American Prarie Reserve bought Two Crow. good news or bad?

[LMD423]

I think it will be a good thing that we can have more public access. I don't know much about the APR but like what I had a chance to read about them. On the west side of the state the nature conservancy has bought land and kept it open to the public for recreational use.

 

[double_a85]

My concern with APF is how they have been slowly pulling lands enrolled in Block Management out of it. I have never attempted to gain access the "ole' fashioned way", however, so not sure if they are still allowing hunting, but as others pointed out, I imagine they do to some capacity.

 

[tjones]

I don't like the APR buying up land, .

Wouldn't then it would be correct to say then you don't like the local ranchers selling to APR?

APR is only buying what the local ranchers are willing to sell.

 

[Ben Lamb]

My concern with APF is how they have been slowly pulling lands enrolled in Block Management out of it. I have never attempted to gain access the "ole' fashioned way", however, so not sure if they are still allowing hunting, but as others pointed out, I imagine they do to some capacity.

I think that's a valid concern, but would say that an email or phone call to their HQ asking what the plan is would be a good idea. They have been concerned that some wildlife populations are too low, and as such, did not want to having hunter harvest game since they want MORE wildlife, rather than less. I know they are still looking at their hunting program and trying to find the happy middle grounds between abundant wildlife, and abundant access, especially as places they purchased are restored back to native habitat.

I'd also ask them how much previously landlocked public land is no accessible due to their purchases. IIRC, it's significant - around 26,000 acres of previously off limits, or land that had tough access (only from the river, other landowners who would gate roads, etc).

 

[double_a85]

Ben,
As they continue to buy land, I am sure they "happy medium" they are trying to obtain will become more difficult and will ruffle more feathers. My post was not intended to bash what APF is doing or is about. They are certainly taking a new approach to land ownership in many of the areas.
On APF's website they talk about how they have their own biologists who advise what should be allowed for hunting in each segment of land they own. It would be a good template for other large scale landowners to use, as long as everyone still uses hunting as a means of population management.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Ben,
As they continue to buy land, I am sure they "happy medium" they are trying to obtain will become more difficult and will ruffle more feathers. My post was not intended to bash what APF is doing or is about. They are certainly taking a new approach to land ownership in many of the areas.
On APF's website they talk about how they have their own biologists who advise what should be allowed for hunting in each segment of land they own. It would be a good template for other large scale landowners to use, as long as everyone still uses hunting as a means of population management.

I didn't take your post as bashing on them. Apologies if it came across that way. They are certainly doing things differently, and they're ruffling feathers to be sure. Their biologist has often said publicly that he feels FWP's numbers are far too low for elk, deer, prognhorn, etc. APR does not allow any sage grouse or predator hunting on their place as well.

 

[bigsky2]

Their biologist has often said publicly that he feels FWP's numbers are far too low for elk, deer, prognhorn, etc.

They are probably right! The deer get hammered in that country.

 

[Eric Albus]

tjones, of course I do not like it....what kind of question is that? I won't "like it" if I have to sell to them.... try a different tact if you wish to ensnare.

The day will come that those who "like" the APR/APF will not feel the warm fuzzies. The day will come(mark my words) that there will be No Sport Hunting on said lands.....then we(including me) will wish that I would have never sold out to the highest bidder.

Taking lands out of BM(block management) not bowel movement) is only the precursor to what comes.

This is dealing with an entity that has not one iota of feeling toward community, loyalty or any other thing that we( I assume it's we) hold dear.... they are funded by foreign monies, and answer folk who donate monies who look upon hunting as barbaric and archaic....

I do not hold it against folks who've sold to them.... I may be next...hope not, but you never know. Life is not as simple for some of others who are.

 

[Eric Albus]

BTW, an on the ground report from Reg 6... our sage grouse numbers are looking good right now(might change with a bolt of lightening)

 

[Eric Albus]

oh, and bigsky....the deer do get hammered in Reg. 6.... you are correct....might get worse this year with 250K + acres burned off in Reg 7.

