Looks like I'm headed to Idaho in October. Been there before but never to hunt and I'm interested in details that will help. The Hunting regs seem to be lacking.
I'm not much of a venison fan so I was thrilled to find out that I can use my deer tag for black bear or mountain lion. The area (80+ miles north and east of Coeru d'Alene) has deer and turkey and I'm interested in bagging a turkey also if I can.
What guns can I use? The regs are silent about handgun hunting. An increasing number of states are limiting turkeys to shotgun or archery.
I was hoping I could bring a revolver and be prepared for turkey, deer, bear, mountain lion or elk. Does any one have some authoritive information to help me with the cloudy questions?

Here is a link to Idaho fish and game. You can get all the regs there.

http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/hunt/

I live near Orofino at the head of Dwarshak lake. I hunt both sides of the lake in 8A and 10A. We have elk, deer, black bear, cougar and the turkeys.

The elk are harder to hunt due to lower populations in the last few years. Most of us blame the introduction of wolves, but there are other problems causing this also such as not letting the forest fires burn causing low brouse growth.

I think the wolves don't let the elk heard up like they used to do and keep them seperated and moving more. Makes it hard for old crippled hunters like me to chase them.

I spent a lot of years handgun hunting in this country and suggest the use of a good big bore. I used a 44 magnum with good results.

You cannot use any electronic sights, i.e. red dot scopes or sights. Scopes and open sights are ok as long as they do not use an illumnated reticle or a battery.

Turkey hunting is limited to shotguns, I'm not sure about archery, but you can look at the regs at the sight I gave you.

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Bob from Idaho

[QUOTE=faucettb]Here is a link to Idaho fish and game. You can get all the regs there.

http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/hunt/

Thanks for your response. This should be a lot of fun, although I wish I had more than a week to play with.
I want to bring the .50 S&W Mag with 275gr Barnes Bullets. It should take care of any deer or mountain lion. It will certainly kill a black bear although I can use solids if I know I am going to plan to specifically hunt that species. I doubtI would be in range for an elk as I only have a week to scout and hunt. However, I have taken a moose with that bullet so I know it can be done on that size animal.
I will be visiting a friend who has some land on the Montana border that I guess is a little further north of Coeur d'Alene than 80 miles (2-2.5 hrs drive?). With the difficulties in the airports with TSA I was hoping to limit the number of guns. Alas, the days of hunting turkeys by popping them with a .22 seem to be long gone.
I had printed out the main reg book and was surprised that nothing seemed to speak much about the tools allowed for hunting. There was one page describing rifles, archery, shotguns and 'short-range weapons' otherwise described as black powder. Then there are a myriad of other books of regs. I assume. like so many things, it is much easier to decipher when you are living and dealing with it every day.

Idaho regs are pretty thorough, but you have to be in the right section. For big game, you can use any centerfire caliber unless there is a special restriction in the unit you are hunting. Your hand cannon should be fine for the big game. Turkeys require bow or shotgun.

Sounds like you are going up near the Moyie Springs/Kootenai River area. That is a prime area for bears! You should have a good time!

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IDShooter

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." - Mark Twain