Controlled hunt application period for deer, elk, pronghorn, swan and fall black bear and turkey runs May 1 through June 5

Big game hunters apparently got after it in the fall of 2024, accomplishing a statewide hat trick of harvest increases-the first time since 2020-of elk, mule deer, and white-tailed deer. Hunters are no strangers to swings in populations and harvests, and Idaho Fish and Game wildlife biologists highlight that each year; there are a lot of contributing factors. But last year's hunter harvest is a hopeful indicator that herds are once again back on track.

There's not too much to go over in the "lows" department since harvest of all three species increased, but let's start with mule deer this time, since they were the tragic stars of the dramatic 2023 winter. After a 22% drop in harvest (remember, these numbers are statewide) from 2022 to 2023, it was enough to put a smile on any mule deer hunter's face to see that number go from 18,568 to 23,898 in the fall of '24.

And elk were no different. While the stalwarts of the mountains didn't necessarily see the same impacts of that brutal winter as their smaller, long-eared cousins, elk harvest in 2024 still rose roughly 13% from the previous year. Nearly a quarter of all general season elk hunters last year successfully hiked out of the mountains with an elk on their back, a statistic also slightly up from the previous hunting season. This year's harvest landed at 97.5% of the 10-year average, which makes it about as close to a "normal" harvest as you can get with fluctuating annual harvests.

What about whitetails? What were they up to last fall? Well, I'm glad you asked. White-tailed deer represented the only "X" in the win column back in 2023's hunter harvest report, where the primary "W" word was winter, not whitetails. But for the last two years now, white-tailed deer harvests have kept pushing the needle clockwise, accounting for roughly a 9% bump since 2022. In 2024, roughly 48,766 white-tailed deer hunters took home an estimated 20,908 whitetails statewide.

You can check out the full 2024 Hunter Harvest Report here.