House Bill 587 introduced to change nonresident OTC to a draw
"36-419. NONRESIDENT TAGS AND PERMITS -- DEER, ELK, PRONGHORN ANTELOPE. All nonresidents licensed to hunt in the state of Idaho shall be required to obtain tags and permits for deer, elk, and pronghorn antelope through a draw process as established by the department of fish and game. Nonresidents shall not purchase tags for deer, elk, and pronghorn antelope over the counter."
Idaho House Bill 587 was recently introduced on February 19, 2024. This legislation requires all nonresident tags and permits issued by the Idaho Department of Fish & Game for deer, elk, and antelope to be issued through a draw process, instead of an over-the-counter purchase.
This would be a big change from the current process of everyone logging in early on the tag sale dates, and jumping into a system where you have a waiting room and then you’re assigned a random number. The current process has been difficult for people getting logged out and losing their place in line, a frustration with the time it takes on the tag sale date to sit and stare at a computer or phone screen, and the process has made it very difficult for friends to try to get tags in the same unit or zone together. Also this would change things where you would no longer be able to even head to a license agent in person on those tag sale dates and wait in line.
A fiscal note mentioned this, “It is expected that this legislation will have a positive impact on the Fish & Game funds. However, the amount of positive impact will depend on how many nonresidents apply for the drawing for deer, elk, and pronghorn antelope tags.”
Section 2 of the bill states, “This act shall be in full force and effect on and after January 1, 2025.” So, depending on how this shakes out, any changes might not happen until the 2025 season. Which means next December 1, 2024, when the 2025 season nonresident tags are available, all nonresidents could still be under the same process as we have seen the past few years with the waiting room and random number system.
If you want to read about how this process currently works in Idaho as a nonresident, check out our Tactics for Idaho's 2024 nonresident OTC general season elk and deer tag sale date article here.
It will be interesting to see how they decide to conduct the drawing. Will you get multiple unit or zone selections? What happens when people all apply for the same unit? Will you have a second draw or a third draw, or will you then revert back to the old system after the main draw for these nonresident general tags?
