MT ELK, Changing it up?

[CForest]

Outfitters will have more opportunity for tags. They won’t be restricted to 10% of LE permits for non residents.

and then we will find out how well these outfitters want to "manage." I bet the ones on leased ground will take every single hunter they can, completely ruining any sense of trophy quality they had. The ones that outfit on their own private land will have to try to keep it in check tho, if they want it to be a long-term sustainable business.

 

[Rod Atlas]

FWP proposes new, limited elk season structure to commission​

HELENA – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is looking at a handful of new strategies to better manage elk populations and improve quality hunting opportunities on public lands. FWP will propose these strategies to the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission at its Dec. 14 meeting.
In recent years, Montana has seen a dramatic increase in elk populations in many hunting districts around the state. Currently, 14 hunting districts are at least 200 percent above population objectives. Data also show an overcrowding of elk populations on private land, limiting opportunities for public land hunters.
“What we know is the status quo isn’t working,” said FWP Director Hank Worsech. “So, we’re going to propose a few new strategies we think can finally help us make progress in addressing the problem, both for hunters and for landowners.”
Required by law to achieve population objectives set by the Fish and Wildlife Commission, FWP proposes targeted provisions to fulfill the statutory requirement of managing to population objective, address the increasing impacts of high elk populations on Montana farmers and ranchers, and improve quality opportunities for hunters. Those numerical objectives are identified in the current elk management plan.
The targeted provisions for 14 hunting districts with limited permits and over population objectives are:

• In all 14 hunting districts, FWP proposes to remove some or all of the limited either-sex permits.
• In eight of those hunting districts, where problems with distribution, population and access tend to be most acute, FWP is proposing to retain the limited either-sex permits but make them valid only on public land. In most of these districts, the permit quotas are proposed to be half of the 2021 quotas. The hunting districts proposed for this structure are: 411, 417, 426, 535 (newly proposed for 2022), 590, 702, 704 and 705.

The proposal would also make a general elk license valid for either-sex elk only on private land in these eight districts. This would include the general archery and firearm seasons as well as the muzzleloader season. Early and late antlerless seasons would remain the same, and only be for antlerless elk in the districts in which they occur.
All of FWP’s proposed hunting regulations are undergoing review as part of the agency’s regular, biennial season-setting process, and are subject to commission approval. If the commission approves the proposals, there will be a 30-day public comment opportunity.
“We can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. We have to try something different. This proposal is a new strategy we can implement for two years and see if it has the desired effect – more elk harvest, better elk availability on public lands, fewer landowner conflicts, and elk at population objective,” Worsech said. “In some hunting districts, we have broad public tolerance or outright support for limited permits, and we want to keep those in place.”
By having different season types in multiple areas with similar circumstances – over population elk herds and limited either-sex permits – FWP will be able to analyze which strategy is most effective at decreasing elk numbers and moving more on to public land.
In addition to this specific season proposal, a new elk plan is being developed with the help of guiding principles identified by an external working group and endorsed by the commission. The process for this new plan will include extensive public commenting opportunities.
The Private Land/Public Wildlife council will also review all FWP access programs and revisit elk hunting access agreements, which provide access to private land in exchange for elk licenses and permits for the landowner.
Worsech is also looking to pull together an additional citizen group to explore more ways to address issues around hunter access to private land and landowner preferences. The goal for the group will be to provide tangible recommendations FWP and the commission can implement.
Also, with the availability of more federal Pittman-Robertson funds, FWP is exploring a three-fold increase of funding for its access programs.
“It’s time for people to bring their best ideas forward, and I want to hear from them,” Worsech said. “Don’t just tell us what you don’t like. I want to hear your ideas to improve the situation. I hope we can all see and realize a better day for landowners, hunters and the elk resource itself.”

If the FWP wants to get rid of more elk, than they need to make it easier for the hunter to accomplish this. I harvested my first bull elk on public land on October 24th, the 2nd day of the firearm season, don't get me wrong, I was totally stoked to fill my tag on the second day of the season and being the second day hunting for elk in my life, I think someone should be able to get a second tag, if they want one, I feel a hunter that has harvested one has a better chance of harvesting another...

 

[The Hedgehog]

If the FWP wants to get rid of more elk, than they need to make it easier for the hunter to accomplish this. I harvested my first bull elk on public land on October 24th, the 2nd day of the firearm season, don't get me wrong, I was totally stoked to fill my tag on the second day of the season and being the second day hunting for elk in my life, I think someone should be able to get a second tag, if they want one, I feel a hunter that has harvested one has a better chance of harvesting another...

Haha

 

[The Hedgehog]

Elk tags to everyone, no permits anywhere. Kill them all - especially the bulls..

 

[EYJONAS!]

