To prevent disruption of public service and ensure fair and orderly sales of capped elk zone tags, Idaho Fish and Game will not allow camping at its Boise Headquarters Office, or Nampa and McCall Regional Offices.

Capped elk zones – except the Sawtooth Zone – will go on sale July 11 at 10 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time. The Sawtooth Zone elk tags will go on sale July 13 at 10 a.m. MDT for in-person purchases and 1 p.m. MDT for online purchases. Sawtooth tags will be evenly divided between in-person and online sales.

Fish and Game regional offices have experienced problems in recent years with customers camping in parking lots and on Fish and Game property for days prior to the sale. The congestion has caused disruption to customer service and resulted in damage to the facilities and sanitation issues.

To eliminate those issues, camping, overnight parking and cooking will not be allowed on Boise, Nampa or McCall Fish and Game offices prior to the sales periods. Chairs will be allowed for people waiting in line, but no sleeping bags or other camping gear. Regional office bathrooms will only be available during regular business hours, which is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“We understand these tags are highly sought after and very important to our elk hunters, and we appreciate peoples’ desire to get them,” said Josh Royse, Fish and Game’s Southwest Region Supervisor. “But we’ve unfortunately seen poor behavior in recent years, including camping up to a week before the sale dates in areas not suited for it. We want to eliminate that situation and make these elk tag sales orderly for all hunters and Fish and Game staff.”

Hunters can buy elk capped zone tags at any license and tag vendor throughout the state, and customers must abide by the rules of each vendor, and contact other Fish and Game regional offices in advance to see what guidelines those regions will have in place for capped elk zone tag sales.

Hunters also are reminded that anyone who applied for a controlled elk hunt is ineligible to buy a capped zone elk tag until five days after tags go on sale.