I hunted Northern Idaho for the first time last November and I was surprised at the amount of hunting pressure. I can't see how the whitetail population will hold steady with an almost three month long ANY DEER/any weapon season given the number of hunters I was seeing. I wish there was a limited entry area for archery only in November....
I am a native North Idahoan and have been hunting here for the last 40 years, if you noticed the terrain and vegetation coverage we hunt in, you would have realized why the deer population has remained steady, even with our very liberal season. The major effects on the deer population are hard winters and now, unfortunately, the wolf issue. I haven't hunted up North the last couple of years (I have been chasing mule deer in the South while I am still able), but I know from my friends that the deer herd is not at the levels we are use to. We attribute most of it to the winters we have had the last couple of years and definetly the wolves are having a major impact.
Hunting pressure has also increased. When I was a kid you never saw too many out of state hunters, but now our local motel is full for most of November, and we are actually seeing deer camps set up out in the woods, which in the past was unheard of. I would think that any hunt in this region with the word "limited" would be a very hard sell, several years ago the Fish and Game started limiting our elk hunting opportunities and the quality of our herd has declined ever since, even before wolves were reintoduced. There is a late archery season for deer in the month of December which has very minimal pressure.
