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Ed Riser 18y

What you need to draw a fall hunt out West

Last issue we detailed this year's licensing details for Alaska, California, Colorado and Montana. We continue the look at deadlines, updates and strategies you need to successfully draw a hunt permit for this fall.

We'll cover Washington and Wyoming in an upcoming issue.

Arizona

Application deadline: Mid-June.

To apply: Go to www.azgfd.gov or call (602) 942-3000.

What's new: Who knows? Arizona's season-setting process is one of the most involved and circuitous in the West.

Proposed guidelines for this fall's big game seasons are being trotted around the state and will be finalized in late April. But after last year, this year is bound to be simpler.

Remember that lawsuit claiming Arizona's quotas discriminated against nonresident hunters?

That prompted Arizona Game and Fish last year to require paper applications, forcing nonresident hunters to pony up more than $120 for a basic hunting license to be eligible for special permits and liberalized quotas for sheep, deer and elk.

This year you'll likely be able to again apply online.

Other likely changes: at least 5 percent of total elk permits and 2 percent of deer permits will be reserved for youth hunters.

The department is already warning of poor deer and antelope fawn production this spring because of the drought that's returned to the Southwest.

Fee increases: They're on the table, but you'll have to wait for 2007.

Idaho

Application deadline: April 30 for mountain goat, bighorn sheep and moose. The deadline for deer, elk and antelope controlled tags is June 5.

To apply: Visit fishandgame.idaho.gov and click on the Licensing or Hunting buttons. You can also call (800) 635-7820 to request application materials.

What's new: Lots of changes on the horizon in the Gem State. For starters, it appears a bonus point will be instituted for this year's application process.

Idaho's Fish and Game Commission gave its blessing in January to the system that will give unsuccessful applicants additional entries in subsequent drawings.

Other changes are additional antler-less elk opportunities in the Upper Snake Region (particularly units 66 and 69, where an additional 500 cow tags could be offered this year), two extra days during the Panhandle cow hunt, and changes to the popular Smoky Mountains late mule deer hunt.

The change started last year, allowing antler-less moose hunters to participate in drawings without losing their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hunt bull moose, will again make drawings for cow tags competitive.

The deadline for applying for Southeast Idaho deer tags was March 1.

In late March, about 400 of the tags remained. The only over-the-counter elk tags with a quota remaining were the Middle Fork A tags.

Zone A and B elk tags are selling, but about 7,000 of the 10,400 remained at deadline.

Fee increases: Not this year.

Nevada

Application deadline: April 18. Applications were expected to be available in the last few days of March, which doesn't give you much time to get your completed paperwork back.

To apply: Go to the Nevada Division of Wildlife's web site at www.ndow.org or call (775) 688-1500. The state contracts it's licensing to a private vendor, www.huntnevada.com or at (800) 576-1020.

What's new: The good news is that elk, sheep and antelope herds are generally in fine shape; last year set harvest records for all three species.

The bad news is that opportunities may not be quite as rich this year because of poor fawn recruitment in the state's deer and antelope herds.

The state's big game herds are restricted to relatively small islands of habitat. Nevada estimates its elk herd at about 8,000 head, its antelope population at some 20,000 individuals, and its desert bighorn numbers at about 5,500 animals.

Fee increases: None proposed.

New Mexico

Application deadline: Alas, you missed the April 8 deadline for permits to hunt on public land for most species, including deer, elk, antelope, both Rocky Mountain and desert bighorn sheep, ibex and most javelina hunting opportunities.

To apply: Visit New Mexico Game and Fish's Web site at www.wildlife.state.nm.us or call (505) 476-8000

What's new: In addition to increased fees (detailed below), hunters will be hit with a $4 Habitat Management and Access Validation once every year.

The revenue from the tag will be used to lease private land for public use and better maintain public properties to benefit fish, wildlife and recreationists.

The stamp is in addition to the $5 Habitat Stamp, required of all hunters, anglers and trappers who use Forest Service or BLM land in New Mexico.

Look for more liberal deer hunting in a regional pool of hunting districts that's available as a fourth choice on the application.

Other details are simply modifications from previous years; auctioned and/or raffled tags for sheep (4), deer (2) and elk (2), antler-point restrictions for deer across the state, and a special lottery for one of the coolest elk hunts in the West, on the enormous Valles Caldera.

Deadline to buy lottery chances, at $25 apiece for the 77 bull tags, is April 8. Find more details at www.vallescaldera.gov or call (866) 382-5537.

Fee increases: Resident deer tags went from $26 last year to $39 this year and nonresident deer tags rose from $199 to $270. This year nonresident draw elk permits run $541, up from $481 last year.

Antelope draw permits cost $276 for nonresidents and sheep permits run a whopping $3,166. In fairness to the department, New Mexico hasn't had a fee increase in 10 years and their previous fees were probably undervalued.

Oregon

Application deadline: May 15 for antelope, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, deer and elk hunts.

To apply: Visit Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Web site www.dfw.state.or.us for general information, hunting for specific information on big game licensing and regulations. You can also call (503) 947-6100.

What's new: A brand-new Columbian whitetail deer hunt will be held in the Roseburg area, with four new controlled hunts.

A big change for elk hunters is that all elk hunting in south-central Oregon, including popular Klamath Falls and Paulina-East Fork Rock as well as Sprague and Silver Lake units, is now controlled, meaning you'll have to apply for a permit to hunt there.

Rifle elk hunting in the Wenaha, Walla Walla and Mt. Emily units is also controlled. The old general elk season in the Ochoco Unit has been replaced with a controlled archery elk hunt.

Fee increases: Not this year.

Utah

Application deadline: Feb. 17. You missed it. Traditionally the deadline has been Jan. 31 — easily the earliest of any Western state — but it was moved back this year

To apply: Go to www.wildlife.utah.gov, the Web site of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. You can also call (801) 538-4700.

What's new: The biggest change proposed for this year is a huge increase in the coveted limited-entry bull elk permits. Last year the DWR issued some 1,550 bull permits; this year it's looking at issuing just over 2,000.

The average age of bulls harvested is still expected to be around 7 years old, among the best trophy potential in the West. Deer and elk permits are also proposed to increase.

Pronghorn tags could go up by as much as 250, to around 800, mostly on the Plateau Unit. And another 1,000 deer permits could be restored to the Northeastern Region where they were cut a few years ago because of declining herds.

Fee increases: A major fee increase that had been proposed for more than a year was aborted in the 11th hour when the state's legislature appropriated some $2 million more to the department to cover anticipated shortfalls.


Material from Fishing & Hunting News
published 24 times a year.

Visit them at www.fishingandhuntingnews.com.

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