Significant February snowstorms coupled with a cool, wet spring resulted in below-average survival rates for radio collared mule deer fawns, but it had less effect on collared elk calves, according to the final survival estimates for the 2018-19 winter.

Statewide, 42 percent of radio collared fawns survived through the winter. As wildlife managers expected, it was below the long-term average of 58 percent. For elk, 69 percent of radio collared calves were alive at the end of May. Idaho Fish and Game biologists monitored 209 mule deer fawns and 196 elk calves that were captured in early winter and fitted with telemetry collars.

How do the numbers compare to recent years?

Through May 31, 42 percent of the collared fawns and 69 percent of the calves were still alive. That compares with 57 percent of the fawns and 66 percent of the calves surviving through May in 2017-18, and 30 and 52 percent through May 2016-17, which was an unusually harsh winter.

Elk have not been trapped and collared for as many years as mule deer, and elk calves typically survive at a higher rate than mule deer fawns. Since researchers began collaring elk calves in 2014-15, survival has ranged between a low of about 52 percent in 2016-17 to a high of 84 percent in 2014-15. This year, 69 percent of collared elk calves survived the winter, which falls near the middle of that range.

Adult cow, doe survival high

Adult deer and elk typically survive at high rates unless it’s an extreme winter.

Of the 539 radio-collared mule deer does being monitored by Fish and Game researchers, 91 percent were alive through May 31, and 96 percent of the 578 collared cows survived.

Saturday, June 8, is Free Fishing Day, and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game invites veteran and novice anglers of all ages, residents and nonresidents alike, to celebrate the day by fishing anywhere in Idaho without a license. Though fishing license requirements are suspended for this special day, all other rules, such as limits or tackle restrictions, remain in effect.

Lack of fishing experience is no excuse. At many locations, you don’t even need a rod, tackle or bait. Just show up and Fish and Game employees and volunteers will loan you gear and show you how to catch a fish.

Here’s a list of events. For details about an event, call the regional office during business hours, and for exact locations, visit our special Free Fishing Day map page:

Panhandle Region

Snow Creek Pond (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. PDT)

Priest Lake Golf Course (8 a.m. – 12 p.m. PDT)

Round Lake (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. PDT)

Rathdrum City Park Stream (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. PDT)

Post Falls park Pond (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. PDT)

Ponderosa Springs Golf Course Pond (7 a.m. – 11 a.m. PDT)

Steamboat Pond (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. PDT)

Gene Day Pond (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. PDT)

Clearwater Region

Spring Valley Reservoir (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. PDT)

Kiwanis Park Pond (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. PDT)

Mann Lake (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. PDT)

Wilkins Pond (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. PDT)

Fenn Pond (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. PDT)

Karolyns Pond (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. PDT)

Southwest Region

Meadow Creek Pond (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. MDT)

Northwest Passage Pond (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. MDT)

Ol’ McDonald Pond (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. MDT)

Fischer Pond (10 a.m. – 2 p.m. MDT)

Atwood Pond (8 a.m. – 2 p.m. MDT)

Sawyers Pond (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. MDT)

Caldwell Rotary Pond (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. MDT)

Wilson Springs Ponds (8 a.m. – 12 p.m. MDT)

McDevitt Pond (8 a.m. – 12 p.m. MDT)

Kleiner Pond (9 a.m. – 2 p.m. MDT)

Idaho City Visitors Center Pond (9 a.m. – 1 p.m. MDT)

Legacy Park Pond (9 a.m. – 1 p.m. MDT)

Magic Valley Region

Hagerman WMA Riley Creek Pond (9 a.m. – 12 p.m. MDT)

Gavers Lagoon (9 a.m.–12 p.m. MDT)

Freedom Park Pond (8 a.m.–12 p.m. MDT)

Southeast Region

Bannock Reservoir (9 a.m.–1 p.m. MDT)

Edson Fichter Pond (11 a.m.– 1 p.m. MDT)

