Buzz, honest question. If the public land hunting in Montana is so bad then why do you continue to go there? If I was an out of stater and the hunting was as bad as you say then I wouldn't go back.
Its not an honest question, its a passive aggressive statement, thinly veiled as a question, but I'll answer it anyway.
1. I've been hunting the same country for going on 40 years in country where my Father has been hunting since 1957, and my Grandfather since the mid-40's. I have a tie to the land there, spending I couldn't tell you how much time there fishing, trapping, hunting, and otherwise prowling around. We owned a family cabin there from the mid-40's through the late 70's and why my family still has an attachment to the country. I can assure you, there is not anyone alive currently that knows that country better than myself and my immediate family, just a fact.
2. To be fair to myself and to make the comments I do, you cant do it by being a distant observer, but rather an active participant. Even though the hunting is a shadow of what it was, to continue to learn, you cant just toss in the towel and never go back. If your suggestions are to have any merit and you want to impact change, you have to provide proof. A reason why I have kept detailed journals since 1980 regarding what is going on there. Yes, they're primarily hunting/fishing/trapping journals...but a lot more than that. I pay attention to things other than what I can kill, predator tracks, upland bird sightings, rare bird sightings, forage use, leader growth on the plants, plant composition, habitat changes, and try to tie all that into the things that are changing around me. Unlike the FWP, I realized a longgg time ago that we don't live in a vacuum or time warp, things change around us.
3. I have family there that I enjoy getting out the woods with, even if the hunting is not close to what it used to be. I have 2 nephews that are old enough to hunt and have them down here to hunt whenever they can draw tags and time allows. Its much easier for me to go there with my flexible work schedule and 6-10 weeks of leave, than for them to come here.
4. Even though the hunting is bad, that country draws me back...I cant stay away and would be disappointed if I didn't spend time there each year. I'm largely hunting on the memories of what was, because I'm 100% convinced that it will never be that way again. The days of seeing 21 4x4 or better bucks by 1 PM, that aint happening without some serious management changes. Its tough for me to reconcile that, tough for me to accept that, considering the sacrifices that guys like my Dad and Grandfather made to leave the hunting better for me. I feel guilty for having enjoyed the good times, knowing that things in Montana are NOT better for my nephews...and again, if things don't change and soon, never will be. I would even argue that we're so far down the rabbit hole now, it will never happen, for sure not in my lifetime.
5. There's still a small part of me, hidden somewhere, that actually believes things could turn around. I want to believe that eventually, even the dimmest of dim bulbs will recognize that we pissed it away with "opportunity at all costs" and allowed the FWP to do it, without hardly a whimper...and only too eager to fill tags.
That's why I continue to hunt there, a long way of saying, "if you don't actively participate, you cant bitch"...and you certainly cant impact change without understanding of what's going on around you.
I know what I know...and I'm not forced to guess.
