RAC approves 2025 deer permit recommendations after debate over Thousand Lakes weapon split

The council reviewed the Division’s 2025 deer permit recommendations, which included general‑season and limited‑entry adjustments guided by the new statewide deer plan that allows automatic adjustments of permit numbers under a 20% threshold. Division staff described the data inputs used to set permit numbers — buck‑to‑doe and fawn‑to‑doe ratios, survival data, population estimates and recent hunter success — and explained that the model can be used to anticipate population changes, particularly where poor fawn survival is expected.

A central point of contention was the Thousand Lakes limited‑entry unit. The division proposed a 40/30/30 rifle/archery/muzzleloader split (instead of the customary 60/20/20), a change intended to provide a restricted archery opportunity. Some RAC members said shifting the split might make the restricted‑archery portion too easy to draw and reduce fairness; others said this could broaden opportunity for applicants. The council held a roll‑call vote on a motion to revert Thousand Lakes to the standard 60/20/20 split; that motion failed. A subsequent motion to accept the division’s deer permit recommendations as presented passed unanimously.

Public comment included support from backcountry hunters, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife (SFW), and the Mule Deer Foundation (MDF). SFW requested a lower first‑year permit count on Beaver West and urged maintaining last year’s numbers for certain limited‑entry units; MDF endorsed the biologists’ recommendations. The division and RAC members discussed making available more background material and a short explainer video on how the deer model works so applicants and stakeholders can better follow permit calculations.

The approved recommendations will be forwarded to the wildlife board as the RAC’s advisory recommendation.