Non Resident tag sales Montana 94-2010

[belly-deep]

Nowhere to hunt birds in Montana on public ground...fuggin' funny.

A friend and I on a two day road trip the last year I lived in Montana...the second year my friend had ever hunted in his life. One of the funniest things I ever heard, he looked into the back of the truck, shook his head and commented, "Two years ago, I didnt even own a gun!"

We had a decent trip...if you're into slaying critters non-stop.

Quite a bit has changed in the Montana bird world in the last 10 years, particularly the last 5. I think the internet has had a lot to do with it. I'm a member of a few pointing dog bbs and can tell you that more and more hunters are hitting eastern Montana for birds. Sharptails are now "en vogue" in the pointing dog world, as are huns. That wasn't so true a decade or two ago. And the BMA system has increased the pressure too because people don't have to worry about driving a few hundred miles and not being able to get access to property.

 

[BuzzH]

I've a feeling if I still lived in Montana...I'd have no problems finding birds to shoot. The year I took the above picture, the whining was non-stop about "not many pheasants around".

I'm sure things have changed some, but I hunt MT every year and see plenty of birds. If I were a mean bastard I could have limited on sharpies every single day with NO problems while deer hunting last year. Maybe this year I'll shoot a few limits, just for old times sake. I'll even give them a chance and shoot my 28...

 

[thetruth]

Big Fin, you know that it's not just about limiting non-residents (see my posts in the thread on HB 361), but it is an important reason. Nothing against non-residents - just that they should be limited to 10% of our trophy elk archery opportunities, same as for moose, sheep, goats, mule deer buck permits, elk rifle permits. That is what Montanans have determined is a fair and equitable sharing of THEIR wildlife with non-residents. Simple as that. You apparently just disagree with it.

 

[Lawnboy]

Lawnboy, actually it's because of guys like you that Utah is the way it is - landowners control the tags, sell them to rich guys, and the average Utah hunter is left out. From your posts, it sounds like you think landowners should own the wildlife.

Sorry lost my connection in my castle because I make soo much money Now that's funny. Landowners in Utah control tags that are valid on their land. Utah has chosen to make areas LE for trophy purposes and they instituted choose your weapon. That is what is killing the average Utah hunter. I pray montana never allows landowners to sell tags. That will be the beginning of the end in Montana. Your so hellbent on limiting archery NR that you are limiting my opportunity to hunt the units that I used to be able to freely hunt. Yours has nothing to do with biology that is evident in your consistent posts about NR.
You have no clue who I am or how I hunt. Pretty funny that you can judge me without knowing me. The fact that I could care less what animals are being killed on Turners ranch or any other makes me a lover of rich people huh? No it makes me someone who will go where ever is needed to have a good time and be successful and not let it get my undies in a bunch. Thanks for limiting me in the eastern part of the state.

Why don't you ever have a rebuttal for Fin's questions for you? I know that I'm less eloquent than him and that's fine but anytime you wanna go hunting give me a call. Maybe you'll learn a little more about me.

It really is a waste to argue over this point as it's already been voted in. I pray the commission rethinks the blanket management. Hopefully wherever your hunting next year has a few less NR and maybe you'll need to move to a different area away from the private. It does get frustrating seeing animals that you can't pursue. Greenhorn seems to have figured it out.(I Need to follow that guy sometime)
Have a nice day and I look forward to seeing your responses to Fins questions.

Bart

 

[belly-deep]

I've a feeling if I still lived in Montana...I'd have no problems finding birds to shoot. The year I took the above picture, the whining was non-stop about "not many pheasants around".

I'm sure things have changed some, but I hunt MT every year and see plenty of birds. If I were a mean bastard I could have limited on sharpies every single day with NO problems while deer hunting last year. Maybe this year I'll shoot a few limits, just for old times sake. I'll even give them a chance and shoot my 28...

I have no problems finding birds to shoot, or elk, or whatever for that matter. But the general trend is that it is getting much harder for the average person to go out and do it. Heck, 10 years ago, you didn't even need a LO's permission to hunt birds if the property wasn't posted. Now just about every piece of decent pheasant property from Shelby down to Conrad and Great Falls is either leased or is "saved for family and friends." That goes double for Lewistown and the Yellowstone corridor. About the only place you can still reliably knock on doors is the highline east of Havre or far eastern Montana, as a general rule.

 

[1_pointer]

No, actually professor, I hunt a fair amount of unleased private land. Not sure where you're going , but maybe you aren't either.......if you hunt birds, though, there's some hope . I'm pullin for ya............

Oh, and if you hunt without a dawg and get birds, you have no idea how much fun you are missing without a POINTER.

What do I have to do with this discussion? But, I will say, I am mucho fun to hunt with!!!

 

[thetruth]

Lawnboy, I'm not going to re-state the all the reasons for the limited elk archery permits - I've already done that in the Hb 361 thread - you can refer to that as it pretty much sums it up. Also,see my response to Big Fin in this thread. To endlessly argue with you guys about this is pointless. I do hope that some of the other resident Montana hunters who read this forum might better understand why these limited permits were put in place.

 

[Drake4]

Oh, and if you hunt without a dawg and get birds, you have no idea how much fun you are missing without a POINTER.

There is great public land bird hunting in Montana.
But Onpoint you should get a lab....they don't pee in cheerios.

 

[Lawnboy]

Lawnboy, I'm not going to re-state the all the reasons for the limited elk archery permits - I've already done that in the Hb 361 thread - you can refer to that as it pretty much sums it up. Also,see my response to Big Fin in this thread. To endlessly argue with you guys about this is pointless. I do hope that some of the other resident Montana hunters who read this forum might better understand why these limited permits were put in place.

Yeah it didn't seem like anything got explained real well over on the 361 thread and it isn't improving here. I'm more of a lover than a fighter:W: and it's obvious that we don't agree on this. I'll continue to put in for Montana's "choose your unit" scenario out east. I hope you have a good season in your honey hole as well. Should be less NR and Res in each unit and that will make the "Breaks purists" happy. Good Luck


Nice picture Drake!

 

[onpoint]

This NR/R conversation is quite interesting. If I were king for a day, I'd jack up resident fees - to facilitate more resident ownership ($$ talks, BS walks) of MT resources - and still give non residents a FAIR amount of opportunity at a lower rate. I'm sure the math ain't that difficult. But, after my "king for a day" stint, tomorrow's king for a day would change it to his way. And so it goes, and so it goes.....

Beautiful choc lab drake....I was a lab guy for a long time, hell my brown girl is half chocolate lab half griffon...got her for free. So much for my purist status. 25 years ago, relatively very few actually hunted specifically for blues around BozeAngeles. As Yogi said {para} "now it's gotten so crowded, hardly anyone goes there anymore".

 

[shoots-straight]

I would do away with the cap on elk numbers, and then we could let more NR in. A finite resource deserves finite consumption. Right?