Big game hunters have until Jan. 31 to submit mandatory harvest reports and fulfill a crucial role in the management of Idaho’s big game herds. Hunters can submit their mandatory hunter report online at license.gooutdoorsidaho.com, or by calling 1-877-268-9365.
If you purchased a tag to hunt big game this year, whether you hunted and/or harvested or not, you must fill out a mandatory harvest report by the Jan. 31 deadline. The harvest data provided by hunters is an important component of the season-setting process that will take place in February and March of 2021.
Mandatory hunter harvest reporting allows Fish and Game to better manage big game herds throughout the state. Wildlife managers need population data to develop sustainable harvest regulations, including an idea of herd sizes, sex and age ratios, how many animals are likely to be born and survive each year, and how many are likely to die.
To obtain most of that information, Idaho Fish and Game biologists spend countless hours in the field throughout the year conducting aerial population surveys, evaluating habitat quality, and capturing animals to fit them with tracking collars. They are constantly gathering data used to model big game populations. However, they can’t gather all of the information they need alone, and that’s where hunters come in.
“It might seem like a hassle at the end of the season, but accurate and precise harvest reports enable us to better manage herds for this and future generations of hunters,” said Rick Ward, Deer/Elk Program Coordinator.