Hunters, Idaho Department of Fish and Game check stations, game processors and hunters seem to agree that big game hunting is down this fall.

"It's a little slower this year than in the past," said Larry Lansdowne, owner of Curly's Corner sporting goods shop in Idaho City.

Fish and Game counts at Southwest Idaho check stations showed smaller harvests and more hunters than last year.

Fish and Game personnel counted 1,011 deer at Southwest Idaho check stations this fall, compared with 1,502 in 2007. They counted 262 elk, compared with 318 last year. This year's count included an extra weekend at one check station during elk season that added another 45 elk to the tally, so an equal comparison between 2007 and 2008 would be 318 to 217.

Counts at check stations include general hunts, controlled hunts that are concurrent with general hunts, and youth hunts. They offer a glimpse of the harvest, but Fish and Game won't have actual harvest numbers until winter, when hunters have completed their mandatory harvest reports.

Fish and Game counted 9,589 hunters at Southwest Idaho check stations compared with 8,839 last year. The extra weekend check station during elk season added 590 to this year's total.

Game processors reported similar declines in animals at their businesses but said they've seen comparable numbers of bull elk to previous years.

"I think the deer hunting was pretty tough," said Scott Robinett, owner of Custom Butcher and Smokehouse in Garden City.

Robinett said he's down about 100 to 150 animals at his shop compared with last year. The shop processes from 1,100 to 1,200 deer and elk in a typical season, he said.

Robinett said the number of deer he handles has dropped more than the number of elk. He noted there's been a fair number of bulls harvested in Unit 39, which encompasses most of the Boise River drainage.

Jon Sorg, owner of J&K Meats in Council, saw a similar situation.

"Overall, I would say we're down a little bit, about 15 percent," he said, noting that last year was also 15 percent down from the previous year.

Sorg said that despite the fact only successful hunters come to his shop, they were reporting seeing fewer deer, and fewer people in their parties were getting deer.

He said he saw mostly younger bucks and bulls this season, which is usually not the case after a heavy winter - when, typically, more younger animals die.

Brad Compton, state game manager for Fish and Game, said the data he has seen so far has been "a little perplexing."

There's been some contradictory evidence about deer populations. Unit 39 had the highest fawn survival rate in the state during the department's winter monitoring, which normally means a good crop of young bucks.

Compton said the opening-weekend counts at Mores Creek check station showed 47 percent of the harvest was yearling bucks, which is normal. After a hard winter with lots of dieoff, that percentage is usually much lower because fawns are typically the first deer to die.

But Compton said winter may have killed more deer than Fish and Game expected. Then wet weather in late summer and fall created a "green up" of new plants that provided deer forage up to 7,000 feet elevation, which may have meant a smaller deer population was spread over a wider area.

After a snowstorm and cold temperatures during opening weekend, the weather cleared and warmed for the rest of the season.

Robinett said he heard similar reports from hunters at his butcher shop.

"I know guys who said they had to go higher than ever before to find deer," he said.

That could also explain why there appeared to be fewer large bucks taken because they tend to stay at higher elevations until driven down by deep snow or the November mating season.

One bit of good news was Fish and Game and butchers found the deer harvested were in excellent condition, with lots of body fat, which increases their chances of surviving this winter.

ELK

Elk season somewhat followed expectations, Compton said. Fish and Game found good numbers of elk in Unit 39 during winter surveys, but heavy snowfall drove elk farther down than usual last winter, and some of the elk counted may have migrated from nearby units 43, 44 and 45.

While bull elk harvests appear to be similar to recent years, overall elk numbers and harvests are expected to be down because of the proliferation of wolves in the state, Compton said.

"Wolves are reducing the harvestable surplus," he said.

Wolves essentially create a triple whammy for hunters by reducing the number of elk available, reducing the number of tags available and affecting elk behavior by constantly moving the herds and pushing them into less-accessible areas like thick timber.

"They're affecting the (elk) numbers, (elk) behavior and hunters' experience," Compton said.

Fewer controlled elk hunts and fewer antlerless tags can magnify the effect on elk harvests because hunters who draw those tags typically have a higher success rate than general-season hunters.

WHAT'S LEFT?

Some folks think of "hunting season" as October, but there's still lots of hunting available.

Always check Fish and Game's hunting rules because seasons close at different times in different parts of the state, but here are some hunting options available:

Waterfowl: Duck and goose offer one of the longest hunting seasons in Idaho, and hunters can go after them until Jan. 23 in Area 2, which includes most of Southwest Idaho and parts of the Magic Valley.

Pheasants: The season lasts until Dec. 31 in Southwest, Central and North Idaho. Check the rules brochure because area boundaries are different than for waterfowl.

Forest grouse: The season is open until Dec. 31 for the entire state.

Quail: Area 2 (which includes Southwest Idaho but has different boundaries than other birds) stays open until Jan. 31.

Chukar and gray (Hungarian) partridge: Remains open statewide until Jan. 31.

Deer: Most of Unit 39, which includes most of the Boise River drainage, is open for archery hunting until Nov. 30. Check the rules book for which portions of 39 are closed to archery hunting.

North Idaho also has numerous units open to whitetail hunting until Dec. 1.

Elk: Archery elk season is open until Nov. 30 in most of Unit 39, but check the rules book to see what portions are closed to archery hunting.

There are numerous late-season hunts for archery and muzzleloaders in north and east Idaho that extend into December.

Roger Phillips: 373-6615