MT - Changes in Hunting Regs/Units/Seasons coming this month

[HighWildFree]

There are already comments asking FWP to expand the muzzleloader season in to seasons that are currently archery only.

I was planning on screwing a broadhead onto the end of my ramrod and shooting out of the barrel. Can I use that for archery season or does that make it a crossbow?

Their stated goal has been simplification of regulations. The simplest thing would get rid of all seasons and weapon restrictions and just hand folks a license that says: "F*$% it, do whatever you want, whenever you want."

 

[antlerradar]

Their stated goal has been simplification of regulations. The simplest thing would get rid of all seasons and weapon restrictions and just hand folks a license that says: "F*$% it, do whatever you want, whenever you want."

That is next year.

 

[MTGomer]

There’s some good stuff in the proposals. I suspect the good will get stripped out and we’ll be stuck with the bad.

I sure like the proposals to restrict more mule deer hunting but we all know that idea is outnumbered 10:1 by people that think it’s their birthright to road hunt mule deer on Thanksgiving.

 

[Sytes]

Seems some decent thought extended or inadvertently. Either way, good is good.

 

[tjones]

One other thing to make note of on the three week mule deer seasons being proposed in Region 2-

As currently written, the muzzleloader season will be open in units that have open seasons at the end of general rifle season (Sunday after Thanksgiving). Therefore, having these seasons close early would exclude them from the muzzleloader seasons.

Good catch Randy and a great regulation, I hope all the guys struggling with the difference between a permit and a license understand.

 

[bigsky2]

I went through all the proposed changes for the units that are currently part of the 900 elk bundle. I was surprised how many are going to general. A lot of the units in region 5 aren't even listed in the proposed changes, does anyone know what's happening to 500, 510, 520, 570? There's a few units that are becoming their own archery permit but don't have a quota listed yet. I've also been hearing that 700 is going to be general but the new regs don't mention anything about the 700 archery tag.

 

[Schaaf]

I went through all the proposed changes for the units that are currently part of the 900 elk bundle. I was surprised how many are going to general. A lot of the units in region 5 aren't even listed in the proposed changes, does anyone know what's happening to 500, 510, 511, 520, 530, 570? There's a few units that are becoming their own archery permit but don't have a quota listed yet. I've also been hearing that 700 is going to be general but the new regs don't mention anything about the 700 archery tag.

520 is slated to be merged with 560 and made General.

I think 700 going General is just a rumor. I haven’t heard any worries of that from people in the know.

 

[Carnage2011]

I went through all the proposed changes for the units that are currently part of the 900 elk bundle. I was surprised how many are going to general. A lot of the units in region 5 aren't even listed in the proposed changes, does anyone know what's happening to 500, 510, 511, 520, 530, 570? There's a few units that are becoming their own archery permit but don't have a quota listed yet. I've also been hearing that 700 is going to be general but the new regs don't mention anything about the 700 archery tag.

I think there is a lot of misinformation around. The 700 is staying permit according to the current proposals. 701 to general. Several of the 500 units are going to general.

 

[JLS]

Good catch Randy and a great regulation, I hope all the guys struggling with the difference between a permit and a license understand.

Can you dumb this down to a second grade level for me? Lots of pictures, small words.

 

[Spartan_Eric]

I went through all the proposed changes for the units that are currently part of the 900 elk bundle. I was surprised how many are going to general. A lot of the units in region 5 aren't even listed in the proposed changes, does anyone know what's happening to 500, 510, 520, 570? There's a few units that are becoming their own archery permit but don't have a quota listed yet. I've also been hearing that 700 is going to be general but the new regs don't mention anything about the 700 archery tag.

Here is a slide presented at the Region 5 listening session last night that clarified the proposed Region 5 archery elk structure.

 

[Scopeye]

The Region 2 meeting just wrapped up, and I appreciated being able to participate in one of these after having everything being held in person so far this year, with no way to view remotely. If you have the time you should really try to log in to these. All of my questions were answered.

A couple impressions and notes that I got-

-North half of 261 is still being proposed as a general mule deer unit at this time, but it was acknowledged that that is still up in the air. I think that if you support managing for older age class mule deer, you should REALLY think about taking the time to comment in opposition to splitting 261 to two separate units.

-There seemed to be quite a few comments from people who were opposed to the more restrictive mule deer regulations being proposed in region 2. I feel like public comments could be pretty heavily opposed to these expanded "trophy" units, and if you are a fan of more restrictive management for mule deer you should really try to support these expanded units in the public comments. They are 202, 210, and 222.

-There are already comments asking FWP to expand the muzzleloader season in to seasons that are currently archery only. Everyone who guessed they'd immediately start asking for more was right, and they couldn't even wait until their first season started.

-I thought this was a good question that I've seen brought up prior in this thread- View attachment 196712

-It was amusing to learn that our two heads of the department don't understand our points system. They kept referring to them as "preference points", and were worried that if they changed the unit number the people that had been applying for the old unit numbers would lose their points (true story).


