Thinking of moving to Idaho

[Trad Bow 1979]

Ok guys so I am thinking of moving to Idaho in a few years when I retire. There are a few things I do not understand about big game hunting. So I got a few questions and if you guys can answer or clarify them for me I will appreciate it. So from what I have seen it appears that there is no preference point system. Is that correct. Anything that is referred to general hunts for deer and elk is over the counter, is that correct? Now there is a pretty good success rate on many of the controlled archery hunts with not so bad odds of drawing. The thing that seems weird is why are there so few hunters putting in for those hunts? I am a NM resident and there are 40+ archery elk hunts with tons of people applying and they do not have the success rate that you guys have. And why do so many of your mountain goat hunts have such a high rate of drawing success? It just seems so weird to me. Thank you for any responses!

 

[huntemdown]

I'll answer several of your questions with a couple of responses , first , that is correct there is no point system in idaho , resulting in fewer applicants due to the fact you must purchase the entire license and tag fee , a lot feel that it's a poor investment with no point system ! General hunts allow you basically statewide hunting opportunity , where controlled hunts generally lock you down to a specific unit and date , general archery allows much greater flexibility throughout fall. And the mountain goat hunts are great odds for a few reasons , when applying for Idaho you have the big three Moose , Sheep , Goat . You may only apply for one of those species per year , and in doing so you may not apply for Elk,Deer,or Antelope ! And due to the fact that many of the goat units in idaho are about as close to hunting vertical hell as you can get ! Big nasty hell hole type country that a lot of folks have no desire to hunt ! Idaho has a great diversity of opportunity , you just have to decide what you are willing to roll the dice for !

 

[boise]

You don't have to submit tag fee when applying for big game just trophy species moose ,goat and sheep. Lot of people skip the controlled archery because there are limited tags and they hunt with friends and family often deer and elk at same time. We have everything from whiteTail fanatic's to elk purists, traditional bow hunters to wannabe snipers. Hunting in Idaho is great we just don't have a lot of 400 pt elk or 350 pt elk roaming hills. That said mt goat hunting should be on most people's list. I had tag in white clouds in 2011 hunt was a little anticlimactic but scouting trips were what I enjoyed most. seeing sheep and goats in basins and above tree line was exciting each new basin I hiked in to made me want to see next. "The church" however is another animal all together. Some of those raft trips for sheep would even deter me. Good luck

 

[Trad Bow 1979]

Thank you guys for the responses! I looked all through the website and could not find anything on those rules regarding being able to only apply for one of the big 3 and forfeiting any other apps. It seems to me I would be better off trying to get that mountain goat tag now that I can still chase elk in New Mexico before I actually move to Idaho.

 

[DownThePipe]

U can only put in for one of the three trophy species (sheep, moose, mt goat) and that eliminates the ability to put in for elk deer or pronghorn. He is right...should be in both sets of regulations.

Good luck! I just read an article that boise in specific and idaho in general are a huge destination for retirees.

 

[twsnow18]

shhhh....

 

[huntin50]

You could apply for a goat hunt and still hunt general season elk and deer. You just can't apply for goat and LE elk and deer. Good luck.

 

[sticksender]

Quote: "It seems to me I would be better off trying to get that mountain goat tag now that I can still chase elk in New Mexico before I actually move to Idaho."

You're very unlikely to draw Goat as a NR. Average NR draw odds are slim for Goat, about 1:50. That's because there's an "up to 10%" cap on NR's. Meaning the "draw odds" listed for each individual hunt code on the Idaho site are not true odds for NR.

 

[Trad Bow 1979]

>You're very unlikely to draw Goat
>as a NR. Average NR
>draw odds are slim for
>Goat, about 1:50. That's because
>there's an "up to 10%"
>cap on NR's. Meaning the
>"draw odds" listed for each
>individual hunt code on the
>Idaho site are not true
>odds for NR.


Well I am confused. I was looking at the 2014 Draw odds and it shows for GE27-5 having 7 NR apps and 1 NR being drawn. Another showing 11 NR apps with 1 NR drawn. Am I reading something wrong?
Well, even if it is 1-50 odds its worth a try. Heck Last year I drew a persian Ibex tag which had odds around 1-150. And the year before that I drew an Oryx on my second try.
If I am mistaken on how I am reading these draw reports I would appreciate some feedback. Thank you

 

[two8E]

Nonresident Limitations:
In controlled hunts with 10 or fewer
tags, not more than one nonresident tag will be issued. Nonresident
hunters are limited to no more than 10 percent of the total number
of controlled hunt tags for each species. (Special bighorn sheep tags
available by auction and lottery are not included in the 10 percent
limitation.)
In controlled hunts with more than 10 tags, not more than 10 percent
of the tags will be issued to nonresidents.

