Proposed Deer plan for Central Idaho(not official)

[Customweld]

Wow, this podcast episode has me completely rethinking this thread. The difference between what I think and you think is meaningless in regards to what actually faces conservation as a whole. Its like antler point restrictions is Mars and limited entry is Venus and then how the human race and its culture interprets hunting is the Milky Way. Id be very interested to hear some thoughts on what this Shane Mahoney guy is cooking up. I thinks that it’s possibly the most important thing to happen to hunting from a public relations standpoint ever. If his mission is successful, wild places and things might get the type of protection AND funding on par with commercial agriculture, which makes sense seeing as it is so instrumental in food security. This mode of thinking where protecting wild harvest is actually the most effective way to ensure biodiversity and reduce carbon footprint is obvious but I never really thought of it on the commercial scale he has imagined. No hunting means meat scarcity. Meat scarcity means more land used for cattle, pigs, chickens, most likely in an unsustainable fashion. Not only will that meat be less nutritious but also the Land needed to create this new food supply has a singular use which only leads to less biodiversity perpetually. Not a feedback loop I want to be apart of. I think I have changed my mind a bit on the “reduction” of opportunity in these central idaho units. If people going forward harvest less and less deer every year going forward and our population keeps going up and up, will the added strain on the food supply require more land to be used for commercial ag? Will that land be essential winter range for deer or elk. Will disappearing habitat further the decline in available tags which creates more of a demand domestic livestock? Scary to think that we are walking such a fine line but it certainly seems like it to me.

Interesting concept. I will have to give this a listen. Coming at it from a food standpoint, one has to wonder how much impact CWD is going to have on this new generation of adult onset hunters. How many of the “organic” food for my family group is going to keep hunting when the prevalence rate is sure to rise?

 

[KurtR]

Interesting concept. I will have to give this a listen. Coming at it from a food standpoint, one has to wonder how much impact CWD is going to have on this new generation of adult onset hunters. How many of the “organic” food for my family group is going to keep hunting when the prevalence rate is sure to rise?

Cwd been around since the 60’s and no one has got it. It’s the boogie man that “ managers” use to get big funding. If some one was getting something from it would have happened in Wisconsin years ago where every other deer has it.

 

[Customweld]

Cwd been around since the 60’s and no one has got it. It’s the boogie man that “ managers” use to get big funding. If some one was getting something from it would have happened in Wisconsin years ago where every other deer has it.

It has been,But not in Idaho. It’s only been documented here since ‘21. My BIL and his buddies are of the new group of hunters. They all killed bucks in Montana last year. 2 out of 5 were positive. They all started hunting less than 5 years ago and bowed out after a couple of their deer tested positive. I know it’s anecdotal but I’m sure there are more out there. I don’t disagree that it’s a boogie man.

 

[WRO]

I don't know what guys expect when we have 2 extremely bad winters, 2022-23 and 2016-17, in five years with another not great winter, 2018-19, in between. Deer numbers are going to be low for a while. The rebound in population is dependent on good habitat and mild winters.

You can put every unit in the state into a controlled hunt and reduce pressure by half and it wouldn't matter if we continue to have killer winters every 3 years.

I caution against making grand sweeping changes based off what we've seen in the last couple years. Patience and perspective is what's needed right now.

Except Idaho has twice the population of 20 years ago.

Something needs to be done so that our deer don’t end up like oregons..


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[Pacific_Fork]

f&g did just do a big hey project on Hwy 21 so that was awesome to see. I trap and hunt wolves some and coyotes and bears. gave up instagram 3-4 years ago, and I’m about down to the hunt quietly podcast, couple books and Rokslide. haha I do love that tightend with a pop star analogy. I’ll be stealing that one!

i do want to challenge one thought,

I hear this often, how are you going to sway developers to save habitat and what wrench do you have planned? I feel I can make the same argument as y’all that’s it’s easy to look at opportunity is the issue, well it’s easy to say also that habitat is an issue without any real plan or examples to show where we‘ve successfully stopped someone from putting up houses or industrial buildings, resorts, golf courses etc in prime habitat.
if those things are attainable by hunters which makes up a tiny subset of the voting population(when we even show up to vote) then I’m all ears

It’s more than two units though man, I talk to guys that hunt all over the state and it’s the same story. I’d love to tag along with you in areas you get to hunt without folks, and deer everywhere just to see it

Get involved in local politics is a start. Very hard and time consuming I realize, but the alternative is let it all go to gated communities and fast food resturaunts and be a shoulder shrugger while taking away hunting opportunities.

See post # 195 as well, good stuff.

Again, I am in favor of limiting technology and taking away the dead animal porn as a marketing tool first and foremost.

Happy to read that some adult onset hunters are giving up due to CWD. Hopefully that trend continues.

 

[WRO]

As I've said before, deer hunters shouldn't be the only group sacrificing to help the numbers. I love to upland bird hunt, but there is no reason we should be chasing birds on winter ground (with dogs no less). Bird season needs to end on the last day of December. Hiking and biking trails in urban areas need to be closed at the end of December.

I hunt with my dogs all winter, they're deer broke so I don't worry about that. Honestly I don't see alot of deer where we typically hunt. That being said we hunt mid day when they're typically bedded. Chukar ground is typically not winter range.

Shed hunters on the other hand, actively target wintering deer and elk herds and that needs to have a moratorium.

 

[Customweld]

I hunt with my dogs all winter, they're deer broke so I don't worry about that. Honestly I don't see alot of deer where we typically hunt. That being said we hunt mid day when they're typically bedded. Chukar ground is typically not winter range.

Shed hunters on the other hand, actively target wintering deer and elk herds and that needs to have a moratorium.

That's good that you take the time to be proactive in not disturbing wintering deer. I see lots of guys in the middle of nowhere, with their dog boxes on their quads or utv's with tracks . Those definitely disturb deer. Some of the best winter ground above the Hells Canyon complexes is also some of the most productive chukar ground we have.

 

[WRO]

That's good that you take the time to be proactive in not disturbing wintering deer. I see lots of guys in the middle of nowhere, with their dog boxes on their quads or utv's with tracks . Those definitely disturb deer. Some of the best winter ground above the Hells Canyon complexes is also some of the most productive chukar ground we have.

Tracks and boxes usually are hound guys, which we absolutely want on the winter range.

I see your concerns, I’ll give up January if it was concurrent with shed season closure until 4/15 or 5/1.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Shed closures just benefit outlaws. Look at every state that's done it, the horns are picked up well before the closures are over and there's no enforcement.

 

[WRO]

Shed closures just benefit outlaws. Look at every state that's done it, the horns are picked up well before the closures are over and there's no enforcement.

That’s a huge problem across the board.


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[Pacific_Fork]

Shed closures just benefit outlaws. Look at every state that's done it, the horns are picked up well before the closures are over and there's no enforcement.

True. Although it does help to keep a certain amount of law abiding citizens off the winter range.

I wish F&G would just outlaw the sale of antlers.