Idaho general Season harvest data.

BrianID · Apr 28, 2004

The general season harvest data is on the F&G website.
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/hunt/deer/home.cfm

Overall the numbers don't look all that great.
I'm surprised that there are whitetails killed in a few units in SE Idaho. I know that there are a few whitetails around but I think some of the whitetails listed might be from someone who mismarked there harvest report card.

Deerlove · Apr 28, 2004

Brian how much weight do you put in on these reports? I know people who dont want to tell the FeG how big of a buck they shot.

Muleyslyr · Apr 28, 2004

The numbers obviously aren't exact but they give the F&G an idea. I think it's unfortunate that guys aren't willing to tell the truth or even report their harvests. I think it just hurts them in the long run. It can effect seasons, dates, # of tags per unit, etc....

Three100mag · Apr 28, 2004

As far as the whitetail are concerned, ww have a decent sized herd ( and growing ) here in bear lake valley

supersider34 · Apr 28, 2004

I know some guys do not put down any harvest as they believe that with higher numbers people will put in for or hunt those areas.

BrianID · Apr 30, 2004

That is a real shame that some guys enter false information on their harvest reports. The slightly higher % that shows up in the public harvest information wouldn't attrack more hunters to their area. I believe guys with big mouths, B&C records and publications like F&H News attrack more hunters to an area than the F&G harvest data. In my opinion the guys that do little things like entering false info on there havest report card are often the same guys that do bigger things like poaching.

Craig · Apr 30, 2004

I know some people still lie on their harvest reports but in Washington they won't sell you a hunting license if you don't send in the last years harvest report. Your just going to hurt yourself in the long run if you lie or don't turn in your reports.

BrianID · Apr 30, 2004

Three100mag,
How many whitetails do you think are in the Bear Lake Valley? How many have you seen personally in this area? Have you ever seen any whitetails up in the mountains? If you don't mind sharing some more exact locations on where they are that would be great.

I've heard that there are a few whitetails in the valley around Malad, Bear Lake and McCammon and know that there is a decent population over by Blackfoot Reservoir and Gray's Lake. I don't know anyone that has seen any whitetails outside of these areas though.

With the exception of 3 units I have seen at least one whitetail in every unit in upper snake region but I haven't seen any whitetails South of Pocatello yet. Many studies on whitetails have shown that a after whitetail buck leaves its mother it isn't uncommon for it to travel 50 miles or more in the first year and there is a solid whitetail population within 50 miles of every unit in eastern Idaho. I can believe a handful are shot by hunters but I wouldn't be surprise if half or more of the reported whitetails in SE Idaho are either from guys that can't tell a muley from a whitetail or guys that can't fill out their card correctly.

The thing that makes me really doubt that 1%-3% of the deer that are harvested in some of these units is that I have seen thousands of deer some of these units but still haven't seen any whitetails. Even though I don't spend a lot of time glassing the river/creek bottoms I should have seen at least a few whitetails in at least one of units if the harvest numbers are correct.

wilecoyote76 · May 1, 2004

I grew up in Malad and still hunt there every year and I have yet to see any whitetails. I'm not saying there aren't any there but if there were, I am sure I would have heard of it before now. Maybe the small percentage of reported whitetails could be from out of staters who just traditionally hunt whitetails in their home states.

If I'm not mistaken, Idaho residents have to submit their harvest report cards from the previous hunting season before they can even purchase the current year license/tags. They have made it even easier to submit harvest information by doing it over the net.

I submit my harvest reports as honestly as I can but it's not fair to say that those that fib are poachers. If that's the case, Idaho has a lot of poachers.

BlackRock · May 1, 2004

There are a few whitetails just south of Franklin, ID in Cache valley. I'm sure there are a few in Idaho in the extreme corner.

I have also seen them out in unit 68, in the desert.

BrianID · May 2, 2004

wilecoyote76,
I'm sure most of the guys that don't want to report the correct information on their harvest report card wouldn't even consider poaching. I was just trying to say that if a guy is breaking some of the minor laws he is more likely to be breaking some of the bigger laws. I also think there is a lot more poaching going on than most hunters realize.