Maybe this will help.

 

[two8E]

and this may also clear up one of your questions.

To apply,
see instructions page 37. Controlled hunt applications
may be submitted at any hunting and fishing license vendor, Fish
and Game office, by telephone at 1-800-554-8685, or online at
http://fishandgame.idaho.gov
. (Rules for deer, elk, pronghorn and
black bear controlled hunts are different and covered in their own
brochure and Website section.)
Notice:
A person may apply for only one species. Any person
applying for any moose, bighorn sheep, or mountain goat hunt
is prohibited from applying for any other big game controlled
hunt in the same year. Except: They may apply for a controlled
depredation hunt for deer, elk, or pronghorn, a controlled black
bear hunt, or leftover deer, elk or pronghorn controlled hunt tag,
an unlimited controlled hunt, or extra deer, elk, pronghorn, or
turkey hunt.

 

[sticksender]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-31-14 AT 02:25PM (MST)[p]82reddevil asked: "If I am mistaken on how I am reading these draw reports I would appreciate some feedback"

Yeah there is no draw report that shows NR odds. It's only good for residents, since they don't have a cap limit like NR do.

You may have mistakenly thought that each hunt code has it's own separate draw that includes only the NR & Res who applied for that hunt code. That's not correct. The draw under Idaho rules could never work that way because they can't award a "fraction of a tag" to a NR, only whole tags, with a total limit of 4 statewide.

Of course it's actually done by computer, but figuratively speaking "all names are in a hat", NR & RES, and they start drawing them out one at a time and awarding tags by hunt code until that hunt code is filled. Every NR's name is in the hat but ONLY UNTIL the 10% cap is reached (which is 4 Goat tags). That happens early in the draw. Thereafter, even if your name as a NR is drawn for the hunt you applied for, your name is thrown out, and they keep drawing until they come to a resident name for that hunt code.

You can roughly estimate average NR draw odds by dividing the total number of Goat tags available to NR's (which is 4) by the total number of NR names in the entire draw (which is about 200). This gives you the average NR odds.

 

[Trad Bow 1979]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-31-14 AT 02:32PM (MST)[p]http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/licenses/controlledHunts/lookupOdds.cfm


I went to the Idaho fish and wildlife site, I clicked onto hunting. I scrolled down to controlled hunts and clicked onto "DRAWING ODDS". I selected Mountain Goat and 2014. The page seems to spell it out pretty clear.

 

[BPKHunter]

I have followed the draw odd's for many big game species here in Idaho, taking into consideration the NR rules and thei impact. My generalized conclusion is that in most cass NR's draw their equal share. My equal share, I mean if NR's represent 5% of the pool of all applicants, they generrally draw that %. Fact is, NR's rarely represent more than 10%, so the cap rarely interfer's. Fact is that it can. So simply be mindful.

BTW, I drew a goat tag last year, as a resident, and I highly recommend doing it while you can. Save the Moose draw, and frankly you may be too old for the Sheep draw as they require a lot more leg work to find critters. Once you get through a goat hunt you may be motivated for that Sheep draw or KNOW you want no part of it.

My philosophy have been to use years after I drew a deer/elk tag, when I was not allowed to put in for that species(deer/elk) to put in for trophy species. I drew on my 3rd attempt. PS I'm 47 and gad I didn't wait too long.

 

[brymoore]

If you've hunted the Floridas in NM, you can hunt anywhere in Idaho...

 

[Outdoordan]

What you are missing 82, is that there are only 10% of the tags available to NR. If you look at one hunt and one NR drew out of 7, you are not getting a crystal clear view of the draw. You need to take into consideration ALL the hunts, because in some of those, there were many applicants and NONE drew a tag, because the cap was reached for all goat tags. So, truer odds would be to take ALL NR applications, and divide by number of TOTAL tags issued. But that doesn't even give a good indication because only one tag may be issued for that unit. So you could potentially draw a good number, but pick a unit that the tag was already issued (to a guy with a better number), and still not draw a tag, unless your second choice still had a tag left.

Atleast that is how I understand it. Still some of the BEST draw odds, and prettiest country in the nation...

www.hunthardcore.com

 

[Califelkslayer]

The NRs go into the same draw pool as the residents. But once 10% of the tags have gone to NRs, no NR will draw another tag for that hunt.

I applied for the late deer hunt in unit 40 for about 11 years. Regularly only 16-17 of the 200 tags would go to NRs. They didn't hit the 10% quota since so many residents applied for that hunt, and the 10% IS NOT set aside for NRs like some states but I had the opportunity to draw as a resident.