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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Elk, Deer Hunt Won’t Be Changed

Associated Press

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has decided not to mess with this year’s controlled elk and deer hunting regulations after all.

The commission last month announced it might impose some substantial changes in the lottery drawing system to change the drawing odds.

That unexpected announcement came as the commission was holding public hearings on a larger overhaul of the system next year to protect more mature bulls and bucks.

“Commissioners decided the hunting public would be better served if controlled hunt procedures were not changed this year when new, major alterations in big game hunting are under way for 1998,” the department said in a news release.

The commission is deciding whether to restrict general-season elk and deer hunting in 1998 by requiring hunters to choose regional rather than statewide permits, or to restrict general permits to spike-antlered bulls.