Idaho hunting lottery dedicated to opening access to private land

Following the principle of supply and demand, Idaho’s controlled-hunt tags have become increasingly valuable — and profitable.

Any hunter can buy over-the-counter tags to hunt deer and elk in some parts of the state. However, to prevent crowding and over-hunting, the Idaho Fish and Game Department requires hunters to apply for limited numbers of tags for some hunts.

All hunting for species such as moose and antelope is by lottery.

There are far more applicants than tags for almost all of the state’s controlled hunts. Some hunters have applied for decades without beating the odds to draw a tag for prized areas.

Hunters who draw tags in the traditional controlled-hunt drawings generally are limited to hunting in a specific zone or game management unit.

To generate more revenue in the late 1990s, IFG began offering a “raffle” drawing for an even more limited number of “super tags,” which enable a hunter to pursue an antelope, mule deer, elk or moose anywhere hunting for that species is allowed in the state.

A hunter can purchase as many super tag lottery tickets as his wallet can stand.

This year, funds from the supertag lottery were dedicated to the state’s new Access Yes! program, which pays landowners who open private property to public hunting.

To increase interest, two “Super Slam Paks” were offered, allowing the winners to hunt antelope, mule deer, elk and moose statewide.

“We sold about 30,000 tickets for all the tags this year and raised $162,319 for Access Yes!,” said Brad Compton, the Idaho Fish and Game Department big-game manager in charge of the program.

The next lottery drawing for Idaho super tags will be held in June. Even more tags will be offered for 2005, but the cost for a lottery ticket will be reduced to encourage more participation, Compton said.

Lottery tickets will cost $4.95 for a single-species super hunt or $19.95 for a super hunt combo. Packets of tickets can be purchased at reduced cost.

Twelve super tags will be offered for each of three species — elk, deer and pronghorn — and four tags will be offered for moose. The “super slam pak” — renamed the “super hunt combo” — once again will be limited to two hunters.

Compton said the growing number of super tags was having no management impact on trophy big-game in specific hunting units.

“We’ve watched this carefully since we started in the ‘90s and people who draw the tags tend to distribute themselves around the state,” he said. “For example, Unit 45 is highly regarded by mule deer hunters, but so are units 11, 27, 28, 44 and 56, and a buck scored 252 (Boone and Crockett points) out of unit 62 this year.”

“The super tags are an opportunity for an incredible hunt for those who buy the lottery tickets, but they’re also our way of assuring hunting access for everyone,” Compton said.

“For every ticket we sell we can open about 5 acres of private land to public hunting.”

In two years, the Access Yes! program has opened 222,000 acres of private land and resulted in access to another quarter of a million acres of public land that had previously been inaccessible, Compton said.