 

[Eric Albus]

for every action there is an equal(if you're lucky) and opposite reaction.

 

[mtmiller]

BTW, an on the ground report from Reg 6... our sage grouse numbers are looking good right now(might change with a bolt of lightening)

Thanks APR. ;-)

 

[Ben Lamb]

BTW, an on the ground report from Reg 6... our sage grouse numbers are looking good right now(might change with a bolt of lightening)

We had a decent spring, but with no moisture for so long, I would imagine that those populations will not be doing so well next summer. Good news though.

The day will come that those who "like" the APR/APF will not feel the warm fuzzies. The day will come(mark my words) that there will be No Sport Hunting on said lands.....then we(including me) will wish that I would have never sold out to the highest bidder.

Taking lands out of BM(block management) not bowel movement) is only the precursor to what comes.

As someone who has worked with them on their hunting regimine in the past, I don't know that I agree. They are putting wildlife first - and that means they may close some areas to hunting that they want to see higher densities of deer, elk, pronghorn, sage grouse, etc. That's no different than any other landowner who makes a determination about hunting on their spread - yourself included. They are not blocking access to public land, and have increased it. That doesn't go away. They are building infrastructure for recreationists including their campgrounds, lodges & Yurt camps. I've stayed at the campground & one of lodges (press tour) and hunted there. They have a dedicated hunting coordinator on staff. They've been actively engaged with FWP on critter numbers and designing their block management to work for them.

Can it all go away? You bet. As with any landowner, the decision on who to allow and not allow rests with themselves only. Is it more likely to be open to hunters than it was from previous owners? No doubt. Several of places they have purchased were locked down by leases and some roads were blocked to the north end of the CMR.

This is dealing with an entity that has not one iota of feeling toward community, loyalty or any other thing that we( I assume it's we) hold dear.... they are funded by foreign monies, and answer folk who donate monies who look upon hunting as barbaric and archaic....

APR puts roughly $2 million in to the local economies around their place. They hire locals to work out there. They let young ag families lease lands to run livestock when there are no ranches to buy that young people can afford, or whose parents can't hand them the family place too. They spend money at tire stores, feed stores, auto shops & dealerships. They've started the Wild Sky Beef program to help market local beef to higher end retailers.

If the community doesn't feel that those contributions are worthwhile, then that's on the community.

 

[Ben Lamb]

From the Horse's mouth:

http://northernag.net/AGNews/AgNews...ting-on-American-Prairie-Reserve-in-2017.aspx

EDITORIAL

August 25, 2017

BOZEMAN - As fall approaches, American Prairie Reserve (APR) is getting inquiries about 2017 hunting opportunities on APR’s private lands. The following outlines this year’s plans and how they relate to our long-term goals.

Our year-to-year hunting plans always take into account APR’s long-term habitat and wildlife goals which include improving the abundance and diversity of not just game animals, but also grassland birds, reptiles, pollinators and other non-game species. We measure our current and future progress on our private lands and Wild Sky™ ranches on the Freese Scale, which you can learn more about on APR’s website.

One of APR’s top goals, in addition to steadily increasing public access, is to help create considerably more wildlife abundance – including game animals – than currently exists on our combined 98,000 private acres in Fergus, Blaine, Phillips, Petroleum, Choteau, and Valley Counties. To achieve this goal, we adjust our annual approach to hunting based on the current species populations in any given management unit. This year, some units will be open for public hunting of elk, big horn sheep, and other species while others will not. Additionally, some management units will allow hunting of males only and some units are open for hunting fewer days per week than others.

There are a number of reasons for the variances across management units.

When an APR management unit is closed to all hunting in a particular year, allows hunting only on certain days, or specifies males-only, you can assume we are trying to increase the populations of one or more species in that region. For instance, on some units we currently have little or no elk at all, so we will restrict elk hunting there until we begin to achieve robust elk populations. The same goes for pronghorn, mule deer, white tail, big horn sheep and other game animals. A measure of success for us is that a species is numerous enough to consistently spill over onto public lands adjoining our private acres.

