Hunting in Idaho

This time of year, in Mackay, Idaho the world turns white with snow on the ground and morning frost on the cottonwood and quaking aspen. The locals get excited at the thought of snowboarding down the mine hill and hunting season. Pretty soon only a four-wheel drive will be the only vehicle that will make it through the icy roads. People come from all over the world to hunt deer and moose in the area. The locals hunt to sustain their families and it’s common to have a couple of freezers in a garage that they pack with venison to feed their family throughout the rest of the year. Fish and Game monitors the population of deer, moose and other wildlife to determine how many hunting tags can be issued. Without their expertise and the hunting season many deer would starve to death on the lack of vegetation over the winter. About 80% of the population are armed and gun safety classes for kids starts at the age of 10 with practice shooting out in the back country as a pass time. From this point on it’s wintertime and it doesn’t thaw out again until March if you’re lucky.

I remember one hunting season in Idaho of a story that circulated around town of the “drunk moose hunters”. People come from all over the world to fish in the area in the summer or to hunt deer and moose in the fall. Fish and Game will only issue a moose tag to an individual once in their lifetime. One time they had a problem with poachers so the set up a moose came in a fake moose and caught the poacher in the middle of the night!  There was also a story about these drunk hunters—these men came with jeeps and plenty of beer, picked up their moose tag and went out into the woods. When they returned the next day, they stopped at the Fish and Game checkpoint with a beast strapped proudly on the hood of their Jeep. The only problem was that the animal had metal shoes nailed on its feet! They bagged someone’s mule! So, the rangers passed them through trying to keep a straight face, so the hunters couldn’t get another moose tag!