Kelly Park Pond (9 a.m.–1 p.m. MDT)

Grace Fish Hatchery (9 a.m.–1 p.m. MDT)

Upper Snake Region

Becker Pond (9 a.m.–1 p.m. MDT)

Trail Creek Pond (9 a.m. – 1 p.m. MDT)

Rexburg City Ponds (9 a.m.–1 p.m. MDT)

Mill Creek Pond (9 a.m.–1 p.m. MDT)

Salmon Region

Sawtooth Kids Pond (10 a.m.–3 p.m. MDT)

Blue Mountain Meadow Pond (8 a.m.–12 p.m. MDT)

Kids Creek Pond (8 a.m.–12 p.m. MDT)

The department will stock trout in select locations before the event to increase your chances of landing a fish. Check our fish stocking page to find out where the fish trucks have been lately.

June 8 is Free Fishing Day, and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game invites veteran and novice anglers of all ages, residents and nonresidents alike, to celebrate the day by fishing anywhere in Idaho without a license. Though fishing license requirements are suspended for this special day, all other rules, such as limits or tackle restrictions, remain in effect.

Lack of fishing experience is no excuse. At many locations, you don’t even need a rod, tackle or bait. Just show up and Fish and Game employees and volunteers will loan you gear and show you how to catch a fish.

Here’s a list of events.

Magic Valley Region

• Hagerman WMA Riley Creek Pond near Hagerman: 9 a.m. to noon
• Gavers Lagoon in Blaine County: 9 a.m. to noon
• Freedom Park Pond in Burley: 8 a.m. to noon

Southeast Region

• Portneuf Wellness Complex in Pocatello: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Edson Fichter Pond in Pocatello: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Kelly Park Pond near Soda Springs: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Grace Fish Hatchery near Grace: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Upper Snake Region

• Becker Pond in Idaho Falls: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Trail Creek Pond near Victor: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Rexburg City Ponds: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Mill Creek Pond near Island Park: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Salmon Region

• Sawtooth Kids Pond near Stanley: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Blue Mountain Meadow Pond in Challis: 8 a.m. to noon
• Kids Creek Pond in Salmon: 8 a.m. to noon

The department will stock trout in select locations before the event to increase your chances of landing a fish.

Idaho Fish and Game’s Hagerman Wildlife Management Area opened for fishing on March 1, and it provides lots of early season opportunities to catch rainbow trout and the Hagerman area’s famed “banana trout.”

Idaho Fish and Game’s Hagerman Wildlife Management Area just south of the City of Hagerman on U.S. 30 in southern Idaho is the state’s first Wildlife Management Area. It has about a dozen ponds and lakes, and amenities there include bathrooms, picnic tables, a handicap accessible dock, a fish-viewing pond and more. Hagerman has long been a favorite destination for early season anglers thanks to its mild climate, good amenities, and ample fishing opportunity.

During spring, it’s common to see groups of friends and families fishing, relaxing and enjoying the scenery at this picturesque location, where springs spill out of canyon walls into the Snake River. It’s often a festive atmosphere — a celebration of the earliest hints of warm, sunny weather — and this year was no exception, according to Lee Garwood, a Fish and Game conservation officer for the Magic Valley Region.

“Despite the fishing being a little slow on the Saturday of opening weekend, according to about 50 people I checked in with, everyone was having a good time,” said Garwood. “It was obviously spring fever. There were people out everywhere on the river.”

Among the people at Hagerman during the opener were Viola Allphin and Patty Bryant, both of Jerome, who hiked around the ponds and picked up trash while their husbands fished at one of the Oster Lakes on the WMA.

Kyle Letterle, of Boise, spent most of that first Saturday fly fishing Oster Lake 1 with a friend.

Prior to the opener, Fish and Game stocked about 5,200 catchable trout in the various ponds on the WMA. While it was easy to spot fish in the crystal-clear Oster Lakes — particularly the yellow variant of rainbow trout for which Hagerman WMA is famous — catching them was a different story during the opening weekend, according to Letterle.

