Why the huge increase in Idaho NR hunters?

[Donny Land]

If you can buy a Diamond Creek tag December 2nd, then yes.

I'm betting they'll be gone in 3 hours or less!

 

[Donny Land]

The solution is inevitable.

Raise the price of all non resident tags until they all sell at the maximum price possible. Simple supply and demand. In this case the people paying higher fees can't vote. Easy money.

December will tell the tale, $327.00 price increase for a NR to Archery Elk hunt in Idaho.

 

[rclouse79]

Wasn't us unfortunately. You know what's funny, when I was a senior in HS (1986) one of my teachers had a bumper sticker on his car that read, "Welcome to California, now get the **** out"
There are plenty of people that still feel that way.

I think your high school teacher is finally getting his wish. It feels like a mass exodus from CA is occurring with Idaho being a prime landing spot. Can’t say I blame people for wanting to leave. Hopefully they are not bringing what made them want to leave with them.

 

[KurtR]

The solution is inevitable.

Raise the price of all non resident tags until they all sell at the maximum price possible. Simple supply and demand. In this case the people paying higher fees can't vote. Easy money.

That’s a great plan and people will pay but your still not dealing with the increased pressure. All the new residents are the increase in hunters. You could double down and make the resident tags expensive so it weeds out those who don’t really want to go and make all kind of bank for the gfp. Don’t think that will go over well though. Unless it goes to all draw nothing much will change at this point nr are a drop in the bucket with all the new residents moving there.

 

[ManyBullets]

Just raise the resident prices to discourage some of the noobs from CA from hunting. Or maybe they figure out it's tough hunting and they quit hunting and go to skiing once they realize climate change is a mostly California condition?

 

[MuleyFever]

Is it really that many unemployed?

I know around here it isn't, however a lot of work from home which allows more freedom.

I think its also more cancelled summer vacations so more time off available for hunting.

 

[Elktaco]

Idaho will still be a no brainer as a NR with the price increase. The quality is still 10x that of Colorado.

 

[mfllood3800]

I bet, Almost Every Resident of every Western state will likely have grievances with the amount of NR hunters and new resident hunters in their preferred hunt areas. I stopped and talked to 3 of these new hunters who were from Ca. . Even though they were wearing Kuiu, they still seemed like good dudes. The first thing they said to me was asking if I had seen any elk. I said I can't answer that question. I asked where they camped and offered small talk. They then told me where they dropped straight off from and ended up hiking right thru the bedding areas I planned to go to around 11. They didn't know that, but I was bummed and decided to go the next water source. They looked totally spent and I suspect they weren't going to do that again, as I am sure they didn't prepare or think about the amount of dead fall they entered into. I was friendly and just moved on. I just pushed deeper in the next drainage, as I figure they ran out, the small herd normally in there. Unfortunately for me, I had to leave after the opener and go work in AZ for the rest of my hunt. Self employed is crappy sometimes. It ended up being my one chance.
Perhaps many Residents are aging as well and the plans they had are being tossed a curve ball more often than not, and it's just getting frustrating. They try to go deeper but their bodies are aging.

It is a hard pill to swallow when folks come back and say, well the NR $ is needed. I won't argue that at all. I appreciate all of their $ helping our States Conservation. My tag is $50 theirs, some where north of $400 plus license. I just believe the State of Utah craps a lot of that $ away, and is so greedy, it isn't all well spent and thus hard to continue to appreciate the NR $ at this point.

I never hunt lower elev due to the amount of hunters down there,, but with the popularity of social media stars, everyone is flocking out West , and going into the mountains with their new Kifaru, Seek outside, and jet boil, to try it out for themselves and hopefully experience a dream of theirs. I can't blame them one bit for that. But I still hate the fact that so much isolated area is now hunted harder than ever before.
I will add in the 1 day I hunted, I only saw these folks and the others on the trail, as I headed into my chosen areas.
I still enjoyed being out in the mountains and seeing 2 bulls, 4 cows and 3 yearlings. Nobody can take that away. Oh and I had my Grandson with me, who fell in love elk hunting, but not the grind of elev changing. Memories are where it's at. I hope I have some more left to make.

 

[Scooter90254]

It's all Joe Rogan's fault.... If he doesn't stop talking about how great Elk hunting is, us non residents are going to be waiting 5 years to get a tag anywhere.

I'm from Michigan and it seems everyone I talk to is looking into or scheduling an out west elk hunt.

 

[ManyBullets]

It's all Joe Rogan's fault.... If he doesn't stop talking about how great Elk hunting is, us non residents are going to be waiting 5 years to get a tag anywhere.

