MT 2012 Harvest stats? Elk

[drahthaar]

drahthaar
Sorry to say this but R1 will never have any elk just because of that 4 letter word that starts with a V .
He took the Bitterroot to it's knees before we shipped him North to you guys.
He is a elk killing machine.

Well he surely isn't the only one making decisions because he didn't want to stop the R1 youth hunt for cows. He told me in an email that the resource could take it. I obviously disagree and in many letters and public comment meetings used the Bitteroot as an example of adding piles of dead cows to piles of wolves and lions and bears. Someone listened and stopped the youth hunt for cows. Now we have strung together a couple easy winters(up here that is always the limiting factor), and hopefully a couple more, things are lookin up.

 

[Bambistew]

More accurate harvest stats would be very valuable in determining populations.

Alaska has a pretty simple reporting process. When you get your permit, it comes with a post card with about 8 items to fill in. Days hunted, type of transportation, guided or not, area hunted, kill site, etc. If you don't return it you don't get to apply for draw permits. You can also fill it out online.

The down side, is you can lie, and I think a lot of people do on location of kill. But I think generally, most people take the 3 minutes it takes to fill out the information.

MT could do something similar, it wouldn't be free, but I doubt it would cost much more than the current phone calls and data compilation. Knowing how the average MT hunter thinks, I would imagine that the data would be skewed. So not sure if it would be any better or worse than the phone calls.

 

[elk_hunter]

Nevada has a similar process to AK...you are required to fill out your hunter card or you can't hunt. While some may lie about the results, I'm betting results as a whole are fairly accurate. NV asks questions such as days scouted, did you hunt, how many days did you hunt, were you successful in harvesting, did you have the opportunity to harvest but chose not to, did you wound any animals you were unable to retrieve, unit of kill, date of kill, weapon type, antler points, etc.

I like our system, haven't lied on my cards and wish every state required this type of reporting. It would go a long way toward helping manage wildlife populations properly.

 

[shoots-straight]

Well he surely isn't the only one making decisions because he didn't want to stop the R1 youth hunt for cows. He told me in an email that the resource could take it. I obviously disagree and in many letters and public comment meetings used the Bitteroot as an example of adding piles of dead cows to piles of wolves and lions and bears. Someone listened and stopped the youth hunt for cows. Now we have strung together a couple easy winters(up here that is always the limiting factor), and hopefully a couple more, things are lookin up.

Ask him how that worked out in HD 250 that he was at the helm of when it crashed. The direct result of over harvest.

I heard those words out of his mouth repeatedly.

 

[drahthaar]

I know, I believe Joe and shoots. I heard from all you guys down in the the 'root, before this all came up, and I took it to heart. He said that, but that just made me and a few other push harder. Really threw a lot of their own statistics at them in the 2-year meeting for the new regs. Must have got some kind of point across. Like I said, he obviously doesnt have final say here.

 

[ismith]

Antlerless hunts in R1, with a few exeptions, is asinine.

 

[Z Barebow]

Anyway, sorry Barebow, I turned your thread into a mess. No I have no idea when they publish the data.

No apologies necessary. It is the internet and better topics have gone awry!

I am just looking at trends for the units I am interested in. I recognize there is more to the numbers. (EX A couple of the units have interest in been hammered with buku cow licenses over the past years) When they reduce cow tags, this reduces unit harvest.

My smart @ss comment on original post was founded in the context of season has been done for how long? And the results still aren't posted?

As far as reporting methods, I really don't have a horse in the race. Most methods will have a error factor. Whether it be check stations, post cards, etc. I think a simple survey (and cost effective) via postcard and/or e-mail would give an idea of trends. (Yes I know wolves don't fill out surveys! LOL!).

Somehow biologists need to figure out "where you are at" (Population) before you can figure out where to go (Set seasons and tag allotments).

I'll just keep visiting website, cyber scouting, dreaming and scheming.

 

[drahthaar]

Well, I have been a part of hunting forums long enough to probably know better. LOL

What may seem like a benign comment about a simple question, can sure turn into a tangent eh.