Montana Game Management History

[Stifler]

I was hoping to start a discussion about the history of FWP in Montana. I will update when I have some more time on my end this is what I have found up into the 80's I haven't made it threw the 90s and early 00s . Feel free to screenshot any items you find interesting and drop them in the comments. The general season structure thread made me want to dive into this a bit more, it was apparent to me my knowledge of the past is what stories have been told to me from family growing up in eastern Montana. I never looked into how many license were sold, games estimates etc. this is a pretty general synopsis of the past, but it is a start. Hopefully you all help fill in some gaps, I think this puts a overview of our history together, if you guys have anything to add I really encourage it. Hope you guys find this stuff as interesting as I did. Admittedly I did focus more on deer and elk then anything for this, there are plenty of other documents to gather for other game species.

Edit- the link is the easiest way to show what I have accumulated. The pdfs I couldn't get to work. https://archive.org/details/fav-tanner_stewart715

 

[Flatbrimmer]

I was hoping to start a discussion about the history of FWP in Montana. I will update when I have some more time on my end this is what I have found up into the 80's I haven't made it threw the 90s and early 00s . Feel free to screenshot any items you find interesting and drop them in the comments. The general season structure thread made me want to dive into this a bit more, it was apparent to me my knowledge of the past is what stories have been told to me from family growing up in eastern Montana. I never looked into how many license were sold, games estimates etc. this is a pretty general synopsis of the past, but it is a start. Hopefully you all help fill in some gaps, I think this puts an overview of our history together, if you guys have anything to add I really encourage it. Hope you guys find this stuff as interesting as I did. Admittedly I did focus more on deer and elk then anything for this, there are plenty of other documents to gather for other game species.

I think you may have forgot the link or summary of your findings….

 

[Straight Arrow]

It may present a much wider scope of the history of wildlife management in Montana, but if you have not read BACK FROM THE BRINK or watched the documentary, then you should start with that wonderful history of Montana, with focus on FWP's longstanding work.

 

[Stifler]

Yeah I'm gonna have to rethink this. The pdfs wont upload. Or have to do it in smaller batches.

 

[Stifler]

The site is telling me to enter a valid message after I wait for the pdfs to upload. Will try to reevaluate, might be posting a lot of links later tonight.

 

[Stifler]

Not going to be as organized as the pdfs. But this should work.


https://archive.org/details/fav-tanner_stewart715

 

[DFS]

Looks like somewhere between 1955 and 1965 season dates got extended through thanksgiving.

 

[Stifler]

Looks like somewhere between 1955 and 1965 season dates got extended through thanksgiving.

That's where I was too sometime in the late 50s or early 60s.

 

[Stifler]

 

[SAJ-99]

Here is some history from the 2002 elk plan.

https://myfwp.mt.gov/getRepositoryFile?objectID=31444

 

[406LIFE]

If your diving into this, you'll want to add a few works to your reading list:

1. A List of Literature Pertaining to Wildlife Research and Management in Montana​

2. Saga of the Sun: A history of the Sun River elk herd​

3. A Quiet Place of Violence: Hunting and Ethics in the Missouri River Breaks​

4. Path of the Puma: The Remarkable Resilience of the Mountain Lion​

5. Mule Deer in the Missouri River Breaks, Montana: A Study of Population Dynamics in A Fluctuating Environment​

6. A Wild Land Ethic: The History of Wilderness in Montana​

7. My Best Shot: Living the Montana Conservation Ethic​

8. Montana Before History: 11,000 Years of Hunter-Gatherers in the Rockies and the Plains​

9. Dying to Hunt in Montana:
   Two Hundred Years of Hunting Related Fatalities in Montana​

 

[Stifler]

It may present a much wider scope of the history of wildlife management in Montana, but if you have not read BACK FROM THE BRINK or watched the documentary, then you should start with that wonderful history of Montana, with focus on FWP's longstanding work.

If your diving into this, you'll want to add a few works to your reading list:

1. A List of Literature Pertaining to Wildlife Research and Management in Montana​

2. Saga of the Sun: A history of the Sun River elk herd​

3. A Quiet Place of Violence: Hunting and Ethics in the Missouri River Breaks​

4. Path of the Puma: The Remarkable Resilience of the Mountain Lion​

5. Mule Deer in the Missouri River Breaks, Montana: A Study of Population Dynamics in A Fluctuating Environment​

6. A Wild Land Ethic: The History of Wilderness in Montana​

7. My Best Shot: Living the Montana Conservation Ethic​

8. Montana Before History: 11,000 Years of Hunter-Gatherers in the Rockies and the Plains​

9. Dying to Hunt in Montana:
   Two Hundred Years of Hunting Related Fatalities in Montana​

Appreciate it I will grab these over time.

 

[Stifler]

I found it interesting that game management calls back then seemed more on behalf of the game, atleast the best they could back then, didn't really care if people got pissed along the way. Imagine the pissed off people from 1900 to 1939 first comes licenses then go from 3 deer to 1 buck law around 1920 then in the 30s you had mandatory reporting. I don't know, just seems silly to me they cant implement it now, but we had it in the 30s.

 

[Forkyfinder]

I found it interesting that game management calls back then seemed more on behalf of the game, atleast the best they could back then, didn't really care if people got pissed along the way. Imagine the pissed off people from 1900 to 1939 first comes licenses then go from 3 deer to 1 buck law around 1920 then in the 30s you had mandatory reporting. I don't know, just seems silly to me they cant implement it now, but we had it in the 30s. View attachment 326822

This is worth pointing out in more places...

Even if fwp didnt want to directly use the data - just make repeat purchasers fill out data before buying tags again. A literally free data point.

 

[Stifler]

This is worth pointing out in more places...

Even if fwp didnt want to directly use the data - just make repeat purchasers fill out data before buying tags again. A literally free data point.

Well I had it organized better from 1900-87 it just wouldn't upload the files. Maybe my internet. But it's all in these if anyone wants to dive in.. there's alot of points worth pointing out its just gonna take me time to get threw it all in a screenshot style way.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I found it interesting that game management calls back then seemed more on behalf of the game, atleast the best they could back then, didn't really care if people got pissed along the way. Imagine the pissed off people from 1900 to 1939 first comes licenses then go from 3 deer to 1 buck law around 1920 then in the 30s you had mandatory reporting. I don't know, just seems silly to me they cant implement it now, but we had it in the 30s. View attachment 326822

Maybe some of these radical type folks asking FWP to prioritize resource health above “opportunity” are old school after all?

 

[Stifler]

Maybe some of these radical type folks asking FWP to prioritize resource health above “opportunity” are old school after all?

Maybe so.. Regardless I think some of these laws were pretty interesting back in the early 1900s. If anything we should be pretty bent out of shape we dont have caribou listed in the regs anymore, and we cant go to spring creek and catch lunkers like this.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Maybe so.. Regardless I think some of these laws were pretty interesting back in the early 1900s. If anything we should be pretty bent out of shape we dont have caribou listed in the regs anymore, and we cant go to spring creek and catch lunkers like this.View attachment 326851

Life was great before the Californians and wolves.

 

[Stifler]

Life was great before the Californians and wolves.

Ahh yes the predator killing era, one thing I didn't know was we had a bounty for eagles.

 

[Stifler]