Field Reports: Deer hunters in Idaho have great expectations

Idaho mule deer hunters want more bucks and bigger bucks and a license to hunt them every year, according to preliminary results from a recent survey.

Half of them own ATVs, yet most of them are interested in hunting where ATV access isn’t allowed.

These are some of the challenges Idaho Fish and Game Department big-game managers are addressing as they prepare to set plans for the next 10 years of mule deer management.

A recently completed survey of nearly 1,500 mule deer hunters indicates difficult choices must be made to avoid hunting by permit-only while protecting mule deer from overharvest.

“This is an important part of our mule deer planning process,” said Brad Compton, Fish and Game big-game manager.

Nearly 50 percent of the survey respondents said they use ATVs. “The two main reasons people use ATV is to hunt with other friends that have them and then to retrieve big-game animals,” said University of Idaho Professor Nick Sanyal. “The interesting part is nearly 50 percent of the people that use ATVs try to find areas to hunt without ATV access.

“What the preliminary results show they are saying, ‘Throw restrictions at us, we may scream and yell, but we would still hunt in Idaho.’ And many would enjoy the hunting more.”

Staff and agency reports

NATIONAL PARKS

Glacier sites reopening

Backcountry camping at Glacier National Park’s Old Man and Morning Star sites are expected to reopen this summer after two seasons of closures prompted by a grizzly bear and her cubs feeding around the campgrounds.

While reservations are currently being accepted for nights beginning Aug. 1, the opening date for the campgrounds is more likely to be July 18, park officials said.

Rangers will assess the area in early July. Aversive conditioning of the adult grizzly by park rangers and staff from the Wind River Bear Institute (WRBI) was conducted over the last two years.

All sightings of the grizzlies after last season’s aversive conditioning indicated more natural bear behavior.

Info for backcountry camping in Glacier: (406) 888-7859.

Associated Press

PREDATORS

Bear warnings issued

A Bozeman photographer, hiking alone and off-trail in prime grizzly habitat, was severely mauled by a sow grizzly recently in Yellowstone, prompting the National Park Service to issue bear-country reminders. .

Travel in groups, make noise and carry readily accessible canisters of bear pepper spray, rangers say. Food, garbage, barbecue grills and other things that could attract bears must be kept in hard-sided vehicles or bear-proof food storage boxes.

There were no human injuries from bears in Yellowstone last year. The last bear-caused human fatality in the park was in 1986.

Associated Press

MOUNTAINEERING

Denali’s deadly season

Five mountaineers have died on the peaks of Denali National Park this season.

Two Utah climbers swept off 7,650-foot Mount Barille by an avalanche are the latest to be identified in the series of fatalities in the Alaska Range on routes that range from moderate to highly technical.

Earlier, Washington climbers Mizuki Takahashi, 36, and Brian Massey, 27, died after falling on the West Rib of 20,320-foot Mount McKinley.

Another Washington climber, Lara-Karena Kellogg, 38, died in April while rappelling down 8,100-foot Mount Wake.

“We’re getting off to a difficult start, and the climbing season has just begun,” park spokeswoman Kris Fister said last week, noting that the season starts in late April and tapers off by early July.

Since 1996, 28 climbers have died in the park, 13 while attempting Mount McKinley.

Associated Press