Local deer, elk numbers look good for season opener this Saturday

Hunters can expect about the same number of elk and whitetail deer as in recent years when the rifle season opens Saturday, Oct. 10, in Boundary County,

“With our numbers up here, I don’t think we’ll notice a difference from the last two years,” said Greg Johnson, local senior conservation officer with Idaho Department of Fish and Game. “Deer numbers are in pretty good shape.”

Johnson feels the same about the elk.

“I don’t think you’ll see much change either,” he said.

In some portions of Unit 1 south of Boundary County the population is down.

“I think some people blame it on wolves down there, but we basically had two bad winters and record snowfall in Coeur d’Alene, which had a huge impact there.”

The season that opens Saturday is for whitetail buck only and no mule deer or whitetail doe. There will be a shortened whitetail doe season this year. It will run from Nov. 1 to Nov. 9; traditionally the season is for the entire month of November.

The shorter doe season again is due to more severe back-to-back winters that took out a lot of deer, Johnson said.

“I wouldn’t say so much around here. We probably could’ve kept our regular season,” he said. “Unit 1 is one of the biggest in the state. The Priest Lake side got pounded for two years really hard. They lost a lot of deer on that side.”

Anyone with a B tag can take a bull elk from Oct. 10 to 24. The cow season will run from Oct. 15 to 17 for B tag holders.

The A tag is primarily for archers, but does allow for bull only with a rifle from Oct. 25 to 29. Archers, who had a shortened September season this year, can use the A Tag from Dec. 10 to 16 to take either a cow or bull.