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[LONE HUNTER]

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[sneaky]

Have you looked at the Hunt Planner? 2017 stats are on there

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Mtnboy]

2017 total deer and elk harvest above average, but mule deer was down | Idaho Fish and Game

 

[bluetick78]

It'd be interesting to see the difference in hunter numbers between '08 and '17. I'd be willing to bet there was fewer residents hunting in '08 and possibly thousands less non-resident hunters due to the poor economy. I love how the F&G loves to paint a rosy little picture and excludes some pretty important contributing factors.

 

[idelkslayer]

It'd be interesting to see the difference in hunter numbers between '08 and '17. I'd be willing to bet there was fewer residents hunting in '08 and possibly thousands less non-resident hunters due to the poor economy. I love how the F&G loves to paint a rosy little picture and excludes some pretty important contributing factors.

You are partially correct here is some quick info that I found.

Here is what the IDFG website shows for hunter numbers in the past and near present.

year/elk hunters/deer hunters

2002 / 90,900 / 134,500
2006 / 99,400 / 152,900
2007 / 86,000 / 148,900
2008 / 84,067 / 131,926
2014 / 85,062 / 143,834
2015 / 101,000 / 168,000

As far as NR, the quick numbers I can give are that the current quotas for NR deer and elk tags are 15,500 and 12,815 respectively. In the year 2000 the number of NR quota for deer and elk hunters also 15,500 and 12,815 respectively. Prior to 2009 these sold out every year. From 2009 to 2013, 4,000-6,000 NR deer tags went unsold and 2,500 and 5,000 NR elk tags went unsold. Now for the last 2 years they have sold out. However, many of those have been sold as second tags to residents. In 2016, 1,113 NR elk tags were purchased by residents as 2nd tags and 346 were purchased by NR as second tags. That means that out of a quota of 12,815 only 11,356 NR hunted for elk. For deer there were a total of 2.886 2nd tags sold so only 12,614 NR hunted for deer.

The way I interpret this information is that yes, hunter numbers for residents and NR were down in 2008 and have climbed since then. But NR hunters numbers have only risen to their pre-2008 numbers and cannot go any higher. Meanwhile, resident hunter numbers in the last couple years have reached the same level as in 2002 for elk and exceeded previous levels for deer.

What we are seeing is a return to the hunter numbers that existed 15-20 years ago. And I agree, it kinda sucks but I try to keep it in perspective.

 

[bluetick78]

I don't think it necessarily sucks that our hunter recruitment numbers are on the rise, I just get a laugh at the F&G leaving out important info in regards to big game harvest stats.