Non-resident Idaho tag frenzy

[Cammy]

As a non-resident I used to be able to walk into the Cabela's in Post Falls ID in November and buy a tag on my way to deer camp. Started buying tags in February just because I knew I would be going again in November.

I understand the theory behind limits placed on Non-resident tags and to some extent agree with the concern however, wonder if it could have been done based on unit vs statewide.

Having hunted Idaho for long enough to remember when deer tags never sold out, I wonder if we will ever see those days again. I often wonder what has caused the virtual frenzy that is the 1 December sale. Where were all of the people 10 years ago when there were no caps on non-resident tags? Why in the past few years has it become such a crazy system?

 

[PNWGator]

Social media and ‘influencers’ pimping DIY western big game hunting spelling out the process.

 

[Oak]

I wonder if we will ever see those days again.

No, we won’t. Hunting information has never been more accessible to the western hunting-curious. The pressure on big game populations and their habitats has never been greater. We will never have more or higher quality habitat available than we have right now. We might be able to make a difference at the local level, but the losses west-wide are relentless. The things that hooked many of us on hunting in our youth - availability of tags, easy access, abundant game populations - are gone forever. Look at the weekly spectacle Colorado has created with returned licenses. Has hunters fighting over tag scraps like starving dogs with a chunk of rotting meat. Is that a scenario that encourages anyone about the future of hunting? It has nearly turned me off to the whole thing.

 

[brownbear932008]

They were there then but people wasn't educated on the "How to". No we won't ever see that again IMHO.

 

[Cammy]

My hope would be that enough people experience the defeat of western hunting and tell enough of their friends that things will return to "normal". Hunting the West has its allure but is not for the faint of heart. I for one have eaten a few tags but it is the solitude of the dark timber and beauty of the far removed places that draws me to be part of the "frenzy" every year.

 

[Slm864]

Everyone seems to be upset anymore that they can’t gobble up tags left and right or get a good tag with 1 or zero preference points.
My first western hunt was 2015 when I was invited to go with some guys who had been going for 25 years and I’ll admit, I became hooked. I started getting points and applying everywhere I can and hope to have an opportunity to hunt each year. I realize I’m not walking into Walmart to get a good tag. It’s going to take a lot of pre planning and effort and I guess I’m ok with that. I never got to see the days everyone talks about of endless tags and limitless miles of no other hunters, but I don’t see them coming back.
If you want to hunt a tag you can walk into Walmart for then I guess expect it to be a lot more difficult and crowded.

 

[shb]

As a non-resident I used to be able to walk into the Cabela's in Post Falls ID in November and buy a tag on my way to deer camp. Started buying tags in February just because I knew I would be going again in November.

I understand the theory behind limits placed on Non-resident tags and to some extent agree with the concern however, wonder if it could have been done based on unit vs statewide.

Having hunted Idaho for long enough to remember when deer tags never sold out, I wonder if we will ever see those days again. I often wonder what has caused the virtual frenzy that is the 1 December sale. Where were all of the people 10 years ago when there were no caps on non-resident tags? Why in the past few years has it become such a crazy system?

Read the Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell.


Then look at what this board, the others like it, and the "look at me" social media platforms have done to hunting.


The outdoor whores require infinite growth to survive



The outdoors is a finite resource.




The two are mutually exclusive, and now that no one can draw a tag....we will hopefully start to see a collapse of the outdoor whores.

 

[Cammy]

"we will hopefully start to see a collapse of the outdoor whores."


exactly my point when talking about a return to "normal"

 

[brownbear932008]

I have more people asking me about western hunts than ever before personally. I give them the doom and gloom spill pretty much, and explain they are at least ten years to late for the game.

 

[Pucky Freak]

My hope would be that enough people experience the defeat of western hunting and tell enough of their friends that things will return to "normal".

Crowding, tag scarcity, and rising costs will drive down new hunters to the game and squeeze out the fair weather hunters.

However, other genies are not going back in their bottles: post-COVID remote work transition, dwindling working legacy ranches, mass human migration to the West, widely available GPS technology, net habitat loss, etc.

The Golden Age is over. The bright side is that it is just recently over, and it will still be good for several years, with each year becoming progressively worse.

The wealthy will always have opportunity, like they do in Europe. The hardcore budget hunters like so many on this site will always seek some way to stay in the game, even as opportunities shrink.

 

[WapitiBob]

There wasn't an issue until they enacted the Dec 1 sale date. Same thing happens in other states when they go to a sale deadline.

 

[BackofBeyond]

I wish ya’ll would stop snatching them all up. I miss picking up a second tag.

 

[millerkiller77]

Curious, how many Utah plates are in the Pocatello office parking lot Nov 31st?
I'd hope after the online fiasco last year that IDFG came up with a better solution to NR tags.

 

[Bill Zent]

Opening day here for elk and I rode by a 50" or less trailhead while checking cows. There were six rigs with SxS or ATV trailers all from OOS, one Minnesota, two Wisconsin, one Nebraska and two California. That area was only hunted by a few locals before a big write up in an outdoor magazine a few years back. Since then......a rat race.
Now if they all went in opening day they may see a few deer, but some have been there scouting for three days so my money is on them not filling one tag.

 

[Dave N]

Opening day here for elk and I rode by a 50" or less trailhead while checking cows. There were six rigs with SxS or ATV trailers all from OOS, one Minnesota, two Wisconsin, one Nebraska and two California. That area was only hunted by a few locals before a big write up in an outdoor magazine a few years back. Since then......a rat race.
Now if they all went in opening day they may see a few deer, but some have been there scouting for three days so my money is on them not filling one tag.

My former camping spot occupied, I suppose?

 

[Bill Zent]

Yep Dave, more camps and rigs there than ever before. Five big horse trailers left at the saddle, five from OOS. Washington, Missouri, two from Minnesota and a Ca plate.
I was up on the "lookout" this morning and watched all the road hunters driving around, never heard a shot fired all morning. For once there were no trespassers.

 

[Bigjay73]

The harder it is to get tags, the more people are going to want them.

 

[millerkiller77]

I'll be one of those utah plates lol.

Do you camp out over night, or just show up at zero dark thirty?

 

[Cammy]

I wish ya’ll would stop snatching them all up. I miss picking up a second tag.

Me too

 

[Irrelevant]

will ever see those days again.

Maybe, and I'll lean towards yes. Nothing @Oak said is wrong, and I agree wholeheartedly with all of it. But history shows that ID used to be very popular arguably more so than it is today. Or at least popular enough that they sold out NR tags. Then the great recession drove demand down. Many of us on here started venturing out of state about then and really started with a skewed perspective of "normal" . There's a good chance that we'll see those days again, but it'll take another hard economic period.