Today I went to put in for Moose, Sheep and Goat and was extremely disappointed to find that HD 131, in addition to HD's 132, 134, 141, 414 and 442, are now closed to goat hunting. Clearly I did not pay close enough attention to FWP's proposed changes.
I am aware of the history of goat hunting in the Bitterroot and Crazy Mountains and I am curious about FWP's management plan in these newly closed HD's and what prompted the closures. I personally have seen a decent number of goats in the Missions this year.
This change is a long time coming - "In all hunting districts in Regions 1, 2 and 4 it is illegal to take a female mountain goat accompanying a kid or a female mountain goat in a group that contains one or more kids." I propose a longer wait period for folks that kill a nanny.
Any further info or thoughts? BuzzH?
Thanks,
PaulRevere
Here is what I've found in my research...and from talking to some people who definitely know about the goats.
For starters there's this:
https://www.researchgate.net/public..._1960-2015_and_field_biologists'_perspectives
I've read through this and the report by Jessy Coltrane.
Of particular importance is the level of harvest, and how small that number can be, before the native goat populations begin to see significant decreases.
Its pretty obvious that even moderate amounts of harvest can really do long-term, and from what I've seen, permanent damage to native goat herds. To the point that herd recovery simply wont happen.
I have a good friend that goat hunted the Sapphires before that season was ultimately closed. He drew a few tags in a relatively short time and saw decreased numbers of goats throughout the span of the years he drew. The hunt no longer exists, and despite the season being closed for a long time, that herd just isn't recovering, and IMO, never will. Its hanging on by a thread. The research seems to indicate that once you shoot goats down to a certain point, herd recovery just doesn't happen because of high mortality of young, plus the fact that in some cases, nannies don't reproduce until they're 5 or 6 years old. Meaning, they just don't have a long time where they can produce off-spring.
Its the same exact story in the Bitterroots...I remember for a long, long time there was a quota of 75 goat tags, valid for any drainage in unit 240. I also remember when it dropped to 50 tags, and finally when they went with tags valid by drainage. Again, I think those goats have reached the point where recovery isn't going to happen and will likely be shut down to hunting.
When this proposal that you're talking about was brought to my attention, I immediately got in touch with Roy Jacobs, who knows most all the areas in question that goat hunting is being stopped. He has talked with Jessy quite a bit and feels that her population estimates are pretty well in line with what is actually on the ground. Are a few goats being missed in surveys? Sure, you're never going to get them all. But Roy felt like the season closures were justified. We talked about whether or not the herds would recover if given time...the conclusion we came to is that optimism is pretty low.
Also worth noting is some of the stuff that Chadwick says in his book are pretty much coming true that native goat populations in Montana are not seeing the best of times and may very well be on the way of the passenger pigeon. It may take a long time, but I'm afraid that with some of the native herds...its just flat to late. Its a shame really, and its tough to completely throw the MTFWP under the bus...they just didn't have a lot of data in the 60's, 70's. But I can tell you that by the time my Brother drew a goat tag in Kootenai Creek in unit 240 in 1987, that the FWP knew goats were on the decline, if not on the ropes then. IIRC, that was the first year they went to drainage specific tags and again, IIRC, there were either 3 or 4 tags issued for the drainage.
I don't know what else to say other than in hind-sight I wish the quotas wouldn't have been so aggressive for so long. I'd also be more inclined to cut the MTFWP some slack if this was the only thing they've been too heavy handed on in regard to harvest. Its just not, though...just another in the long list of major mistakes.
I want to be wrong about this very badly, and would like to see the native goats bounce back. But, I cant be optimistic when I see what's happened in these units, as well as the sapphires and unit 240. I have a feeling its going to be a long time, if ever, when those goats are hunted again.
