Fish and Game News for Feb. 10, 2011

Deer and elk objectives are met

Deer and elk numbers are meeting management objectives in most parts of the state, but hunter numbers are down, according to an Idaho Fish and Game press release.

White-tail deer are meeting management objectives for buck harvest throughout the state; mule deer exceed management objectives for buck to doe ratio; and statewide fawn survival last winter was about 70 percent, with high doe survival, IDFG said.

It's too early to tell how the mulies will fare this winter, but Fish and Game hopes to get a better idea from the 193 fawns biologists recently captured and radio-collared.

Deer tag sales - white-tail and mule deer - have declined by 12,715 tags since 2008, when Fish and Game sold 145,869 tags, the department reported. It dropped to 133,154 tags in 2010 - a decrease of about 9 percent.

Fish and Game is conducting aerial surveys in the Panhandle, Dworshak, Boise River, Middle Fork, Lemhi and Teton elk zones this winter to update elk herd information in those zones.

Elk tag sales are down by 7,800 tags. Tag sales went from 92,565 in 2008 to 84,765 in 2010 - a decline of about 8 percent.

Overall elk hunter success rates are about 20 percent.

According to a second release from the Coeur d'Alene office, 2011 season proposals will be roughed out and placed online by Feb. 22. The department will collect public input.

Fish and Game managers will bring proposed 2011 deer and elk seasons to the Idaho Fish and Game Commission in late March.

For details of deer and elk status in Idaho, check the Fish and Game website at: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov.

Chinook forecast looks promising

It's not expected to be as good as last year, but the 2011 chinook salmon return is on track to be the sixth best year since 1980, according to IDFG.

The fish are still out in the Pacific Ocean, but the forecast for numbers of returning fish are similar to 2008 and 2009. Northwest fish managers estimate that about 198,400 chinook bound for waters upstream of Bonneville Dam will enter the Columbia River this year (last year's number was 315,300).

Of those, 66,400 hatchery fish and 24,700 wild fish are expected to swim up the Snake River to Washington, Oregon and Idaho, IDFG said.

Idaho fish managers estimate that 32,470 of the hatchery fish that cross Washington's Lower Granite Dam - a large facility on the Snake, northwest of Lewiston - are bound for Idaho waters.

Last year, more than 38,000 returned to Salmon River hatcheries and more than 13,000 returned to Clearwater hatcheries. However, it's too soon to tell just how many fish will actually show up, and what any fishing seasons might look like, IDFG said.

State fisheries managers expect to present proposed chinook fishing seasons in the Clearwater, Snake, lower Salmon and Little Salmon rivers to the Fish and Game Commission in March.

In years past, chinook seasons have opened in late April.

Winter game aerial surveys under way

Idaho Fish and Game officials are conducting aerial surveys of big game in the elk ecology research study area in Unit 10, the northern portion of the Lolo elk management zone, and in Unit 10A, the Dworshak zone.

The helicopter surveys are scheduled during the winter months. The goal is to compare population trends, and age and sex ratios. This information allows biologists to be more precise in setting seasons and permit levels, which results in maximum opportunity for hunters, IDFG said.

Besides finding big game animals congregated on lower-elevation winter ranges, the season also brings two requirements needed to conduct accurate surveys: clear weather for good visibility, and snow covering that aids in locating and identification of species.

A helicopter flying low and slow over some of the most remote areas of the state is the most efficient tool for gathering big game herd information, the department said.

In spite of the high costs and the danger associated with low-level flying, helicopter surveys continue to provide wildlife managers with the best information to use in managing wildlife, IDFG said.

Moose, sheep and goat seasons set

Last Thursday, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission approved moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat seasons for 2011 and 2012, IDFG said.

Following a decline in hunter success in central Idaho, the number of moose tags dropped. The newly-established quota includes 761 tags for antlered bull moose - down 7 percent from 2009-10 - and 163 tags for antlerless moose, down from 197 earlier, IDFG said.

Two new hunts for mountain goats, with one tag each, were established in the Panhandle Region, the department said - one in Unit 1, in the northernmost part of the state, and the other in units 7 and 9, comprising parts of Shoshone and Clearwater counties.

Also in the Clearwater area, hunt boundaries were adjusted to create a new hunt in units 10 and 12.

The fall 2010 hunting season was notable in that two new state record bighorn sheep were taken by Idaho hunters, IDFG noted. The largest Rocky Mountain bighorn ram ever harvested by an Idaho hunter, scoring more than 197 Boone & Crockett points, was taken in Hells Canyon, and the largest California bighorn harvested by a hunter, at more than 185 points, was taken in the Jarbidge River drainage.

Moose, Sheep and Goat 2011 and 2012 rule books are expected to be available by the end of February.

The application period for trophy species hunts runs from April 1 through 30.