IDFG doesn’t support archery bill

Idaho Fish and Game commissioners said Thursday they don’t support a bill that would alter archery hunting equipment rules but nonetheless voted to consider adopting those changes in an effort to stave off the legislation and protect their turf.

Earlier this week, Rep. Brandon Mitchell, R-Moscow, introduced a bill that would legalize lighted nocks and mechanical broadheads that expand on impact. Lighted nocks would make arrows easier to find after they have been shot and the mechanical broadhead would make deeper wound channels. Nocks are the rear part of the arrow that fit in the bowstring. Broadheads are the metal tips used on hunting arrows.

Some hunters petitioned the commission in 2020 to allow the equipment. But commissioners rejected the petition and it didn’t go through the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s rulemaking process. The vote Thursday means the proposed change will now go through that process and public comments will be sought before the commission makes a final decision.

“There is no predetermined outcome,” said commissioner Don Ebert, of Weippe, who was appointed to the commission after the 2020 petition was rejected. “But let’s do it right, put it in the public forum and let everybody weigh-in and let us do our job.”

He said decisions about hunting rules — such as what equipment can be used, how long seasons run and what the bag limits should be — are best made by the commission. The commission was established in 1938 by a citizen’s initiative and was designed to remove politics from routine game management decisions.

Ebert said he is opposed to people seeking law changes every time they oppose commission decisions but added commissioners need to listen to the hunters and anglers of Idaho.

“I think the Fish and Game Commission has a little bit of an obligation to be responsive to the issues. We have to play well together, too,” he said.

Mitchell said he plans to move forward with the legislation and that constituents brought the issue to his attention. He said they felt like the commission wasn’t open to their concerns.

“It’s something people want. I’m an elected official and I have constituents I have to respond to,” he said. “(Fish and Game commissioners) are not elected.”

Brian Brooks, executive director of the Idaho Wildlife Federation, said his group is opposed to the bill because it doesn’t want the legislature making decisions about fish and game management. He noted legislators passed a law last year that usurped the commission’s authority to set wolf hunting and trapping seasons.

“The commission form of wildlife management may not be perfect but it is insulated from many of the pitfalls of politics,” he said.

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.