I'm from Michigan and it seems everyone I talk to is looking into or scheduling an out west elk hunt.

Hunting is usually great on private ranches with guides

 

[AaronMColeman]

What were the crowds like in the old days? And when were the old days?

I'm a full on adult onset hunter. I only know what the crowds are like the last few years. I'm just curious what hunting was like for elk back in the day...and when the day was.

I still don't think most places are "overrun", but that could just be that all I've ever seen is the crowded mountain.

 

[FLAK]

I love Idaho too but it has got too $$ for me. The tag/license cost combined with airfare and rental car is just too much for me justify.
I've got to where if I cant drive to the state I want to hunt it prolly aint gonna happen.

 

[wind gypsy]

Sort of. People better get off their asses and vote. Saw plenty on Biden/Harris signs last week as far as Grangeville.

Well.. The only thing a Trump Vote in CA does is make things look more balanced on the nationwide popular vote count.

 

[Customweld]

What were the crowds like in the old days? And when were the old days?

I'm a full on adult onset hunter. I only know what the crowds are like the last few years. I'm just curious what hunting was like for elk back in the day...and when the day was.

I still don't think most places are "overrun", but that could just be that all I've ever seen is the crowded mountain.

I can't say when the good old days were, but I can offer you some anecdotal info. I've been an Idahoan since my birth 45 years ago. I started going elk hunting with my dad and his hunting partners when I was about 8. Contrary to what folks think, elk were somewhat scarce when I was a youngster. You were considered lucky if you drew a late November cow tag. The dads always put the kids in for those because they were busy chasing bulls. At that time, elk season opened on October 5th (in my hometown area) and ran until October 14th. If I remember correctly there were 3 different elk tags: Regular, Mountain and Panhandle. The mountain tags covered the wilderness units, obviously the panhandle was the northern units and regular covered the rest. I don't remember a southeast tag, but I could be mistaken. You didn't have to pick a weapon back then and could hunt archery in September and move right into rifle season in October. Opening weekend was always busy, but after that, you rarely seen another soul, other than folks from the same town as you.
There are certainly more elk now in the area I grew up in. There are considerably less elk in the wilderness units. Most certainly less access to private ground that was traditionally unposted or open and way more folks in the hills.

 

[Donny Land]

Not to veer off in the weeds, but IMO technology plays a pretty big role with everyone wanting to go out west, 25 years ago it was a good topo map and a compass, handheld GPS units were just really becoming a thing, and were basically Gary Line, now you can hit the mountain with your cell phone and pretty much know where you are at all times, the "fear" of really getting lost has all but went away....unless you truly are hunting a Wilderness area.

 

[SaltySailor]

I think your high school teacher is finally getting his wish. It feels like a mass exodus from CA is occurring with Idaho being a prime landing spot. Can’t say I blame people for wanting to leave. Hopefully they are not bringing what made them want to leave with them.

My Californian in-laws are exiting for Idaho. 2 groups in my wife's family have already made the leap and got there this year. I imagine another brother-in-law and his fam will transition over as well within the next 6 months. Lucky for Idaho, they are staunch conservatives and not interested in spreading the Cali policies they sought to escape. Unluckily for Idaho hunters, they like to hunt.....

Judging from stories and intel they conveyed to me, a lot of people they knew in Cali who had already migrated convinced them to roll on over there. They ain't gonna stop coming until you are full, my friends.

 

[njdoxie]

They ain't gonna stop coming until you are full, my friends.

That would depress me if was an Idahoan, bad.

 

[Michael54]

People are financing 70K trucks, 100K boats, lakehouses, vacations, buying flatbills and IPA microbrews.....land can be financed as well. Its all about priorities.

The trick is to marry the farmers daughter. Then it doesn't need financed

 

[EastMT]

There’s only one holdout in the NW now, WY and not many can afford Jackson Hole. The rest isn’t trendy, so WY probably the safest bet. CO, ID, WA, OR, MT, all be very similar in 25 years. In the 80’s and 90’s Montana we were going through the same boom, nothing you can do, enjoy what you can, or sit around and complain.

Pray for a mini ice age, that will run a few off.

 

[Michael54]

With the advances in social media and technology the rabbit is out of the bag. I call it the meat eater complex. Just this past year ive had more co workers ask me about where and how i hunt out west (my response is always the same "within 200 miles of yellowstone and the same way i hunt here, with a gun". Everyone has always heard the hunting out west is awesome now they can see it on netflix. They can also visibly see its not as out of reach financially as they originally thought. Hunting is kinda like politics i.m.o though for such a large group with a common interest it is severely divided by people with different thoughts on how it should be done.