Montana Hunter Objective Numbers

[Gerald Martin]

Given the fact that the objective for elk numbers in any given unit are influenced heavily by social tolerance of elk in that area, I would like to propose that Montana set hunter objective numbers for each unit to avoid overcrowding.


This would be set by social tolerance…

Too many hunters in my favorite spots are a hardship to my preferred life experience and I demand that FWP do something about it. Anyone who hasn’t hunted my area as long as I have needs to be limited in how many there are and how much time they are allowed to spend in my unit.


Maybe our legislators can pass a law forbidding FWP from issuing more licenses than there are live elk…


I’m just joking (mostly)

On a serious note, seeing how many more permits are being added through commission approved increases and the drawing fiasco makes me wonder if Montana hunters are even aware of how many hunters there are in comparison to how many live bull elk in the state or unit they hunt?

At what point does #opportunity become fraudulent marketing on the part of FWP?

 

[texwest44]

It's not fraud, we just don't have masters degrees in selling out. If all the good elk are on private, and more people are buying property, then that inherently means there's more opportunity if they legislate tags for private property owners. I mean, that's pretty much what it has to mean, right? Otherwise, buying 8 acres of subdivided vegetation-free land somewhere along I90 for $100,000 would be a stupid thing to do.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I guess it just depends how you slice the pie…


I know I was way more excited when I found out FWP was cutting the pie into 24 pieces instead of 6.

At least until I figured out there’s still only one pie.

25,000. That’s the number of bull elk I estimate are alive in the entire state in any given year. It doesn’t matter how many tags FWP prints out and calls it opportunity. They don’t print a bull elk out and make it alive when they issue an extra tag.


#opportunity

 

[bigsky2]

It would be really interesting to see what permit numbers would be if they were set based on crowding tolerance.

 

[WoodMoose]

It would be really interesting to see what permit numbers would be if they were set based on crowding tolerance.

1, maybe 2, per area