Video: A Hunter’s Ethics and Responsibilities

Transcript for A Hunter's Ethics and Responsibilities

Brian Jack: Hi. I'm Brian with Idaho Fish and Game's Enforcement Bureau. The future of hunting in Idaho depends on your actions. Rules are in place to protect people and wildlife. I'm going to go over general hunter ethics and responsibilities along with some common violations our enforcement officers see in the field.

Leave gates as you found them.

Leave gates as you found them. If the gate was open when you approached it, leave it open. If the gate was closed, make sure to close it. The landowner intended to leave the gate open or closed to control their livestock.

It's your responsibility to know Idaho's trespass law. You need to have permission to shoot, hunt, fish, trap, or retrieve game on someone's private property. Land ownership changes. So, ask permission each year before you hunt.

Trespassing consequences can be severe. The first conviction is a one-year mandatory loss of hunting, fishing, and trapping license privileges. It's a misdemeanor. And seizure of your animals could occur. If convicted three times in 10 years, trespassing is considered a felony.

Correctly tag your animal.

Correctly tag your animal. After you have verified the animal is deceased, you must validate your tag and place it on the animal. Completely remove the triangles for the day and month that you harvested. Attach the tag to the largest portion of edible meat to be retained. Attach black bear, mountain lion, and wolf tags to the hide of the animal. And be sure to preserve evidence of sex on your game. Make sure to leave evidence of sex on big game animals.

• The antlers and horns need to be naturally attached to the skull plate. Or just leave the sex organs attached to the carcass.
• For black bears, lions, and wolves, leave evidence of sex attached to the hide.
• For birds, leave one fully feathered wing or the head naturally attached to the carcass.
• Turkeys need a beard or a leg naturally attached.

Don't waste game.

Don't waste game. Hunters must make use of all edible meat from the game animals that they harvest. The only exception is black bears, mountain lions, and wolves.

Stop at check stations.

And stop at check stations. If you've been out hunting, fishing, or trapping, regardless of if you've harvested, you must stop at all fish and game check stations. At the check station, biologists are collecting valuable data to help us better manage our wildlife populations.

Shoot your own animal.

Shoot your own animal. You must shoot and tag your own animal. Never let someone use your tag or use someone else's tag. This is called party hunting.

Motorized vehicle hunting rule

And the motorized vehicle hunting rule. Vehicles and ATVs cannot be used to actively hunt or shoot from. Those vehicles can be used to get to your hunting spot, retrieve down game, in some instances, and with a valid handicap permit or permission from the landowner or manager.

It's a hunter's responsibility to read the current seasons and rules, as the dates of the seasons or the allowed weapons may change. Do the right thing even when you're alone. Know the seasons. Know the rules. Respect wildlife, landowners, other hunters, and non-hunters.