Honestly for 2 big game out of state tags that’s reasonable especially for 2025Well, I'm into MT for about $1,030 for a Deer combo draw possibility and an Antelope draw possibility. Hopefully you boys can get things figured out in the next few months. . .
*In a western state
Yeh I should have said for western states my bad
Antelope season in general is a gong show with people. Every unit I’ve hunted has been hard to get away from people. I have killed some nice bucks in that unit on public
FWP does this with just about everything.
It’s kinda like anything else I’ve spent enough time up there I have a couple spots that produce for me. One gets better later it I the season from the pressure
You are leaving out all the people that are looking to fill there elk A tags on a cow or spike. We are even seeing some NR doing this instead of going west.Heres some data on prongorn/elk permits from the earlier part of the conversation. Area 630 - for example, 25 cow elk tags, 50 bull tags, and 200 antelope tags. Lets go R7 - 7500 antelope tags, 480 rifle elk tags, 2100 cow tags. Seems like its basically true across the units. 3 times as many lope hunters as total elk hunters.
Yes. People dump their antelope and drive home. Is someone from Helena or kalispell who drew an antelope permit by miles city, and plans to hunt mule deer there in october going to do the same thing?
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Thats true - cant those folks do the same thing in october (on private land - including bma) with the proposal though?
Why are the arguments against incidental harvest being a concern with the proposal a nit picky "gotcha" when that is part of the basis of the proposal in the first place?
I am for it - but i also see it as a mixed bag, but i understand it is a balance and nothing can solve it without some sacrifices here and there. My main focus, will probably always be archery elk. This proposal doesnt really do much to change that - except the slight shift in season and for the potential gains - im okay with it. I want to see more and healthier age class in mule deer on public especiwlly - and i think this will do that, especially in western MT. I also know it wont be awesome right away, but i think chasing mule deer in the mountains in early october will be awesome in its own right.
Can't shoot the spike, but cows for sure and I hope that they do in large numbers to help move elk off of private land and if you are spending time after a private land elk, you are not adding more pressure to public land mule deer.
How would that work for big blocks of bma that include public land, within the BMA? A few north of you came to mind. Additionally, the cmr and usfs excluded for that - even with a b tag most of the time for a lot of r7?
Everyone wants big bulls in the Breaks....they also want to hunt big bulls every year in the Breaks. Can't have both.
Maybe I am farther south than you think. I can't think of any large BMA with lots of public near me. North of the Yellowstone, yes, but many of those units are OTC for elk.
North and east*
