Hunter Harvest Report: Idaho deer and elk hunters go 3 for 3 in 2024

Please be mindful that even as April and early May melts snow and the hills begin to green, the deer are still energetically stressed from previous winter conditions and its effect on their bodies. Deer go into the winter with their groceries on their back in the form of fat, and the less they are stressed and pushed around on the winter ranges, even during early spring, the more likely they are to survive. 

And sadly, green forage does not mean all fawns will survive their first winter. Overstressed young mule deer can die with bellies full of green forage because their weakened bodies are unable to adapt to the higher nutrients.

Hunters: You make these kinds of insights possible

This might shock a few people, but knowing how many deer and elk get harvested by hunters every year depends on, well, hunters. 

Your involvement gives wildlife managers important hunt and harvest information that directly goes into gauging herd health across the state, figuring out where and how much hunting pressure takes place, and ultimately setting seasons and rules for the future hunting seasons.

This is conservation at its core, folks. Nobody’s asking you for GPS coordinates or bullet weight or what flavor Mountain House you packed. It’s did you harvest—yes or no? 

Hunters, take pride in knowing you’re doing your part to ensure game populations remain healthy and resilient and ensuring each species will still be there to hunt for your kids, the next generations.

Now, the moment has already come and gone to fill out hunter reports for last fall, but this is a reminder that better information means better management, which in turn can mean more hunting opportunity because a lack of good data can mean shorter hunting seasons and/or fewer tags.

I know it still feels like a century between now and the fall 2025 hunting season, but take this simple reminder and file it away. Make it a tradition every year. Do whatever you think it will take to remind yourself to fill out your mandatory hunter report after next fall’s hunt.

It’s your big game herds, so take pride in how they’re managed and conserved.