On some management units, you will see limits on the number of hunting days per week and, in some cases, specifying primitive or short-range weapons only. The goal in this situation, in addition to trying to increase game numbers, is to change a species’ behavior over time. Animals subjected to hunting pressure seven days per week, or pursued with long-range weapons, tend to flee from all human presence. While we want to create increasingly better public hunting opportunities on APR lands, we also want the non-hunting public to enjoy wildlife that behaves more or less naturally, which generally occurs when human beings are only periodically viewed as a threat, and at no more than seventy to one-hundred yards.

This fall, some APR management units are enrolled in Fish Wildlife and Parks Block Management program – our preferred way to work with public hunting – while some are not. If a management unit is not in Block Management, it is either to help increase all game populations there, or it is open for a very limited number of species or sexes, which does not fit Fish Wildlife and Park’s criteria for participation in Block Management. Our intention over the long term is to continually expand our participation in Block Management and steadily improve hunter opportunities across a wide and varied landscape.

Lastly, this fall, as we approach our minimum viable population goal of one thousand bison, we will conduct our first annual public buffalo hunt. More information about the 2017 buffalo lottery and tag system will be published soon.

Public access is at the core of our mission and we are working year by year to make it easier for the general public to navigate our lands by improving directional signage and removing fences. Where fences are still needed and as we can afford it, we are installing cattle guards to replace gates that have to be opened and closed. If you enjoy recreating on APR’s private lands, you can help us accelerate our progress in improving public access. Whether it involves more and better directional signs, car gates, picnic tables and fire rings, or adding more acres to our holdings; donations from private individuals pays for it all. Please consider supporting these initiatives by becoming a member of American Prairie Reserve.

For further information please check out our updated Frequently Asked Questions on our website or contact us by phone or e-mail at [email protected].

 

[Goatshoes]

APR has a different view of lands than most private landowners.

I've hunted birds on APR, and the surrounding public land, close to the HQ south of Malta and loved it. I've seen lots of wildlife from songbirds to elk and they have a pretty open policy on hunting, being enrolled in block management for parts of the ranch, and kept out for others. Their metric for deciding what is open and what is not is based on land conditions and wildlife carrying capacity. If they feel like the wildlife resource is smaller than it should be, they will close an area to hunting until the population is larger. They also have opened up tens of thousands of formerly inaccessible (or only accessible from the water) public land for use by the public.

Like all private landowners, they have the right to decide how they allow hunting and recreation on their fee title land. They have installed some campgrounds for public and private use as well. As an organization, they have a strict policy of not paying more than appraised value, so the people who say that the organization is inflating land prices are mistaken. Or they're sad no sweetheart deals are around anymore. APR pumps roughly $2 million in to local economies through ranch management, and they have young ranch families helping run the place, providing an opportunity for the next generation of family ranchers until they can afford their own spread.

I'm a supporter.

That sounds ideal as long as those ideals stay in place. Thanks.

 

[belly-deep]

Any details on the buffalo hunt? That sounds really interesting

 

[Rat Fink]

Mourning Dove: September 30 – October 30, Steel Shot

Their Dove season is garbage. Might as well not even pretend that they allow it.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Any details on the buffalo hunt? That sounds really interesting

Not sure other than what's in the release - lottery, limited entry, etc.

Dustin - don't hunt there.

 

[Rat Fink]

I can't think of any knowledgeable hunter that would hunt doves there. With a start date of September 30 and steel shot only, why bother? They could at least allow other forms of non toxic shot as the lethality of steel sucks.

 

[Ben Lamb]

I can't think of any knowledgeable hunter that would hunt doves there. With a start date of September 30 and steel shot only, why bother? They could at least allow other forms of non toxic shot as the lethality of steel sucks.

You can email them and suggest they allow other forms of non-toxic. That's a good point.