Montana 2026 Elk Proposal
- Thread starter Big Fin
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Forkyfinder
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Having an endless supply of NR OTC cow tags and residents continuing hunting after theyve already killed 2 elk seems.... more silly?
Happy thanksgiving.
I agree. That is more silly.
Lots of other options to address that though. I honestly don’t care either way, was just curious. Some people make killing elk way harder than it is.
Forkyfinder
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I'm all ears for a better idea.
I dont have one, especially one that the the commission would accept, much less proposed by one.
Im not too terribly interested in killing cows much anymore, unless im helping solve a real problem. Speaking of that - if youre looking for a good laugh, sign up for a damage roster hunt.
El Jason
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Running the majority of the state under the same framework for the last four decades seems really silly.
You would think at some point FWP could start to adopt a different approach to managing hunter distribution and targeted harvest.
At the bare minimum, it doesn’t seem like rocket science to allocate NR deer and elk licenses per region and/or hunt districts. That’s why I suggested separating the licenses at drawing to allow for distribution by region/HD.
I think the long term benefit would be quite evident.
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@Frequently Banned Troll It wasn’t that hard, came in from the South on 15 and started in 323, that lasted all of one evening, a rude awakening to hunting in Montana, I think every NR should have to hunt 3 or 4 general units around Dillon.
We just did morning and evening hunts moving around probing places trying to find an area that wasn’t heavily occupied or find fresh sign. The goal was to get away from people. I’d rather not list the places those things actually happened but we hunted close to YS, castles, and LB’s. We didn’t drive to Montana to camp, I think we had 65-70 miles hiked over 10 days and actually had boots on the ground in 7 units not counting the ones we drove through and looked at trailhead congestion. Once we found what we were looking for we spent 4 days there and had a great 4 days of hunting, the hope is to draw the tag again in a couple of years and use what we figured out.
Pucky Freak
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Is Helena FWD really the boogeyman? Someone on here has to know someone who works there and could explain the politics. If they really fear their own shadow, that is sad and disturbing, but I’d be curious if there was more to the story.
If you start at the end and move backwards, which group is wildly benefiting from the current tag allocations? Based on the comments here it seems the answer is no one.
If you start at the end and move backwards, which group is wildly benefiting from the current tag allocations? Based on the comments here it seems the answer is no one.
cgasner1
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Also another problem is everyone is always worried about how it’s gonna benefit someone else instead of figuring out how to fill their own tag
Rack Daniels
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I believe that filling my tag would be simpler if the people really benefiting from all the seasons; no matter the structure, benefitted just a little less.
Forkyfinder
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Seems to be the common agreement here - we all need to give some form of opportunity up to improve and preserve hunting.
I'd assume that was the basis of several proposals. Including this one.
This
cgasner1
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So what are you willing to give up? Because until people are willing to give something up nothing changes. I’d happily give up killing me second elk. Most years I do kill a bull and a cow. Like I have said my issue isn’t that I’m giving up that it’s that we are taking power from the bios. At this point it feels like instead of having one for all 7 regions we only really need to have one
Have done that I think 3 times in the last 5 years now. They’ve been fun. Always had a good one day hunt and never seen another hunter. If I get a damage hunt that’s usually the 3rd elk for the year.
Agree with all this and feel the same.
El Jason
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The biggest issue with game damage hunts is usually hunter incompetence.
Forkyfinder
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I wouldnt know - havent ever had my number called despite being single digits more than twice.
To clarify - theres a difference between "supplemental damage hunts" and the "hunt roster"
The hunt roster has THOUSANDS of hunters and between 7 and 50 people called. Which is why i said they are a joke.
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El Jason
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Sorry, I can’t help much. I’m low brain power.
MTLabrador
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Agreed 100% that people need to be willing to give something up as what we are currently doing is completely unsustainable. I do get your trepidation with taking the decisions away from the biologists, but if the department (I’m not necessarily blaming the individual biologists) refuses to make changes and keeps steering us into this downward spiral, then I applaud the commissioners for taking matters into their own hands.
cgasner1
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Should work on that
cgasner1
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It would probably also help if it wasn’t such a big deal to make a change. Go full send on this let’s try it. Things get out of hand in 2 years go back to what we got. Another part of the issue if we make a change it has to be scribed in stone.
