hosts Eric Freeman, Idaho Fish & Game Regional Wildlife Biologist. They discuss the historic low of the Caribou Mule Deer herd after the '23 killer winter

www.rokslide.com

• robby denning
• Replies: 12
• Forum: Rokcast

• 

These are good podcasts with some great information. If you have time, give them a listen.

 

[WRO]

Depends on the situation. Scoped rifles that are set up for dialing turrets, shooting prone, suppressor, etc. are not great for taking standing shots. I would much rather have a light rifle with iron sights.

My freezer disagrees with this statement lol. As long as the rifle is a reasonable weight and has low enough magnification it’s not an issue.

 

[idahodave]

That’s difficult for me to believe based on how crowded the woods are…but it’s good data to have. Thanks for sharing.

 

[WRO]

That’s difficult for me to believe based on how crowded the woods are…but it’s good data to have. Thanks for sharing.

No shit!

 

[nphunter]

I'm 100% onboard with open site restrictions. I would actually rather see them go to a straight case rule to make it harder for a person to shoot one from the truck and then walk out to it with his 30-30 to tag it.

I wish every state in the west would change, or at least change every unit with less than 70% tree cover. The desert use to be great for big bucks and bulls 15 years ago, now almost every desert unit in the west has a suffering age class or super limited tags. Not only can we shoot 1K+ yards but glass is getting better and better, swaro just released their stabilized spotter which will make it even easier to find game even without tech like thermal and drones.

My sister recently got a new 7prc, just a cheap Ruger from Sheels, added a suppressor and a Burris digital scope and she can ring steel out to 600 yards prone on a two track with almost zero shooting experience. Rifles are better, ammo is better, scopes are better, optics are better, and mapping software opens up areas where animals could hide previously. Something has got to give and I would rather see it be weapons choice than reducing tag numbers.

As far as people talking about losing historic hunting grounds, I find that comical. Our grandparents didn't have the tech we have today, my grandma was killing deer with an open-sight 303 British that still sits in her closet. Grandpa hunted with an old steyr-daimler open site 30-06 until the 90's when he put a 4x Redfield scope on it and he hunted with it like and has killed more deer and elk than most. If you can't look down the barrel of a rifle and see what you're looking at you probably shouldn't be shooting in public anyway. I've done quite a bit of muzzle loader hunting and by a huge margin the guys I see in the woods are 60+ shooting open site muzzleloaders because they like the heritage.

​

 

[idelkslayer]

That’s difficult for me to believe based on how crowded the woods are…but it’s good data to have. Thanks for sharing.

I think that we feel the crowding more acutely when the deer numbers are down. One reason is that we tend to move around more to find deer when there are fewer deer. By moving more frequently we are more likely to encounter other hunters and feel the pressure more and feel a higher sense of competition for a limited resource. Secondly, I think when deer are abundant we feel less of a sense of competition. We just tolerate it more. I heard fewer complaints about crowding in 2015 and 2016 when deer populations were high and hunter numbers were much higher than now. And finally, it just takes more effort to find and kill a deer so maybe hunters are in the woods longer. I just picked one unit and looked at days/hunter in 2024 is 5.3 days. But in 2105 and 2016 it was 4.4 days. So an extra day per hunter.

Try this, pick a unit and look up the harvest statistics for 2024, then 2020, 2015, and 2010. There's a good chance that 2024 had fewer hunters. I picked 6 units across central and southern Idaho to check for every 5 years back to 2005. 5 out of 6 have fewer hunters than past years.


2005 2010 2015 2020 2024

1459 1233 1396 1728 972
1071 732 1092 1002 866
8546 8536 10935 11208 9070
2145 1721 2740 526 1931
929 1028 1443 912 764
2935 2766 3864 3178 2048

 

[cksea]

I think offering some short season hunt tags like Colorado does (5 day) is a win for guys that only have 5 days to hunt.

