mdunc8
Well-known member
I'm not naive enough to think that creating a few limited units will solve the problem. However, I don't see Montanans shortening, or even altering, their seasons anytime soon, so creating a limited area or two seems like a decent option for providing additional opportunities than already exist. I don't buy the displacement argument. Based on some quick and dirty Google Earth work, Region 7 is approximately 30,000 square miles, give or take a couple thousand. Unit 652 is roughly 273. Creating one or two similar units in SE Montana would displace less than 2% of hunters assuming hunting pressure was evenly distributed (I realize it's not). Assuming those hunters don't quit hunting because "their" spot was no longer accessible every year, and evenly redistribute themselves (I realize they won't), I'd have to deal with seeing an additional hunter roughly every 20 years based on the numbers of deer hunters I've seen in the field the last three years. I think I could deal with that in exchange for the opportunity to possibly draw a limited tag that might provide me with an opportunity to hunt slightly larger, less pressured deer once or twice in my lifetime.