Proposed hunting reg changes reflect declining mule deer populations
In 1992, 1,321 mule deer were shot by hunters in Hunting District 502 — a record high. In 2021, the total mule deer harvest in HD 502 was 477.
Montana Mule Deer Mismanagement
- Thread starter rogerthat
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8andcounting
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All I can say is the meeting on the 14th is setting up to be an absolute shit show
WanderWoman
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When is it not?
antlerradar
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Sonja Andersen makes a good point when she talks about the harvest of mule deer by people looking for elk. I see this also happening on the Custer. Not only are the hunters looking for elk shooting deer when they see them, but they are also pushing deer hunters into other parts of the forest.Proposed hunting reg changes reflect declining mule deer populations
In 1992, 1,321 mule deer were shot by hunters in Hunting District 502 — a record high. In 2021, the total mule deer harvest in HD 502 was 477.billingsgazette.com
Bambistew
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Deer have been the consolation prize for elk hunters in SW Montana for decades.
Irrelevant
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Not to mention just pushing them around. Every time you're out recreating and a deer runs from you, they're using calories that could have been used to stay warm, or nurture a in-utero fawn. That's what we run into out here, just too many people on the landscape for too much of the year, never giving wildlife a break.
ShootsManyBullets
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Big issue in Colorado, Oregon and WA. Probably around the Bozone too.
Straight Arrow
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For sure, especially when you consider the elk hunting continuing from mid August straight through until mid February! The ill-conceived shoulder season designed to slaughter cow elk for six months of the year.
antlerradar
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The reason she has such a good point is that in the not to distant future someone is going to suggest that the way to save mule deer in Eastern Montana is to make the eastern units general elk.
Sounds like a real good reason to have an October deer season and a November elk season.
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Southern Elk
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We need to do away with the NR Big Game Combo.
8andcounting
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I’d support this . We also need to do away with every resident being able to buy a deer and elk tag that is good dak near statewide . Regional caps and pick your area/weapon
Bambistew
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IMO its not a NR vs. Resident thing. Its a lack of game thing, and we're all fighting to kill the last animal.
I think splitting that would backfire, and they already allow you to separate your tag if you don't want both. What you'd end up with 2x as many NR hunters each focusing on filling their one tag. A guy primarily hunting elk and filling a deer tag on the right opportunity is a whole lot different than a guy hunting deer with the intent to fill it.
They need to go LE or bring back the chose your unit for mule deer like they did in the mid/late 90s for region 3 after the deer population cratered. It was UL, but you had to pick a unit when you bought your deer tag, and that was the unit you got to hunt for the entire season. They only did it for 3 years IIRC.
The deer hunting quality improved substantially throughout your area. Those opportunity bucks standing along the road got passed up by a lot of people who where elk hunting and didn't have a deer tag. Something that simple made a difference.
antlerradar
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I agree with you, but worry that with out pick your region or other safe guards the non resident buck harvest in region 7 will jump form 57% to 80%.
huntin24/7
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Another thing I’d like to see with non resident tags, and I’d be fine for resident tags too, is species specific tags. Probably at least 90% of the non resident hunters are coming to kill a muley buck. Most all of those hunters are in regions 6 and 7. And the vast majority are doing that on public lands in these regions and have every right too. When you have an either species tag that’s being used almost solely on one species, and mostly taking place on about 1/3 of the state, something needs to change.
Irrelevant
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Why?
Southern Elk
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Because I know tons of people who come here and can’t kill an elk, so they take a deer, sometimes mule deer does, so that they can “take home some meat”. Those guys wouldn’t have deer tags on an elk hunt in any other state.
The Hedgehog
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They should be managed independently as they are different species. "Combo" license is about as dumb as an idea that FWP ever came up with.
And that's pretty DUMB.
SAJ-99
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I made the same comment in an email to her they added all those cow tags in 410. Keeping the until general deer and increasing hunter pressure with cow elk tags was a bad idea.
Irrelevant
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So you just don't support people getting both a deer and an elk tag in a state in a given year? Or do you not like the discounted price for buying both in a combo? Could NRs apply for both an elk and a deer license?
Are you just doing away with those opportunities for NRs or reallocating them into the separate Elk and Deer licenses.
SAJ-99
Well-known member
I agree the two should be separated. It is a step toward choose your animal, choose your weapon, choose your unit. This is happening in MT eventually, it is just how much damage FWP can do before telling R hunters to pound sand. As long as FWP does it to NR, they can get away with it. The separation would probably be revenue positive.
