Management direction is guided by hunter input 

Fish and Game's whitetail management was shaped by public input. Idaho deer hunters have consistently told Fish and Game they want to hunt every year, and three-quarters of respondents to Fish and Game’s hunter survey that informed development of the 2020-2025 White-tailed Deer Management Plan said annual hunting opportunity was important to them. 

Most whitetail hunters surveyed strongly valued opportunities to hunt in November (75%) and to hunt bucks every year (76%), and a majority (58%) were satisfied with their chances to harvest a mature buck. 

When asked whether some hunting units should be managed for large white-tailed bucks, even if that meant shorter seasons or controlled hunts, more hunters opposed this concept than favored it, 42% vs 33%. However, the availability of mature bucks, and the opportunity to hunt them, remains important to white-tailed deer hunters. 

Trading generous opportunity for restrictions in order to produce larger bucks

Some hunters have suggested the "Quality Deer Management" concept as a way to manage Idaho's whitetail herds and habitat to produce more larger, mature bucks. QDM relies on intensive and selective harvest, particularly whitetail does, to reduce the overall deer density and provide more food for the remaining herds. QDM also requires fewer young bucks to be harvested annually so more bucks survive and have the chance to grow older and larger. 

Implementing a similar management strategy in Idaho would mean less whitetail hunting opportunity, and more restrictions on the sex and age of deer that hunters could harvest. Essentially, hunters would be trading generous hunting opportunities for any buck to more restrictive opportunities with the potential for more larger bucks. 

Hunters will continue to guide future management

Fish and Game understands that hunter sentiments may change, so biologists plan to check in with hunters in the future with a survey that will be used to update the White-tailed Deer Management Plan. 

For more information on current white-tailed deer management direction in Idaho, review the 2020-2025 White-tailed Deer Management Plan on the Idaho Fish and Game website, watch for the next season-setting process in late 2024.