It is illegal to carry firearms (except handguns) on an OHV during deer, elk, antelope and bear seasons, unless they are unloaded in the chamber and magazine. Firearms (except handguns) and bows carried on an OHV must be fully enclosed in a hard or soft case. Scabbards or cases with open ends or sides are prohibited. This regulation does not apply to landowners or their agents carrying a firearm on an OHV for the purpose of taking depredating wildlife on property owned or leased by them.


Idaho — Hunt Drawing Results Available

Hunters who have been successful in drawings for deer, elk, antelope, fall black bear, and wild turkey controlled hunts will be notified by postcard by July 10. Unsuccessful applicants will not get a card in the mail. Results can also be learned by calling 1-900-896-3729, at a charge of 75 cents per minute; or looked up under "What's New" on the Fish and Game website, http://www.state.id.us/fishgame When using either of these two methods, be sure to have your hunting license number ready to enter. Successful applicants can purchase the controlled hunt permit for $6.50 at any license vendor or Fish and Game office. The price of the tag varies according to species.


Montana — Sandhill Crane Applications

July 10 is the application deadline for special permits to hunt sandhill cranes. The four limited permit areas to hunt sandhill cranes in Montana are:

Central Flyway - Sept. 9-17, 2000

1) Wheatland County and that part of Sweetgrass County north of I-90 (45 permits)

Pacific Flyway - Sept. 9-10 and Sept. 16-17, 2000

2) Dillon-Twin Bridges (100 permits)

3) Warm Springs (25 permits)

4) Ovando-Helmville (25 permits)

Applicants must apply in writing to: FWP, License Section, Sandhill Crane Drawing, PO Box 200701, Helena, MT 59620-0701, and must include their printed name and their signature, their address, date of birth, 2000 Conservation License number, a $3 nonrefundable drawing fee and an indication of the hunting area for which they seek a permit. Applicants may apply for a permit in only one area and hunters will be limited to taking one (1) sandhill crane in any area with limited permits during the upcoming season.

The sandhill crane season in the remainder of the Central Flyway is Sept. 30 to Nov. 26.

Permits are available free of charge to eligible applicants at FWP offices in Billings, Glasgow and Miles City, as well as at Boudoin and Medicine Lake National Wildlife Refuges. The bag limit is three (3) sandhill cranes daily, with six (6) allowed in possession.

Permits will be available in early August.


Utah — Elk Permits

Beginning July 10, there will be a number of ways to purchase Utah general season elk permits for this fall's hunts.

Purchasing them on the Internet is probably the easiest. Hunters who have a MasterCard or Visa credit card may buy a permit by visiting the Division of Wildlife Resources' Internet web site at www.nr.state.ut.us/dwr/dwr.htm.

Once on the site, hunters may click on the trout icon in the upper right-hand corner of the home page. This provides access to all of the licenses the Division sells on the Internet, including general elk permits, which will be available beginning at 8 a.m., July 10.

Hunters may choose an any bull, spike bull, general archery elk or general muzzleloader spike elk permit, and must provide the needed information. They may then print a receipt on their printer. Their permit should arrive in the mail within 14 days.

Hunters may also mail a permit request form to any of the Division offices listed on the form. Permit request forms will be available the week of July 3, from hunting and fishing license agents statewide, Division offices and hunter education centers and the Division's Internet web site.

Beginning July 10, permits also will be available from 237 hunting license agents statewide, and Division offices. License agents will begin selling permits at 7:30 a.m. Division offices will open at 8 a.m.

July 10 is the first day general buck deer permits not taken in this year's draw will go on sale, and the Division is anticipating long lines at its offices.

"To avoid possibly having to stand in a long line, I'd encourage elk hunters to visit a license agent that day, or buy their permit over the Internet or through the mail," said Judi Tutorow, wildlife licensing coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources.

Elk hunters who can't buy a permit July 10 shouldn't have any problem obtaining one later, as general elk permits usually remain available for several weeks.

For more information call the nearest Division office, or the Division's Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.


New Mexico — Seven Lucky Big Game Hunters

New Mexico's State Game Commission made seven lucky big game hunters very happy Thursday, rewarding them for returning their deer and elk harvest surveys with authorizations-to-purchase five oryx and two Valle Vidal bull elk hunting licenses. The authorizations may be used to purchase hunting licenses for this fall, sold, bartered or given away.

The seven were chosen from approximately 30,000 hunters who returned their surveys this year. The drawing was held at a meeting of the Commission here in Santa Fe. Each of seven commissioners selected a hunter by drawing numbers from bingo cages. Department of Game and Fish employees, parents and children were not eligible.

In previous years, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish struggled to obtain valid harvest information. Typically, 4,000 to 5,000 elk hunters would respond to the surveys and 3,500 to 3,900 responded to deer surveys. With the incentive licenses dangling before them, 15,000 of each returned their harvest information.

Kerry Mower of the Department's Division of Wildlife said the great return would save the agency approximately $25,000 in postage alone.

This is good," Mower said. "If we can get the same results without a second mailing, it saves us an awful lot of money."

The survey results indicated New Mexico hunters harvested 12,292 elk statewide on both private and public lands. Public-land elk hunters reported a 32 percent success rate, taking 3,735 bulls and 3,530 cow elk. Private land hunters had a higher success rate, 66 percent, with 2,604 males and 2,421 females in the harvest. Overall, the state enjoyed a 39 percent success rate.

The lucky winners of the oryx authorization draw were R.C. Brooks of Carlsbad; Robert Hager of Sweetwater, Texas; Ted Gee, Albuquerque; Elizabeth Cooter, Santa Fe, and Shawn Russell of Truth or Consequences.

Winners of the Valle Vidal bull elk licenses were Gordon Vandenberg of Carlsbad and Clarence Olivas of Santa Fe.

In a raffle drawing conducted by the New Mexico Chapter of the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, George J. Elledge of Houston, Texas, won a license to hunt Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in September. He must choose between the Wheeler Peak and Pecos Wilderness herds.