Montana FWP Seeking Applicants For Elk Advisory Group

Moving FS road closures to Sept 1 might complicate grazing allotments and ranchers trying to ship cattle in the fall. Probably don't need to make things more complicated for ranchers and their presence on the landscape can benefit us hunters (and our wild food) as controlled grazing by cattle can benefit elk grounds if applied correctly and in the right intensity.
I agree that we don't want to make things more difficult for ranchers running cattle there but I don't think it would be particularly hard to give the rancher's that have leased grazing rights access to the road. When I say closed I mostly mean closed to the general public (and for only motorized travel).
 
I agree that we don't want to make things more difficult for ranchers running cattle there but I don't think it would be particularly hard to give the rancher's that have leased grazing rights access to the road. When I say closed I mostly mean closed to the general public (and for only motorized travel).
You aren’t fixing the problem of too many people in the field. I hate to see it come to this in Montana but if you pressure elk/animals for 12 straight weeks it doesn’t matter what you do they will seek solitude and in Montana that a lot of times means private. If I had a week to fill an elk tag I would take a Colorado otc elk tag over a Montana general tag every time and that is saying something. Fixing the problem is going to limit your opportunity to hunt for 12 straight weeks. Sorry if that’s hard to hear.
 
That’s a loaded question. success dictates the overall perspective, the “impression” of opportunity, or lack thereof. I’ve never had any private land access or money to travel abroad, hire a guide service or anything. Yet I’ve found success every year on most tags and the ones I didn’t i solely blame MYSELF. I know that’s a hard thing to do for the general public these days. Blame yourself? 😳 there is endless wilderness here. I have a hard time believing there is lack of opportunity to harvest quality game in this state on a general resident tag. Don’t get me wrong, I wish they’d get rid of some of the NR tags. NO ARGUMENT THERE PAL
 
That’s a loaded question. success dictates the overall perspective, the “impression” of opportunity, or lack thereof. I’ve never had any private land access or money to travel abroad, hire a guide service or anything. Yet I’ve found success every year on most tags and the ones I didn’t i solely blame MYSELF. I know that’s a hard thing to do for the general public these days. Blame yourself? 😳 there is endless wilderness here. I have a hard time believing there is lack of opportunity to harvest quality game in this state on a general resident tag. Don’t get me wrong, I wish they’d get rid of some of the NR tags. NO ARGUMENT THERE PAL
Not a loaded question, it just seems you are always first to throw your hands up in the air when change is brought up implying nothing is broken. Yet you can't say how leaving it the same will have a better outcome than trying to change, yes change is hard. I have not traveled out of state to hunt anything. But yet I can still say the road we are heading down is not a pleasant one.
 
You aren’t fixing the problem of too many people in the field. I hate to see it come to this in Montana but if you pressure elk/animals for 12 straight weeks it doesn’t matter what you do they will seek solitude and in Montana that a lot of times means private. If I had a week to fill an elk tag I would take a Colorado otc elk tag over a Montana general tag every time and that is saying something. Fixing the problem is going to limit your opportunity to hunt for 12 straight weeks. Sorry if that’s hard to hear.
If hunters are less mobile and efficient then you can have the same amount of hunters in the field hunting but applying less pressure to the animals as they will be inevitably spending less time where the animals are. I suspect that hunters mobility/efficiency is a significant contributing factor to the sentiment of increased hunting pressure where tag numbers indicate hunting numbers are fairly constant. That's why people have preached for years that if you just get off the road a mile or two you'll leave the other hunters behind. However, that is less and less the case as access to the backcountry has improved. What I'm suggesting is to find ways to re-create these sanctuaries by reducing motorized/mechanized access to these places during hunting season.

As an example, think about how much more efficient a hunter can be if they can ride an e-bike or drive a road trying to hear a bugle to chase the following day than if they were forced to walk. Hunters these days can much more quickly hone in on where the elk are and are not, which only increases hunter concentrations where the elk want to be.
 
I really hope if y’all get your way, the average Joe Shmoe; barely scraping by, resident of MT can still survive off game meat every year without having to spend thousands applying in multiple states, travel to those states and succeed and transport the meat back to actually fill a freezer and live self sustainably… good luck to all of you fighting for game management.. 😕
If you are having a hard time feeding your family shoot me a pm I will help you. Wildlife is a separate issue and they need to be on the landscape, on public and private land.
 
If you are having a hard time feeding your family shoot me a pm I will help you. Wildlife is a separate issue and they need to be on the landscape, on public and private land.
Way to turn it around. I said self sustaining on game meat. I make great money and we eat well, thanks
 
Sheesh the stats of Montana elk harvest per hunter days isn’t great. Lace em up.
 
The money I saved by never touching a golf club or ski poles was likely enough to pay for school. Those habits just got in the way of antler hunting anyway.
Tough crowd when it comes to golf on here. Everyone has their hobbies, lots of business can be conducted on the course. Relatively cheap when compared to a walleye boat, pickup, fancy rods, 5th wheel, and tackle. Same could be said for goose hunting. But back to the topic.
 
I’m
Tough crowd when it comes to golf on here. Everyone has their hobbies, lots of business can be conducted on the course. Relatively cheap when compared to a walleye boat, pickup, fancy rods, 5th wheel, and tackle. Same could be said for goose hunting. But back to the topic.
Golf is probably the best direction this thread will go.
 

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