Montana FWP makes seismic shift in elk permits

So all there proposals passed, that were on the masters list. Hm.

And u can can get an unlimited archery bull tag but still hunt general elk season if unsuccessful. Wow terrible idea.
I don't see how this is terrible I mean I'd like to see something different but it's better than previous regs IMO.
 
As a Montana resident, I think the days of being able to bounce around the state and hunt anywhere you choose are numbered. It will come to an end sooner than later.

It just did today with the exception of unit 270. If you draw a permit for elk you are limited to hunting only that geographic area for the duration of how long that permit is valid.
 
As a Montana resident, I think the days of being able to bounce around the state and hunt anywhere you choose are numbered. It will come to an end sooner than later.
At the end of the day it comes back to management. As population increases demand increases and pressure on the resource increases. The response to that is tighter game management. This can be viewed as decreased opportunity but at the end of the day it’s management with a little more control. It’s where we are headed. Opportunity couldn’t increase forever
 
As a Montana resident, I think the days of being able to bounce around the state and hunt anywhere you choose are numbered. It will come to an end sooner than later.

It just did today with the exception of unit 270. If you draw a permit for elk you are limited to hunting only that geographic area for the duration of how long that permit is valid.
Understood, but at some point its not just gonna be some units. Its going to include all of them IMO. Even at some point the general units will have to be permitted.
 
A very telling moment today, was where it was clear that both Byorth and Walsh, had spoken to agency biologists, and those biologists had a different opinion of appropriate management than the dept bigwigs. This seemed to bother Tabor, but maybe for different reasons than the reasons it should bother all of us.

Just a very real microcosm of the whole situation.
 
As a Montana resident, I think the days of being able to bounce around the state and hunt anywhere you choose are numbered. It will come to an end sooner than later.

It just did today with the exception of unit 270. If you draw a permit for elk you are limited to hunting only that geographic area for the duration of how long that permit is valid.
If you draw an archery limited elk permit, are you limited to the geographic area for the archery season only and can therefore hunt the general areas in rifle?
 
As a Montana resident, I think the days of being able to bounce around the state and hunt anywhere you choose are numbered. It will come to an end sooner than later.
Thanks for the response. This year the unit I planned to hunt was shut down all of September due to forest fires. It was lucky I could still bounce around and go elsewhere.
 
Thanks for the response. This year the unit I planned to hunt was shut down all of September due to forest fires. It was lucky I could still bounce around and go elsewhere.
Can you share which unit? I don’t remember there being any units “shut down” for hunting last year, but could be mistaken. I know a lot of block management participants elected not to open their property due to fire risk but if FWP completely shut down hunting in a unit that’s news to me. Was this a permit unit?
 
Especially impressed with Jana Waller.
Same. FWIW she’s the only commissioner who responded to my emails and those of a few others I know (perhaps because we live in R2). She also made sure to remind me to comment on specifics via the FWP website forms so they’d be on the record.
 
As a Montana resident, I think the days of being able to bounce around the state and hunt anywhere you choose are numbered. It will come to an end sooner than later.
I agree @golfer . I saw a recent article that showed Montana topped the US charts for most influx of people as a percentage of population in 2021. You can't have that and expect things to stay as they are. As @Gerald Martin eloquently stated today, we can't look back...we have to look forward. MT residents are going to have plenty of opportunities to compromise on certain hunting issues so we have to pick our battles. Today was a battle worthy of a fight. At some point how we hunt is going to change. My hope is that what we hunt will remain as close to the same as possible. We have to hold fast to protecting the wildlife and the public land at all cost even if it means shorter seasons or less hunting mobility around the state. It'll suck, but it's coming.

I would add. For me there is a battle to be waged on access to solve some of these supposed herd problems. We need to address the Block Management program and the damage hunt program.
 
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It sounds like some victories were made today for the public hunting crowd… thanks to all who showed up.

As for the “hunt your permit” discussion, I am pleased that passed, but I have to admit I wish it went further. I wish if you drew either an archery or rifle permit that was the only season you got to hunt elk. As a Montana resident, I want to see quality over quantity start to win over. I am raising young hunters and I want to see something left for them to chase.
 

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