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I thought you houndsmen should be aware of one topic being discussed at the next IDFG Quarterly Meeting. All I know is what is posted on their agenda. I highlighted the topic about using telemetry for big game hunting. Might be some serious negative impacts if someone is pushing that through. You guys might want to voice your opinions to them.

Mike



Idaho Fish and Game Commission
Quarterly Meeting - May 19-20, 2010
Fish and Game, Clearwater Regional Office, 3316 16th St., Lewiston, ID


Note: Times on the agenda are approximate and subject to change.


MAY 19
7:30 a.m. Commissioners will tour the fish handling facilities at Lower Granite Dam.
7:00 p.m. Public Hearing — Clearwater Regional Office, 3316 16th St., Lewiston, ID


MAY 20
8:00 a.m. 1. Opening Comments — Wayne Wright, Commission Chairman
8:05 a.m. 2. Agenda Changes — Wayne Wright, Commission Chairman
8:10 a.m. 3. Review of Public Comment — Wayne Wright, Commission Chairman
8:25 a.m. 4. Director's Report — Cal Groen, Director
8:45 a.m. 5. Commission Reports — Commissioners
9:40 a.m. 6. Consent Calendar (Action Requested by Department)
Minutes
Financial Report
Adjustments to 2010 Outfitter Allocated General Hunt Elk Tags
Western Governors Association Decision Support System Pilot Project

10:00 a.m. 7. Idaho Fish and Wildlife Foundation Report — Sharon Kiefer, Assistant Director-Policy
10:15 A.M. — BREAK
10:35 a.m. 8. Legislative Update — Sharon Kiefer, Assistant Director-Policy
10:55 a.m. 9. Rule Proposals to Implement 2010 Statutes (Action Requested by Department) — Sharon Kiefer, Assistant Director-Policy
11:40 a.m. 10. Parentage Based Tagging/Genetic Stock Identification Report — Matt Campbell, Genetics Lab Manager
12:00 — LUNCH
1:00 p.m. 11. Grizzly Bear Update / Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee Issues — Jim Unsworth, Deputy Director
1:15 p.m. 12. Wolf Update — Jim Unsworth, Deputy Director
1:30 p.m. 13. Bighorn Sheep Status Report — Jim Unsworth, Deputy Director
1:45 p.m. 14. Nonbiological Rules Briefing — Jeff Gould, Chief, Wildlife / Brad Compton, Assistant Chief, Wildlife
Bonus point system
Changes to Landowner Appreciation Program
Methods of take for wolves (traps, electronic calls, bait)
Muzzleloader equipment restrictions (sabots)
Rules to prohibit use of telemetry for hunting game animals
Bear baiting (consider allowing additional bait sites)
Prohibit shooting from boats for upland game hunting
Take of native reptiles
Various cleanup on additional sections

3:00 P.M. — BREAK
3:20 p.m. 15. Season Setting: Chinook Salmon (Action Requested by Department) — Ed Schriever, Chief, Fisheries
3:35 p.m. 16. Election of Commission Chairman, Vice Chairman (Action Requested by Department) — Wayne Wright, Commission Chairman
3:45 p.m. 17. Executive Session I.C. 67-2345(1) (f) (c)

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We should go to the meeting and let them know what we think about this.

Click on this link and send them a short note to let them know you support the use of radio telemetry:

http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/inc/contact.cfm

Idaho wrote:Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We should go to the meeting and let them know what we think about this.

Click on this link and send them a short note to let them know you support the use of radio telemetry:

http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/inc/contact.cfm

Comment sent . I hope others take the time to chime in .

I sent a comment too.I hope all you Idahoans will take a few minutes to voice your opinion as well.Are these meetings open to the public ? Does anyone from the Lewiston area plan on going ?

I believe that if the commission is seriously considering making a change they gather public comment by having regional, or maybe in this case, statewide meetings where they gauge public oppinion. They also have a place on their website specifically asking what you, the public, thinks about the proposed changes. This is usually in June, before the commission makes a decision.

I think it is a good idea to let them know how important the use of telemetry is to the retrieval of our hounds. This is a safety issue for our hunting dogs. With so many wolves in the timber we need to find them as quickly as possible.

i have sent my comments in. if you hear of any meetings in the boise area please let us all know. figure we could get a group together to go to the meeting. we should point out to them that they already lost alot of money with all the unpurchased elk tags and how bad it has hurt the department and by changing this rule they are set for another dent in the pocket book. its bad enough that idaho ranks last in game management and is published in hgunting magazines, we don't need another blow like this.

Sent my comments in for supporting the use of telemetry, will look for the meeting in Coeur D Alene, Also notified North Idaho Tree Hound Association President and Secretary.

It is uncertain whether this discussion about telemetry will concern houndsman or not...

Today the regional director of the Clearwater here told me that he was not sure exactly what the discussion will be about as he's not been briefed yet about the meeting. He did say that a previous issue reguarding telemetry they've had was an incident where a hunter found out the frequency of a collared bull elk, and used a tracking box to track it down and kill it. They tried to prosecute him but their is no law specifically addressing this issue. He thought that perhaps this incident was what this meeting will address - making it illegal to use telemetry to track down and kill game animals that the F&G has collared for their population studies.

BUT... he was not certain if this is the case or not. He gave the number of a superiour of his that would know specifically what the issues were. However, he did not call back... Do they ever call back? So it is possible that this issue will not affect houndsman... that remains to be seen.

PM with the name Shane. I might be able to dig something up.

Idaho wrote:It is uncertain whether this discussion about telemetry will concern houndsman or not...

Today the regional director of the Clearwater here told me that he was not sure exactly what the discussion will be about as he's not been briefed yet about the meeting. He did say that a previous issue reguarding telemetry they've had was an incident where a hunter found out the frequency of a collared bull elk, and used a tracking box to track it down and kill it. They tried to prosecute him but their is no law specifically addressing this issue. He thought that perhaps this incident was what this meeting will address - making it illegal to use telemetry to track down and kill game animals that the F&G has collared for their population studies.

BUT... he was not certain if this is the case or not. He gave the number of a superiour of his that would know specifically what the issues were. However, he did not call back... Do they ever call back? So it is possible that this issue will not affect houndsman... that remains to be seen.

"The nonbiological rule that will be discussed with the commission will propose to make a rule to make it unlawful to use telemetry equipment to find and take a radiomarked game animal. It will not affect the ability of hunters to use telemetry on the hounds and sporting dogs."

This is the answer I got from Boise.

sent message from oregon.stateing the wolf problem and if idaho takes our tracking dogs away they would lose a pile on out of state tag sales because we dont want to kill our dogs off with their wolfs .by the wolf finding our dogs first. and i didnt think they could aford to lose any more money coming in to the state F&G dept. not counting the money spent at small buisness(gas, lodging &food). But if the meeting is about tracking game animals down to kill them AND NOT TRACKING DOGS i would support and think most others would to. Richard

I was getting ready to PM you Ken but I see that you've already gotten in contact with Boise. Thank you for the information.

Shane, been running any bears. The bigger bears are starting to pop up on us.

Yeah, I've been doing some running, and even a little bit of catching, lol. My young dogs are acting good. I bet the bear have been out for a while down your way. Up here the weather has been cold, rainy, and snowy last week so the bear have been slow. Snow in May - what the heck.

The last couple days they seem to be moving more up higher too.