“It was tough getting them to bite,” Letterle said. “We saw maybe three to four caught per hour around that pond.”

That’s likely to change: As the weather continues to warm in southern Idaho, the fishing action will, too — and there will be plenty of trout to catch throughout the rest of the spring (including some big ones).

Joe Chapman, Fish and Game’s Hagerman Hatchery manager, said he and his team will continue stocking about 880 rainbow trout each into Riley Pond and Oster Lake 1 weekly throughout March. They will also continue to stock Oster 2, 3 and 4 with between 350 and 450 catchable trout once a month throughout the spring.

In addition to the catchable sized trout that are part of Fish and Game’s regular stocking, a commercial trout grower in the Hagerman Valley donated some larger trout, which Fish and Game stocked in the WMA ponds a week after the opener on Friday, March 8.

“We were fortunate to receive some large (3 pounds on average) broodstock rainbow trout from Clear Springs Foods that were stocked into Riley Pond, Oster 1, Oster 2 and Oster 3,” said Chapman, adding that some of those donated trout were stocked in other Magic Valley waters, including Dierkes Lake and Filer Ponds.

In addition to the trout fishing, warmwater species — including bass and bluegill of various age classes — can be found everywhere on the Hagerman WMA, except for Anderson 1, said Joe Thiessen, Regional Fisheries Biologist for the Magic Valley Region. The populations have re-established themselves well since they were restocked in 2016, after Fish and Game biologists removed carp from the ponds

According to Thiessen, Riley Pond is producing decently sized bluegill and has good numbers of the fish to be caught, and Hagerman West Pond is home to bass and bullhead catfish that are near or larger than current state records.

“Last fall, we sampled good numbers of largemouth bass ranging from 16 to 23 inches, and 23.5 inches is the state record,” Thiessen said. “There are very healthy numbers of enormous bullhead catfish ranging from 10 to 16 inches which would break the current catch and release state record.”

Despite February storms that battered much of Idaho and pushed snowpack and precipitation above average in most areas, radio-collared young fawns and elk calves were faring relatively well across the state through the end of February.

Idaho Fish and Game biologists have been monitoring 207 mule deer fawns and 201 elk calves captured earlier in the winter and fitted with telemetry collars.

Through the end of February, 78 percent of the collared fawns and 94 percent of the calves were still alive. That compares with 88 percent of the fawns and 97 percent of the calves surviving through February in 2017-18, and 55 and 80 percent in 2016-17.

While snowpacks and precipitation totals are above average for most of the state, the late arrival of winter weather in 2019 has made for an easier winter for big game than in 2016-17, according to Daryl Meints, State Deer and Elk manager for Fish and Game.

In 2016-17, a prolonged, severe winter resulted in some of the lowest survival rates recorded for mule deer fawns and elk calves. Prior to what was a record-setting February for snowfall for many areas in the state, 2018-19 winter had been a mild-to-average snowfall and temperatures for most of Idaho.

While the weather may be trending warmer so far in March this year, the young animals aren’t “out of the woods” yet. In fact, the March and April are often when fawn and calf mortality is the highest because the young animals’ fat reserves are rapidly depleting and their body’s need time to convert digesting fresh forage.

“April is crucial,” Meints said. “That’s the make-or-break month, when their gas tank is hitting empty. What is going to matter now is how soon winter ends, or how soon spring shows up.”

If the warm weather continues through the end of April, Meints expects fawn survival will fall somewhere in the average range, while calf survival will be above average.

“But if for some reason we get a weather system that is cloudy, cold, and wet, and we don’t get that spring green up on south-facing slopes, we could be in for some additional mortality,” Meints said.

People getting outdoors to recreate in the spring also need to be conscious and considerate of wildlife, particularly big game that remains on low-elevation winter ranges. Despite warmer temperatures and spring green up, deer, elk and pronghorn antelope still need to be left undisturbed to give young animals a better chance of surviving their critical first winter.