 

[Andrew12gauge]

I think that we feel the crowding more acutely when the deer numbers are down. One reason is that we tend to move around more to find deer when there are fewer deer. By moving more frequently we are more likely to encounter other hunters and feel the pressure more and feel a higher sense of competition for a limited resource. Secondly, I think when deer are abundant we feel less of a sense of competition. We just tolerate it more. I heard fewer complaints about crowding in 2015 and 2016 when deer populations were high and hunter numbers were much higher than now. And finally, it just takes more effort to find and kill a deer so maybe hunters are in the woods longer. I just picked one unit and looked at days/hunter in 2024 is 5.3 days. But in 2105 and 2016 it was 4.4 days. So an extra day per hunter.

Try this, pick a unit and look up the harvest statistics for 2024, then 2020, 2015, and 2010. There's a good chance that 2024 had fewer hunters. I picked 6 units across central and southern Idaho to check for every 5 years back to 2005. 5 out of 6 have fewer hunters than past years.


2005 2010 2015 2020 2024

1459 1233 1396 1728 972
1071 732 1092 1002 866
8546 8536 10935 11208 9070
2145 1721 2740 526 1931
929 1028 1443 912 764
2935 2766 3864 3178 2048

This is all conjecture though as all of IDFG’s harvest stats are conjecture from the ~25% of hunters who complete their “mandatory” harvest reports


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[def90]

If this is about the use of technology just do what colorado does and make it illegal to have any electronic device attached to your rifle. That means no laser range finding scopes, automatic bullet comp scopes, or night vision scopes.

 

[Touchdown88]

If this is about the use of technology just do what colorado does and make it illegal to have any electronic device attached to your rifle. That means no laser range finding scopes, automatic bullet comp scopes, or night vision scopes.

Idaho already has a similar restriction on rifle scopes.

 

[Jon C]

I have a browning model 71 that’s getting excited

 

[idelkslayer]

This is all conjecture though as all of IDFG’s harvest stats are conjecture from the ~25% of hunters who complete their “mandatory” harvest reports


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Much of it is conjecture, however the reporting rate is closer to 75% if we're still tracking with past years:

I

Thread 'Mandatory Harvest Reporting'

May 8, 2024

Discussion on another thread brought up the accuracy of harvest statistics and mandatory reporting and how effective it is. I didn't want to hijack that thread any further so I'm continuing that topic here.

Another poster commented that he had heard from a biologist that the response rate on mandatory reports in Idaho was near 10% and all harvest data was extrapolated from there. I honestly didn't know how accurate that might be so I tried to find out.

The most recent information I could find for harvest reporting came from 2015. In that year, 61% of mandatory reports were completed...

• idelkslayer
• Replies: 47
• Forum: General Discussion Forum

• 

 

[Jon C]

Vets was just an example, not a special category of privilege. I'm talking about broken and old bodies in this context. It simply strikes me as deeply morally wrong for there to be so many weapon/tech restrictions that some old f*cker, a wrecked dude, or 12yo girl is forced to have a much higher level of stalking and physical stamina skillsets to be successful. Again, these restricted tech seasons only serve to advantage already skilled, fit, and dedicated hunters. This shouldn't be a game of worthiness.

When I grew up everyone I know started with open sights at 12 and used at least a couple years. No one practiced much with them. But we shot BB/pellet guns and 22’s a ton. Deer weren’t very safe under 150yds. Which seems to be the point of these restricted seasons.

 

[Rock’N Tacos]

When I grew up everyone I know started with open sights at 12 and used at least a couple years. No one practiced much with them. But we shot BB/pellet guns and 22’s a ton. Deer weren’t very safe under 150yds. Which seems to be the point of these restricted seasons.

Its only interesting for those who are willing to hunt. Most dont know how to get close to game anymore

 

[Jon C]

Its only interesting for those who are willing to hunt. Most dont know how to get close to game anymore

I look at it as gaining opportunity in an area I might never have gotten a chance. If I thought it was impossible I wouldn’t apply. If one person would get an unrestricted or 6 get a restricted tag and it was a quality unit I’m good with restricting it in some units. I also know I can pick up an iron sighted 308 and get good to 300 with good visibility and know I’m gonna be really limited in low light for distance.