TRS_Montana
Well-known member
My hunting buddy and I headed out for an elk hunt on Sunday morning with high hopes. We were hunting a large herd that had been pretty consistent for the previous two mornings. We climbed up to the top of the ridge and by shooting light, had about 15-20 elk spotted at about 1000-1500 yards away. Between us and the herd was a small hill. Perfect. We planned to sneak over to the top of that hill, peak over, and shoot two 300" bulls. As we dropped down into the valley to begin our climb up the hill, we hear a shot. Close. We look over to see 5 cows and a bull walking up the hill about 200 yards away. Knowing the herd was probably going to move off into the trees because of the shot, I took a closer look at the bull to determine if he was legal.
A quick bit of context here....I was recently having a discussion with a friend about the difference between branch-antlered bulls and brow-tined bulls and what is legal in different HDs in MT. A brow-tined bull must have a branch at least 4" long located on the lower half of the main beam. A branch-antlered bull must have a branch, at least 4" long, anywhere on the main beam.
Back to the story...
As I watched this bull, I pick out a split on his right antler, with a branch that is about 8-9" long. Great. Legal, I thought, and I shoot. After the bull goes down, I look at my buddy who is staring at me like I just shot a person. "That bull's not legal" he states, and I immediately realize that I should have been looking for a 4" brow tine to determine if the bull was legal....not a 4" branch. It's pointless to describe how sick I felt knowing I just shot an illegal animal and might have just ended my hunting for the next couple of years.
So, after making sure the elk is dead, my buddy heads up to the top of the hill to make sure there weren't any legal bulls contemplating the morning's events out in the open. I'd be lying if I said it didn't cross my mind to bone the elk out and get back to the truck as quickly as possible with the hope that nobody called it in. As I thought about what to do, I knew what the right thing was, and that regardless of the consequences the only way I would be able to clear my conscience would be to call it in.
Luckily, we had cell service where we were at, so I called 1-800-TIP-MONT and was connected with a warden. I informed the warden about what happened and he told me to take care of the elk as I would have if it was legal and he would head back in to town to meet me at the office.
When I pulled into the FWP office in Helena, I was fully expecting to lose my hunting privileges for at least a year and pay $500-$1,000 in fines. After a lengthy discussion with the game warden on elk, hunting seasons, life in Helena, etc...he finally starts into the topic I have been waiting to discuss. "So..." he says, "the way we handle self-reports is this: we confiscate the animal and issue a citation for essentially the amount of money it would cost to have the animal butchered (citation of $135) so that it can be handed over to the local food pantry to help needy families. Additionally, your elk tag is validated and cannot be used on another animal. We don't take away privileges, or heap on any other fines because we know that people make mistakes and we encourage people to be as compliant as possible when those mistakes are made."
I was encouraged to learn that FWP takes a common-sense approach to punishing mistakes. Hopefully this thread will shed a positive light on MT FWP for their handling of this, as well as push people to do the right thing if they find themselves in a situation similar to mine on Sunday. Crappy way to end the 2017 elk season, but a good lesson and, ultimately, a good life experience.
A quick bit of context here....I was recently having a discussion with a friend about the difference between branch-antlered bulls and brow-tined bulls and what is legal in different HDs in MT. A brow-tined bull must have a branch at least 4" long located on the lower half of the main beam. A branch-antlered bull must have a branch, at least 4" long, anywhere on the main beam.
Back to the story...
As I watched this bull, I pick out a split on his right antler, with a branch that is about 8-9" long. Great. Legal, I thought, and I shoot. After the bull goes down, I look at my buddy who is staring at me like I just shot a person. "That bull's not legal" he states, and I immediately realize that I should have been looking for a 4" brow tine to determine if the bull was legal....not a 4" branch. It's pointless to describe how sick I felt knowing I just shot an illegal animal and might have just ended my hunting for the next couple of years.
So, after making sure the elk is dead, my buddy heads up to the top of the hill to make sure there weren't any legal bulls contemplating the morning's events out in the open. I'd be lying if I said it didn't cross my mind to bone the elk out and get back to the truck as quickly as possible with the hope that nobody called it in. As I thought about what to do, I knew what the right thing was, and that regardless of the consequences the only way I would be able to clear my conscience would be to call it in.
Luckily, we had cell service where we were at, so I called 1-800-TIP-MONT and was connected with a warden. I informed the warden about what happened and he told me to take care of the elk as I would have if it was legal and he would head back in to town to meet me at the office.
When I pulled into the FWP office in Helena, I was fully expecting to lose my hunting privileges for at least a year and pay $500-$1,000 in fines. After a lengthy discussion with the game warden on elk, hunting seasons, life in Helena, etc...he finally starts into the topic I have been waiting to discuss. "So..." he says, "the way we handle self-reports is this: we confiscate the animal and issue a citation for essentially the amount of money it would cost to have the animal butchered (citation of $135) so that it can be handed over to the local food pantry to help needy families. Additionally, your elk tag is validated and cannot be used on another animal. We don't take away privileges, or heap on any other fines because we know that people make mistakes and we encourage people to be as compliant as possible when those mistakes are made."
I was encouraged to learn that FWP takes a common-sense approach to punishing mistakes. Hopefully this thread will shed a positive light on MT FWP for their handling of this, as well as push people to do the right thing if they find themselves in a situation similar to mine on Sunday. Crappy way to end the 2017 elk season, but a good lesson and, ultimately, a good life experience.