I thought the system worked very well though for their first go at doing a season setting meeting online. It was nice having FWP choose the comments. It did a good job of avoiding the inevitable 45 minute sidetrack that someone creates at any in-person public comment meeting. I really hope they stick with this format going forward.

Thank you for the notes from the meeting. Wasn’t able to attend but will be able to make more informed comments.

 

[Scopeye]

I have been looking over some of the changes for region 3 in preparation for the meeting on the 13th. The new combined unit of 322 will eliminate the 324-50 permit and open the whole unit to either sex mule deer. I personally would like to see a more restricted mule deer harvest for this large district.

Biologist proposed the changes due to the presence of CWD. I don’t see the value in shooting all the deer to spare them from CWD.

Curious how Wyoming and the other states that have CWD still manage for quality mule deer?

 

[bigsky2]

I attended the Region 4 meeting last night, one thing that really surprised me was at the beginning they presented a slide where they are asking for feedback on if we think the deer and elk seasons should be shortened, lengthened, or have the dates adjusted. Here is the link for the slide that I was talking about. I know a lot of people on this site would like deer seasons changed, myself included. We always say our comments are a waste of time, but the fact that they are actually asking for our opinion on it was encouraging. I encourage everyone to send their comments in if you would like to see seasons shortened or moved up.

https://fwp.mt.gov/binaries/content/assets/fwp/hunt/comment-documents/final-statewide-questions-and-changes.pdf

 

[GearJunky]

I had the chance to listen in on the region 5 call and was able to ask a question.

I noted that they are expanding elk shoulders seasons around the state and asked if their data was showing that the program was working. I also noted that from my perspective I thought the shoulder seasons were bad and not working. Much to my surprise, they acknowledged that the numbers are showing that the herds continue to grow despite the shoulder seasons, and in several situations, the over-objective problems have gotten worse. So before I could get another word in... They jump in and say, "so despite that data, we have decided to expand the program to make things more consistent across the regions and to give people more opportunity".

I have sat back watching this unfold, thinking that maybe some of the Huntalkers are a little too wound up, and maybe this wasn't all bad.... But, they clearly have no problem telling you that the management tools are not working, however, they are just going to expand them in the name of "opportunity". I must agree now, my eyes are wide open and I am very concerned about the future of montana hunting.

 

[8andcounting]

I think there is a lot of misinformation around. The 700 is staying permit according to the current proposals. 701 to general. Several of the 500 units are going to general.

701 is general now except the very very western portion . But yes part of the proposal is for that western portion to become general also

 

[8andcounting]

I attended the Region 4 meeting last night, one thing that really surprised me was at the beginning they presented a slide where they are asking for feedback on if we think the deer and elk seasons should be shortened, lengthened, or have the dates adjusted. Here is the link for the slide that I was talking about. I know a lot of people on this site would like deer seasons changed, myself included. We always say our comments are a waste of time, but the fact that they are actually asking for our opinion on it was encouraging. I encourage everyone to send their comments in if you would like to see seasons shortened or moved up.

https://fwp.mt.gov/binaries/content/assets/fwp/hunt/comment-documents/final-statewide-questions-and-changes.pdf

ThNks for the link good info

 

[Gerald Martin]

I had the chance to listen in on the region 5 call and was able to ask a question.

I noted that they are expanding elk shoulders seasons around the state and asked if their data was showing that the program was working. I also noted that from my perspective I thought the shoulder seasons were bad and not working. Much to my surprise, they acknowledged that the numbers are showing that the herds continue to grow despite the shoulder seasons, and in several situations, the over-objective problems have gotten worse. So before I could get another word in... They jump in and say, "so despite that data, we have decided to expand the program to make things more consistent across the regions and to give people more opportunity".

I have sat back watching this unfold, thinking that maybe some of the Huntalkers are a little too wound up, and maybe this wasn't all bad.... But, they clearly have no problem telling you that the management tools are not working, however, they are just going to expand them in the name of "opportunity". I must agree now, my eyes are wide open and I am very concerned about the future of montana hunting.

There is a certain amount of hyperbole that accompanies the very real alarm caused by FWP management policies.

The reality that hyperbole exists doesn’t excuse bad policy. If anything, it should serve as a reminder that if you change the things people are complaining about, most complaints will cease.

This current administration has gotten used to blaming the other side and pretending our complaints are a mandate to “do something different”( direct quote) even though what they are doing is doubling down on doing more of what we are complaining about.

That’s why you see so many hunters who are actively engaged on policy issues so angry.

 

[MTelkHuntress]

I just noticed on the MontanaFWP YouTube channel that they are uploading the recordings of the open houses. So if you missed one and would either like to watch the whole thing or skim it, here's the link:

https://youtube.com/user/MontanaFWP

 

[timmy]

Public comments are submitted. I wonder if they will listen just like they have with all my other comments.

 

[TheTone]

Really weird that different meetings are seeming to have different info or potential changes. Is the message just evolving as they carry it around the state?