I guess. It looks like there is no LE on private land, tho, right? Shoot a bull on private with your general tag. Am I reading this wrong? If so, I am for the sorries. If not, I stand by what I said, this proposal isnt good for outfitters, either, only landowners.

I'm gonna make an educated guess that this proposal isnt gonna benefit the blue collar general tag holders either. I don't think many landowners are gonna open people with open arms without a checkbook.

 

[MTLabrador]

If the FWP wants to get rid of more elk, than they need to make it easier for the hunter to accomplish this. I harvested my first bull elk on public land on October 24th, the 2nd day of the firearm season, don't get me wrong, I was totally stoked to fill my tag on the second day of the season and being the second day hunting for elk in my life, I think someone should be able to get a second tag, if they want one, I feel a hunter that has harvested one has a better chance of harvesting another...

I really hope this is sarcasm, but all bets are off at this point and I don’t know what’s a joke anymore.

 

[huntin24/7]

#wemanageforopportunity

 

[BirdManMike]

I'm gonna make an educated guess that this proposal isnt gonna benefit the blue collar general tag holders either. I don't think many landowners are gonna open people with open arms without a checkbook.

Oh definitely not.

 

[brockel]

When I heard UPOM’s Chuck talking about killing bulls to manage population during the last session I thought to myself “the guy is the dumbest SOB in Helena.”

Turns out the joke is on me.

Even my 7 year old can tell you if you have 5 stud horses and 20 brood mares and you want less colts next year you don’t get rid of a stud horse to accomplish that goal

 

[brockel]

I'm gonna make an educated guess that this proposal isnt gonna benefit the blue collar general tag holders either. I don't think many landowners are gonna open people with open arms without a checkbook.

And people thought access was tough now.

“We need to open up lines of communication with landowners”. I think that means we really just need to open our wallets

 

[rogerthat]

If the FWP wants to get rid of more elk, than they need to make it easier for the hunter to accomplish this. I harvested my first bull elk on public land on October 24th, the 2nd day of the firearm season, don't get me wrong, I was totally stoked to fill my tag on the second day of the season and being the second day hunting for elk in my life, I think someone should be able to get a second tag, if they want one, I feel a hunter that has harvested one has a better chance of harvesting another...

This has nothing to do with getting rid of elk Rod.

 

[easternmt]

Elk tags to everyone, no permits anywhere. Kill them all - especially the bulls..

I’m telling ya just go all subsistence hunting have a free for all it will work out then we’ll have to end up managing ourselves when it gets bad enough

 

[rogerthat]

District 700 fwp bio didn’t even know what is being proposed for the unit. This proposal is coming straight out of Helena. You think they would clue in their staff

 

[brockel]

District 700 fwp bio didn’t even know what is being proposed for the unit. This proposal is coming straight out of Helena. You think they would clue in their staff

They aren’t using biology to come up with this so why inform those people?

 

[Gerald Martin]

Even my 7 year old can tell you if you have 5 stud horses and 20 brood mares and you want less colts next year you don’t get rid of a stud horse to accomplish that goal

Your 7 year old is light years ahead of the person making this proposal when it comes to sound wildlife management.

 

[TheTone]

Time to just propose a management experiment period of closing public lands for a couple years, year round seasons with no limits on private and aerial gunning on ranches not within objective after two years. Also ban outfitting and hunting leases during the experiment. Just get it over with and show where the issue really is

 

[rogerthat]

Time to just propose a management experiment period of closing public lands for a couple years, year round seasons with no limits on private and aerial gunning on ranches not within objective after two years. Also ban outfitting and hunting leases during the experiment. Just get it over with and show where the issue really is

How about this experiment: get rid of all the bios, we don’t listen to them, and than while we are at it let’s get rid of the rest of the staff including the director and commissioners. We will just pay Wyoming g&f to manage our seasons.

 

[rogerthat]

How about this experiment: get rid of all the bios, we don’t listen to them, and than while we are at it let’s get rid of the rest of the staff including the director and commissioners. We will just pay Wyoming g&f to manage our seasons.

Oh and I forgot this part, someone from the media should choke slam Jersey Greg back into the East where his otc ass came from

 

[Sioux33]

Funny how they use the EMP as their reasoning for this. The same EMP that they've never followed from the get-go.

Hank completely ignores page 55 that tells us to disregard inaccessible elk in the objective counts and then goes ahead in his press release and claims it to be the reason he's privatizing our wildlife.

Along with that, this removes any incentive to actually get the numbers down to objective. You really think these landowners are gonna all of a sudden gun down all the elk so they can go back to drawing tags to hunt. Can't hardly make this stuff up.

 

[antlerradar]

What a disaster in the making. I wounder how long it will be until some one starts to whine about not being able to go after elk that move on to a small bit of pubic.