Those who do not buy resident licenses, tags, and permits in 2017 would pay the increased prices for these items starting in 2018. The price lock component of the fee legislation – starting in 2017 – will allow those purchasing resident licenses, tags, and permits to lock in at the 2017 price they pay for those items during subsequent years. Support this coverage here.On December 5, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) announced that it will once again be pursuing legislation to increase resident fees creating a price lock for regular purchasers of hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses, tags, and permits.Īs part of the overall legislative proposal, IDFG will also be proposing an increase in the price of “.most resident licenses, tags, and permits between $1 and $6 starting in 2018.” As noted by IDFG Director Virgil Moore, the push for an increase in resident fees is driven largely because it has been 12 years since the last increase in resident fees, during which time inflationary pressures have increased IDFG’s operational costs by 22 percent. Member support is what makes local COVID-19 reporting possible. “The zone limits on nonresident elk tags will not only ensure more even distribution of nonresident elk hunters, it will also result in a reduction of over 600 elk tags sold to nonresidents in general elk hunts based on current participation rates,” said Idaho Fish and Game Director Ed Schriever.Įarlier this year, state lawmakers increased prices for non-resident tags for the first time since 2009 to help smooth out the financial gap left by the decrease in out-of-state tag sales.įollow James Dawson on Twitter more local news. 20 to limit the number of tags issued to non-residents to between 10-15% in particular zones where Idaho hunters said there has been significant crowding in recent years. While demands have been strong among Idaho residents and out-of-staters alike, the Idaho Fish and Game Commission recently moved to rein in the number of deer and elk tags issued to non-residents in certain hunting zones. Sales totals aren’t immediately available, Phillips said, as the state is in the middle of swapping license vendors and deer season is still in full swing. “But anybody should be able to differentiate between an elk and a moose if they have an elk tag in their pocket,” he said. Phillips said he’s not going to judge why those incidents happened. A third novice hunter shot at a moose, also thinking it was an elk. Beginner hunters killed two of them, thinking they were elk and immediately reported it to wildlife authorities. Poachers killed five moose in southwest Idaho recently. However, there have already been some problems. “But I think you can kind of put two and two together when we’ve seen such a significant increase in all kinds of outdoor activities,” Phillips said. Idaho Fish and Game spokesman Roger Phillips said he hasn’t heard directly that this surge in sales is due to the pandemic. That’s nearly 50,000 more than were sold in all of 2019.Ĭombination hunting and fishing licenses performed well, too, up almost 12,000 compared to last year. Fish and Game data shows the state sold 376,464 fishing licenses through Oct. The number of fishing licenses – whether annual or day passes – accounted for much of the growth.

Almost 640,000 total licenses and tags – including daily permits – have been sold so far. State officials sold nearly 62,000 more hunting and fishing licenses in Idaho through the end of October compared to 2019. Sales of hunting and fishing licenses are up dramatically across the country due to the pandemic and Idaho is no exception.

Idaho fish and game license