Montana Mule Deer Mismanagement

Has legitimately nothing to do with whats on the landscape - its laughable that people are dumb enough to draw conclustions from it.

I mean it shows there’s 20,000+ more non resident hunters on the landscape than there was 20 years ago with less accessible land than there was 20 years ago with about 20,000 less resident hunters so it shows a little
 
I mean it shows there’s 20,000+ more non resident hunters on the landscape than there was 20 years ago with less accessible land than there was 20 years ago with about 20,000 less resident hunters so it shows a little
For sure. My point is that its a LOT worse than that is showing.

I have a rifle or bow in my pickup everyday of hunting season, i often look over a state piece and some private in quick order on a coffee run for my wife as the sun comes up. Few times a week. By the states definition - each one of those is a "hunter day" and id be an "active hunter" if i did nothing but that.
 
@DFS i saw your comment earlier about r7 - wanted to share that my archery and rifle experiences were about the same in terms of numbers. The truth is there are too many NR hunters in regions 3/5 in all times.

Id say it was at least 1:1 for r:nr ratio, last weekend in an elk spot was 1:2 at least. So its not just R7 or mule deer, jmho. Its way too many hunters who dont live here. Everywhere.
All I know is R7 has gotten so bad people are writing songs about it. IMG_7790.jpeg
 
For sure. My point is that its a LOT worse than that is showing.

I have a rifle or bow in my pickup everyday of hunting season, i often look over a state piece and some private in quick order on a coffee run for my wife as the sun comes up. Few times a week. By the states definition - each one of those is a "hunter day" and id be an "active hunter" if i did nothing but that.

Yep. I know a lot of people that buy a deer tag every year but don’t hardly go out anymore
 
Yep. I know a lot of people that buy a deer tag every year but don’t hardly go out anymore
Theres that - and quite a few people who dont go out at all if they dont draw their preferred LE permit for elk.

When they get a survey they will be specifically told:

"If you hunted at all that day it counts as a hunter day"
 
*BREAKING NEWS* FWP performed a study and concluded the obvious...We're making progress...maybe?


"Researchers tracked the elk for three years to better understand how hunting pressure and regulations affect their movements.

The study found elk moved toward less accessible private lands during early shoulder and archery seasons. However, more restrictive hunting regulations on publicly accessible lands appeared to draw elk back during the general hunting season.

Researchers say the findings could help wildlife managers keep elk on public lands and reduce conflicts with private landowners."
 
I mean it shows there’s 20,000+ more non resident hunters on the landscape than there was 20 years ago with less accessible land than there was 20 years ago with about 20,000 less resident hunters so it shows a little
Sounds like NRs get counted because they make the mistake of getting out of the truck.
 
I think when you look at the charts you have to factor in private vs public land. Where I hunt I would guess 80%-90% of the residents hunt on private land. They have friends, family, or long standing relationships with landowners that grant them access.

With the non-residents, you have ~80% that hunt public. When you factor that in, the ratio is probably 4-1 NR to R on public ground around me. Every BM, BLM, and State piece has vastly more NR plates than R.

I think that is also the reason why there doesn’t seem to be the clamoring to change the season/regulations from a lot of the local residents because the private areas they hunt haven’t changed as drastically over the years as the public lands have.

Now if they were to lose their private access and be forced to hunt public, then I’m thinking their opinions would probably change.
 
*BREAKING NEWS* FWP performed a study and concluded the obvious...We're making progress...maybe?


"Researchers tracked the elk for three years to better understand how hunting pressure and regulations affect their movements.

The study found elk moved toward less accessible private lands during early shoulder and archery seasons. However, more restrictive hunting regulations on publicly accessible lands appeared to draw elk back during the general hunting season.

Researchers say the findings could help wildlife managers keep elk on public lands and reduce conflicts with private landowners."

*BREAKING NEWS* FWP performed a study and concluded the obvious...We're making progress...maybe?


"Researchers tracked the elk for three years to better understand how hunting pressure and regulations affect their movements.

The study found elk moved toward less accessible private lands during early shoulder and archery seasons. However, more restrictive hunting regulations on publicly accessible lands appeared to draw elk back during the general hunting season.

Researchers say the findings could help wildlife managers keep elk on public lands and reduce conflicts with private landowners."

Sounds to me like FWP could survive just fine by cutting a ton of non resident tags if this is the studies that their money is being used on. I mean I’m completely shocked that less pressure effects animals less
 
I think that is also the reason why there doesn’t seem to be the clamoring to change the season/regulations from a lot of the local residents because the private areas they hunt haven’t changed as drastically over the years as the public lands

I think you’d have to own a massive amount of private land to not notice the quality of Montana mule deer declining. A mule deer buck cruising for does is going to cover a lot of country. Odds are he’s going to end up on a chunk of accessible land
 
A lot of residents actually still rely to a large degree on public access/bma. In the eastern part of the state, the conflict isn’t a lot different than the upland bird conflict. Similar hunter numbers and bma/public acres as before with less game and less habitat(significantly less on many than say 10 years ago) on most bma’s.
 

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