I hope some of the local hunters show up to game and fish's open house to express their concerns. Maybe they will make some of the areas LE/controlled/draw hunts. I am a big believer in fewer tags, but I dont pass up opportunities to put meat in the freezer either. I use to hunt SW Montana when I lived there, usually ran into a good muley or whitetail each year fairly commonly, but that was in the early 2000's. I havent put in for a Montana hunt since 2006, but I hope they get on a better track for some of the units after readining a lot of the residents concerns.
Some of us did, we will see what happens, but I am not holding my breath in anticipation.
Same.
And this is why we are where we are.
Data is showing in region 7 we have 30-40 bucks per 100 does. That doesn’t change it isn’t accurate but it does not change never has in my life. People are pissed people and they have showed up and demanded change. Asking the public to self regulate is not going to work and honestly shouldn’t be expected. I have a lot of respect for what you guys were able to do hopefully it stays that way.
I disagree. The boys up in R/1 got a unit changed to LE just a few years ago.
I thought that was 1/2 a unit changed. Just guessing but I suspect they showed where it would produce more revenue. Please correct me if I am wrong.
We can’t get the local staff in R7 to even acknowledge there is any sort of a problem. How could we expect change? They have decided educating us is the solution
. See the montana mule deer mismanagement thread.
LE units are managed for trophy opportunity, general units are managed for more hunting opportunities/conservation income. Thats the way it works. You can choose to hunt LE only if you'd like. Maybe Montana should go to an all points system where you need to wait 15 years to draw a good tag. That should make you happy... hunting 5 times in your life. Im sure all of you guys only shoot 350" bulls and 180" muleys or dont pull the trigger. The hate hunters get for harvesting a perfectly legal animal in a legal unit, not designed for trophy potential... blows my mind.
Designed? It’s a statewide general tag valid for all but a few units in the state that encompasses the entire rut. I don’t think anyone is worried about 180”
. I hunted 2 or 3 weeks last year and saw exactly 1 over 150”.
I think you are misguided along with many on here. @tzone I love to hunt mule deer limited entry has not been brought up much but it would be effective. There is a lot that could be done before limited entry comes in to play but we aren’t far from it if we continue. If you adjusted seasons at all you can provide a lot of opportunity. Accessible land would have to recover first. FWP would have to be straight with the public. It could be easily done with the right people in charge.
Im just adding my perspective. Im no longer a resident of Montana and no longer hunt there. Good luck on everyones season, in all states.Designed? It’s a statewide general tag valid for all but a few units in the state that encompasses the entire rut. I don’t think anyone is worried about 180”
While I’ve only been hunting that part of the state for just shy of a decade I’ll bet you the price of your deer tag you can’t turn up 160” buck let alone kill it. Things has made a significant change in the last 3-4 years
I agree with you. I was being facetious about the points system. Utah is a mess. I am also against any doe tag unless trying to cull a deer population. Hunting weapon specific, like archery only or rifle only, and adjusting the seasons not to include the rut, would make a huge difference. But, people would complain about that too.
