Montana Mule Deer Mismanagement

[El Jason]

I do not believe that we can fix what is wrong with Mule deer hunting in MT by taking something away from someone else.
I do not mean to imply that a higher nonresident harvest than the resident harvest is in any way ok, but you could fix it by convincing residents to just pull the damn trigger. I am not too sure that would fix anything, but it would change the harvest ratio.
Could it be that residents won't pull the trigger because our season never ends until it is time to get those presents under the tree?

I agree 100% with your assessment. I think the NR harvest numbers are also skewed by outfitter clients as well.

 

[Wyoming270]

As usual - you have ZERO clue.

Glad to hear the guy who has taken hundreds of pictures of mule deer, has many mule deer skulls on the wall, and has collected dozens upon dozens of sheds has no clue that they actually have an excellent population right now. thats the definition of one who does VS one who types about. I would recomend you get out and WALK more.

 

[Wyoming270]

I don't disagree. That is what I was getting at with

"Reducing hunter numbers would surely have some other desirable effects, however."

The non resident thing can be ultra damaging. Ive seen many who are desperate to make a shot because its their last couple days before they leave. or they simply dont understand the animal and disturb all of the bedding areas. Ive noticed a lot of people still have not adjusted to the areas where mature ponderosa pine were beetle killed, chipped, and are now 10 ft tall thickets of young aspens. Mule deer habitat has changed a lot in the last 20 years. Aside from droughts, pine beetles, and wild fires, we also have a lot of instances of what was once undisturbed now having a $3M house perched in the middle of it.

 

[Wyoming270]

Quitcher whining. We get to hunt mule deer for 5 weeks with a rifle on an OTC tag. MT mule deer hunting is as good as it ever was and ever could be and I’m going to shoot a 20” forked horn in Region 7 this year to prove it.

Your priveleaged getting 5 weeks. We get 2 most places with a general tag. The draw tags are slightly better but good luck ever seeing one of those. I do see dozens of mule deer everytime im out elk hunting though.

 

[cgasner1]

Glad to hear the guy who has taken hundreds of pictures of mule deer, has many mule deer skulls on the wall, and has collected dozens upon dozens of sheds has no clue that they actually have an excellent population right now. thats the definition of one who does VS one who types about. I would recomend you get out and WALK more.

Be glad you don’t have a 5 week rifle season you wouldn’t have sheds to pick up. You also get more than a 2 weeks season you can always go hunt whitetails for some reason Wyoming lets you hunt those in November.

 

[Wyoming270]

Be glad you don’t have a 5 week rifle season you wouldn’t have sheds to pick up. You also get more than a 2 weeks season you can always go hunt whitetails for some reason Wyoming lets you hunt those in November.

Again those are draw tags.

 

[Point Creep]

 

[cgasner1]

Again those are draw tags.

You have general units that are open thru Nov may wanna go back and re read those regs. I’d trade you season structures in a heart beat

 

[Forkyfinder]

You have general units that are open thru Nov may wanna go back and re read those regs. I’d trade you season structures in a heart beat

Seems like moving will be easier and more likely.

 

[Forkyfinder]

Your priveleaged getting 5 weeks. We get 2 most places with a general tag. The draw tags are slightly better but good luck ever seeing one of those. I do see dozens of mule deer everytime im out elk hunting though.

You are privelaged getting less than 25% of the NR deer hunters that this state gets.

Anyone thinking you can sell over 20k NR tags and maintain "quality" regardless of season length/structure is pulling your leg..... Or their an outfitter, someone whos paid to represent them, or they have simply been duped.

 

[Forkyfinder]

That was money well spent for the dept of tourism folks, but from your graph the problem was already well established. Last year in R7, the non resident to resident license plate ratio was 10:1 NR to resident - there is a HUGE problem that needs to be looked at.

Heres the "problem" with that problem.

"Hunter days" is currently a worthless metric. The "day" is the same - whether it was grandpa that stops on some state land on thanksgiving morning for an hour - or some guy from the midwest who paid a pile for his tag and hunts most of everyday hes here.

Outfitters, legislators, and lobbyists will roll out that line of bullshit forever. On the decent trailheads/units - ive seen around 1/3rd to half NR, and in R7 my experience mirrors yours - its about all NR.

 

[Alpine01]

You are privelaged getting less than 25% of the NR deer hunters that this state gets.

Anyone thinking you can sell over 20k NR tags and maintain "quality" regardless of season length/structure is pulling your leg..... Or their an outfitter, someone whos paid to represent them, or they have simply been duped.

Well, Colorado sells over 17K NR tags and has a pretty decent level of quality. True, not over the 20K number you state but doesn't miss it by much. But CO also limits overall tag numbers which apparently Montana does not and deer seasons are pretty short, particularly for 4th rifle. Again, unlike Montana. NR's get about 20% of the total draw overall (per 2026 draw results) and harvest at about the same percentage. The more important note is that harvest rates are roughly 10% of the total population. How does Montana compare relative to that number?

 

[Forkyfinder]

NR are all but shut out of LE districts.

Actually - they get what most other places call "fair" - 90/10

 

[Forkyfinder]

Well, Colorado sells over 17K NR tags and has a pretty decent level of quality. True, not over the 20K number you state but doesn't miss it by much. But CO also limits overall tag numbers which apparently Montana does not and deer seasons are pretty short, particularly for 4th rifle. Again, unlike Montana. NR's get about 20% of the total draw overall (per 2026 draw results) and harvest at about the same percentage. The more important note is that harvest rates are roughly 10% of the total population. How does Montana compare relative to that number?

Yea - youre off on harvest stats here. Montana has about 35% of the state wide deer mule deer total harvested by NR.

You also have WAY more R tag sales. That explains a lot of the difference in "structure" alone.

Didnt your state recently make efforts to priotitize its residents?