Fish and Game Corner

Fish and Game will be hosting a virtual butterfly training webinar on May 28 from 6-8 p.m. PDT. 

The monarch butterfly is an iconic species. Their migrations span thousands of miles, taking upwards of three generations of monarchs to complete the journey. Currently, however, their populations are in dire straits due to a wide variety of factors, including drought, pesticides, winter habitat loss, and more. 

But loss of summer milkweed habitat, of which caterpillars are 100% reliant, continues to be the most significant cause of monarch butterfly population declines. 

That’s where you come in.

Idaho Fish and Game needs your help to adopt milkweed patches across the Gem State and monitor the milkweed throughout summer 2025. The survey kicks off July 1 and goes through Aug. 15. Volunteer community scientists will need to check their sites 1-3 times during this timeframe in order to document crucial information, like stem counts, health of the patch itself, and count butterflies. 

Fish and Game manages a very broad range of wildlife, and monarch butterflies are not exempt from these efforts. The information you collect will help our agency in any future assessments of milkweed and monarchs for any ESA listing decision.

If becoming a community scientist seems like it’ll add too much to your plate this summer, don’t sweat it. Getting signed up is super easy. Fish and Game will be hosting a virtual training webinar on May 28 from 6-8 p.m. PDT. There will also be a slew of online training videos and documents to review at
your leisure.

For more information, visit Idaho Fish and Game’s Statewide Milkweed & Monarch Survey webpage, or contact Joel Sauder, Casey McCormack, and Tempe Regan at [email protected].

F&G begins annual grizzly bear research trapping in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest 

As part of ongoing efforts to monitor the population of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, biologists from Idaho Fish and Game will begin annual research trapping grizzly bears in the Upper Snake Region beginning in May. Trapping will occur in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest within the caldera in Island Park, along the Centennial Mountain Range, and in the Cave Falls/Teton areas near the Wyoming border. Research trapping operations will conclude near the end of August. 

Captured bears are immobilized and handled in accordance with strict protocols developed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team. Bears that meet the study criteria are fitted with a radio collar for monitoring. By observing radio-collared females, biologists can document the age of first reproduction, average litter size, cub and yearling survival, and how often females produce a litter. Data collected from both sexes provides the estimated survival rate, age structure, causes of mortality, and a better understanding of habitat use and food habits.

Whenever bear capture activities are being conducted for scientific purposes, the area around the site will be posted with bright warning signs to inform the public of the activities occurring. These signs are posted along the major access points and the capture site’s perimeter. It is extremely important that the public heed these signs and not venture into posted areas. 

Information about the grizzly bear research and monitoring is available from the IGBST website: https://www.usgs.gov/science/interagency-grizzly-bear-study-team, the Idaho Fish and Game website: https://idfg.idaho.gov/conservation/grizzly-bears, or by calling the Upper Snake Regional Office at
208-525-7290.

Now available: Controlled hunt drawing results for moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat

Hunters who applied for controlled hunts for moose, bighorn sheep, and mountain goat hunts can see if they drew a tag by going to www.GoOutdoorsIdaho.com.

Hunters who were not successful in the draw can expect to receive a refund of the tag fees paid during the application process. Applicants who submitted online or over the phone will receive a refund directly back to the card used to pay for the application, while applicants who paid in person at a Fish and Game regional office or vendor location will receive a state warrant check, mailed to their address associated with their GoOutdoorsIdaho customer account.

The second application period for unissued moose, bighorn sheep, and mountain goat tags will be June 15-25. Any tags available to apply for can be found on https://idfg.idaho.gov/licenses/tag/unsold-controlled-hunts.

Hunters who applied for moose, sheep, and goat tags cannot apply for most deer, elk, and pronghorn controlled hunts, but they can apply for Super Hunt tags, which include deer, elk, pronghorn, and moose.

Anyone who draws a Super Hunt tag can hunt in any open hunt area for the species drawn, including general and controlled hunts.

Entries are $6 each for a single species and $20 for a Super Hunt combo that includes one tag for each species.

Deadline for entries for the first Super Hunt drawing is May 31.

Eight elk, eight deer, eight pronghorn, and one moose will be drawn.

One Super Hunt Combo will also be drawn. This winner is entitled to hunt all four species.

Winners will be notified by June 10.

A second drawing is available in August.