HUNTING -- Throughout the fall deer and elk seasons, Idaho Fish and Game Department staff  will be running check stations to collect data on hunter and angler success. 

Idaho Code requires that "all sportsmen, with or without game, must stop at Fish & Game check stations." All those who are hunting or fishing that day, as well as those returning from an overnight hunting or fishing outing, are required to stop if they encounter a check station on their route of travel. This includes people who are returning from hunting or fishing in Idaho or another state.

Phil Cooper, department spokesman in Coeur d'Alene offers these insights into the procedures and need for check stations.

• Hunters and anglers are asked a short series of questions and required to show harvested fish or game for inspection..
• Information about a trip in which no game or fish are harvested is useful, hence the requirement for all sportsmen to stop.
• Citations can be issued to those who do not stop because check station data is only accurate and meaningful when all hunters and anglers comply.
• Final season success and harvest figures are derived from hunter harvest reports, mandatory checks (for bear, lion, moose, sheep, wolf, goat), check station data and telephone surveys.
• Species that require mandatory checks is required can be processed, saving a trip to to a Fish and Game office.
• Harvest reports can be filed out and filed if a hunter is finished with the hunting season.
• The information you provide at a station is important to successful management of the wildlife resources.
• Hunters can  ask questions and get information about how the seasons are progressing. 
• Often the coffee pot is on! Just ask for a splash to keep you alert on the drive home.

Info: IDFG Panhandle Region Office, (208) 769-1414.