2. But - the B-tag hunt will be changed to Nov. 1-9 (any weapon, antlered only).
3. The A-tag's elk archery hunt is where the muzzleloader hunt used to be - in November. So, bowhunters will go out from Nov. 10-30. And, the muzzleloader season is from Sept. 9-30.
If these changes don't bring up the numbers of bull populations, a quota on sales will be considered for the B-tag in the future.
Other Changes to the Hunting Rules - that we know of so far.
A cap (quota) is put on the B-tags for the Elk City Zone, and the Dworshak Zones. This brings the total to 5 zones that now have their own tag sales limit. The others are: Lolo, Selway, and Middle Fork (both A & B tags are capped for the Middle Fork).
Non-residents are severely hurt by the new quotas because they have no prior knowledge of this decision. The Elk City Zone and Dworshak Zone will be sold out sooner than they expect. Non-Resident tag sales begin on December 1 of the previous year. Whatever the cap is, Non-Residents are allowed 10% of that number. For the zones not capped, they are grouped in the larger pool of Non-Resident elk tags. At this writing, there are about 5,000 Non-Resident elk tags left from this larger pool. These are expected to sell out sometime in the summer.
The Middle Fork Zone will not have a "second antlerless tag" for sale within the quotas.
The Sawtooth Zone's A-tag muzzleloader hunt will be a week longer than last year.
Youth hunts will be discontinued in region 5 (southeast) because of higher than average winter kill there. Yet, there will be a 5 percent increase in youth hunts overall, and they will include ages 15-17.
Black bear seasons in units 10, 12, 16 and 17 will be open two weeks earlier from April 1 through June 30.
Female mountain lion quotas were removed in units 66 and 69, while the quotas were lowered on females in units 63A, 64, 65, and 67.
Non-Resident youths will pay virtually resident prices to hunt in Idaho.
Resident youths will be able to hunt by age 10 in the year 2003.