Idaho Mountain Goat

[Daxter]

Anybody know a good area for non-residents to put in for goats in Idaho? I would be guiding myself and would want something within 8-10 miles of a road. The odds are pretty good in some of the units, probably because of the $128 license required to apply. Too bad they don't have bonus points, maybe someday soon. I just have to get a goat soon, I already applied in Montana for Goats and I want more chances. Thanks for any info.

 

[DonV]

I am in the same boat as you, except I am waiting until next year. There goat odds avg. 8:1 overall. Only one tag can come from each unit. I figure the $128 is worth since you should get a tag relatively quick. The other reason odds are good is you can only put in for 1 big game speices there. I found a res. who told me about a unit he has hunted. Goats are 4-5 miles from a road and the walk in only gains 1000 feet, he hikes in and out each day. He said with a rifle it was simply a matter of which goat to shoot. In other words is seems like an easy do it yourself hunt - as long as you are in shape. There is one less NR goat tag this year, which when there are only about 5 max. allowed will hurt odds noticably.

 

[3006enfield]

Just to let you guys know, Idaho changed the rules on Moose, Sheep and Mtn. Goats this year. Only 10% of the total tags per species can go to out-of-state applications. So not every unit will have 1 tag for non-residents. Talk with IDFG and find out what units they will give out non-resident tags. You dont want to put in for a unit that no non-resident tags can be awarded.

As for the preference points, I love it that Idaho does not have it. IT is a fair system. The thing people need to look at is the odds of the draw and it is totally random, ie. (luck).

My brother and I put in for moose and drew tags the first time. Both of us killed bulls. My brother put in for RM Bighorn and drew the tag the first time. He killed a 165 class B&C ram. My wife and I are putting in for RM Bighorn this year and the odds of drawing the tag is 30%. You tell me anywhere else a resident can draw a Bighorn tag with 30% probablity of drawing?

 

[ElmerFudd]

They used to award around 20% of the sheep tags to nonresidents before the 10% deal was put in to effect about 2 years ago. Nonresidents usually took about 10% of the goat tags anyway, and could not draw a moose tag. So really, the deal was about half the sheep tags for allowing nonresidents to draw moose. Draw odds are still pretty good for nonresident sheep in comparison to most other states, but you may consider going for a slightly tougher draw now, as there are two things to beat now. I am debating betwewen california bighorn or moose this year, but am going to wait on my CO (sheep, goat) and UT results first.