The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is in reasonable financial shape this fall, officials say - thanks to a distinct budgeting formula and, to a certain extent, America's love of guns.

Unlike most state agencies, Fish and Game relies mostly on a mix of licenses, tag sales and federal grants for its budget rather than money from the state's general fund.

Sales of elk and deer tags aren't what they were last year, and about 25 vacant positions are being held open, Fish and Game Administrative Chief Jim Lau said this week. But the federal grants that help pay for the agency's habitat work have gone up because people are buying more weapons and supplies.

Federal excise taxes on firearms, ammunition and archery supplies are distributed through grants by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - similar taxes also exist for fishing equipment, motorboat and small engine fuels and related items. The hunting taxes pay for wildlife restoration and hunter education, while the fishing taxes go to restoration projects for sport fish.

Idaho's slice of fishing funds only rose slightly this year, Lau said, from $6.8 million to nearly $6.95 million. But strong firearm and ammunition sales pushed the wildlife funds from $5.9 million to almost $6.5 million.

"Every bit helps," Lau said.

The Washington Post reported this week that excise-tax receipts are on pace to set a record this year, with revenue from guns up 42 percent and from ammunition up 49 percent. Though demand for weapons appears to be slackening, gun owners have bought about 12 billion rounds of ammunition in the past year - up from the usual 7 billion to 10 billion.

State wildlife officials may wish more of those rounds were used to hunt. Last year, Lau said, elk and deer tags were sold out. But officials said last month tag revenue was down as much as 9 percent, about $1 million, largely due to low nonresident sales months after legislators approved fee increases just for that segment of hunters.

Those revenues are now making a comeback, Lau said, but still may not quite reach last year's levels. License revenue is also down. But fishing sales in general have stayed steady, he said, and the roughly 24,000 wolf tags sold in the state's first wolf hunt haven't hurt.

Though Fish and Game hasn't had any layoffs, it is keeping about 25 vacancies open for at least six to nine more months, essentially a loss of 5 percent of its workforce, Lau said. Officials have also cut back spending in certain areas and reduced some temporary hours to keep the budget in check.

"On balance, we're okay," Lau said, adding his agency still has some cash reserves as well. "We're not overly concerned at this point."

As the natural-resource state agency perhaps in the best financial shape, officials said they'd even be receptive to cooperating with others facing budget holdbacks - insofar, Lau said, as projects benefit the sportsmen who fund Fish and Game.

"If called on to do something like that, I don't see why we cannot do that," Fish and Game spokesman Mike Keckler said. "Because we all work for the same government."