Hunters, anglers required to stop at check stations

Throughout the deer and elk seasons, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game will be running check stations to collect data on hunter and angler success.

Idaho Code requires that “all sportsmen, with or without game, must stop at Fish and Game check stations.”

All who are hunting or fishing that day, as well as those returning from an overnight hunting or fishing outing, are required to stop.

At a check station, hunters and anglers are asked a series of questions about how many occupants of the vehicle were hunting or fishing, which hunt unit they were in, and how many animals of which species have been harvested. At a check station, you are required by law to produce all fish or game in possession for inspection.

All of the questions take just a few minutes.

Often the coffee pot is on! Just ask the people running the check stations if they have any hot coffee. If so, it helps keep you awake on the drive home.

Each year, a few sportsmen do not stop at check stations because they were not successful on that particular trip. They see the signs, but think the instructions don’t apply to them because they don’t have any fish or game with them. However, information about a trip where nothing was harvested is also recorded and compared with data from prior seasons.

Citations can be issued to those who are headed home from hunting or fishing and do not stop. Check Station data is only accurate and meaningful when all hunters and anglers comply with the requirement to stop. The check stations serve as a helpful immediate measure of how the season is going.

Final season success and harvest figures are derived from hunter harvest reports, mandatory checks (for bear, lion, moose, sheep, wolf, goat), check station data and telephone surveys.

If you arrive at a check station with a species for which a mandatory check is required, your animal will be checked and necessary data will be recorded. This can save you a trip to check in your animal at a later date.

You may also complete your requirement to file a harvest report if you have harvested a deer or elk. You can also file your report while at a check station if you are done hunting for the season. Simply complete the form and drop it off at the check station and you will be finished with reporting your hunting results for that species for the year.

The information you provide at a station is important to successful management of the wildlife resource we enjoy in Idaho.

Phil Cooper is a wildlife conservation educator employed with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.