No chance. It’s all about opportunity. Right now we get the opportunity to reminisce about the times when there were a decent population of mule deer running around as we work on killing the few left. Good times!
Early last fall I was amazed by the amount of deer I saw driving 112 from Hulett to the state line. Must’ve been hundreds on that short little stretch of WY. Equally amazed and dismayed by the lack of deer I saw from Alzada to I-90.
That’s just sad.
I may roll out to MT for a wt doe or two this fall, combo it with a bird hunt. Not everywhere has doe tags available.
I should have said mule deer does. I have no issue with shooting whitetail does.
Nothing to see here folks, all good
Agreed. Even if half those tags are sold to NR at $75 or whatever a pop, the overall revenue isn’t exactly a game changer to FWP’s annual budget. There’s something else afoot that isn’t financial greed from FWP.
Regardless of the "in general" answer, in my experience there is high variability in the views. Pretty much anything that lowers its head and eats grass is competition (eating money) to a cattle-raising landowner...Deer, elk, antelope, APR bison, prairie dog,...Some accept that as a cost of doing business, some as an opportunity to lease to hunter/outfitter, some take a few for friends and family, some sign up for BM, some just like animal watching.
Most of the old ranchers I know in SW MT, view wildlife as a menace to their operation. The only thing they hate more than wildlife are hunters, but most will allow some hunting to thin out the animals. Elk are pretty hard on stuff, in their defense from destroying fences and haystacks to just plain competition for grass/feed. There aren't a lot of old ranchers anymore though, at least where I grew up, most of those places are run as a hobby ranch, for the investment potential of the property, or the current owners like the wildlife and don't have livestock.
I'm down.
Works for me!!! lol
