BuzzH
Well-known member
Hey Paul, I thought you said the wolves were wiping out all the elk...
Either you or the MT FWP is full of crap...I think the former.
In todays Billings Newspaper...
MONTANA OUTDOORS: Big changes ahead for Montana elk seasons
Mark Henckel
Montana Outdoors
Look for some significant changes and ample room for argument at today's Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission meeting in Helena. Expect the arguments to continue in the general hunting community for the next two months.
Tentative regulations for 2004 hunting seasons will be set by the commission. Those tentatives promise to liberalize elk seasons in many parts of the state. In fact, they'll likely be the most liberal seasons in more than 20 years.
Liberal enough? Too liberal? That's the big question.
"Most of the changes in the tentative regulations will focus on elk," said Don Childress, Wildlife Division administrator for FWP. "We're pushing the regions pretty hard to come up with some proposals to increase the elk harvest.
"We had a good elk harvest this year, but it wasn't enough to reduce herds," he added. "Elk numbers have been on an expansion for a lot of years. We've got 65 percent of the districts out there where we're over our proposed objectives. We need to put something in place that will hold that back."
Two main plans
Childress said that FWP plans to propose two main plans of attack to increase the elk harvest in some hunting districts in hopes of reining in expanding herds.
"We'll be looking at an eight-day, either-sex, general season for some areas," he said. "And we'll also be proposing the A-9 license in more areas. The A-9 is an antlerless license for a second elk - sort of like a deer B tag.
"Some of the districts that will be affected by the changes will be in Region 5, the western part of Region 3, the Bitterroot in Region 2 and there's some discussion for Region 1 along the Clark Fork," Childress said.
"We also view the A-9 as a license that can focus on private land issues," he said.
Why herds are bigger
There are a number of reasons why elk herds have been building and why even after a good season like 2003, that pressure on elk numbers needs to be increased.
"We've had some generally restrictive seasons for quite a while," Childress said. "We've also had a series of mild winters. Elk are less prone to winter kill than deer. There's very little overall natural mortality. Our overall constituency is getting older, too, and some older hunters aren't as willing to go after elk as they were when they were young. Add in the factors in regard to access - and I think that's a big one - on both private land and public land, and you have increasing elk herds.
"Twenty to 30 years ago, driving up just about any Forest Service road was an option," he said. "Many of them have been closed to maintain some component of the bull segment of the herd. But if you protect the bulls, you protect the cows, too. Private land access isn't what it was 20 to 30 years ago either."
Deer also doing well
Keeping up with the state's deer herd hasn't been easy either, although Childress doesn't see any wholesale statewide changes in the tentatives from this year's liberal seasons.
"We had some pretty good recruitment into the deer population, both in whitetails and mule deer," he said.
"The whitetails rebounded from that widespread EHD (epizootic hemorrhagic disease) a few years ago. For mule deer, we had the mild winters and no real winter mortality last year," Childress said. "We've been producing a lot of deer. We had a lot of deer. In that Miles City country, you'll see 30 to 100 deer in a hayfield. That's a lot of deer."
Childress said that some seasons will be liberalized west of the Continental Divide from what they were in 2003. As for Eastern Montana, multiple B tag options will be proposed again for 2004.
"We were a little concerned about drought conditions. I think drought is one of the real triggers that starts declines in deer numbers," he said. "Deer go into the fall in poorer condition during drought and then if we get any kind of winter, it becomes a real significant mortality factor.
"We had drought this past summer, but it was late summer drought," he said. "With good spring and early summer moisture, those fawns and most of the adult deer I saw were in pretty good condition."
Childress said he doesn't see much in the way of major changes for the 2004 antelope seasons or seasons on other species.
Once the commission sets the tentative regulations today, a public comment period will begin which includes public meetings across the state. After receiving that comment, the 2004 regulations will go back to the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission for final season-setting at its February meeting.
Mark Henckel is the outdoor editor of The Billings Gazette. His columns appear Thursdays and Sundays. He can be contacted at 657-1395 or at [email protected].
Either you or the MT FWP is full of crap...I think the former.
In todays Billings Newspaper...
MONTANA OUTDOORS: Big changes ahead for Montana elk seasons
Mark Henckel
Montana Outdoors
Look for some significant changes and ample room for argument at today's Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission meeting in Helena. Expect the arguments to continue in the general hunting community for the next two months.
Tentative regulations for 2004 hunting seasons will be set by the commission. Those tentatives promise to liberalize elk seasons in many parts of the state. In fact, they'll likely be the most liberal seasons in more than 20 years.
Liberal enough? Too liberal? That's the big question.
"Most of the changes in the tentative regulations will focus on elk," said Don Childress, Wildlife Division administrator for FWP. "We're pushing the regions pretty hard to come up with some proposals to increase the elk harvest.
"We had a good elk harvest this year, but it wasn't enough to reduce herds," he added. "Elk numbers have been on an expansion for a lot of years. We've got 65 percent of the districts out there where we're over our proposed objectives. We need to put something in place that will hold that back."
Two main plans
Childress said that FWP plans to propose two main plans of attack to increase the elk harvest in some hunting districts in hopes of reining in expanding herds.
"We'll be looking at an eight-day, either-sex, general season for some areas," he said. "And we'll also be proposing the A-9 license in more areas. The A-9 is an antlerless license for a second elk - sort of like a deer B tag.
"Some of the districts that will be affected by the changes will be in Region 5, the western part of Region 3, the Bitterroot in Region 2 and there's some discussion for Region 1 along the Clark Fork," Childress said.
"We also view the A-9 as a license that can focus on private land issues," he said.
Why herds are bigger
There are a number of reasons why elk herds have been building and why even after a good season like 2003, that pressure on elk numbers needs to be increased.
"We've had some generally restrictive seasons for quite a while," Childress said. "We've also had a series of mild winters. Elk are less prone to winter kill than deer. There's very little overall natural mortality. Our overall constituency is getting older, too, and some older hunters aren't as willing to go after elk as they were when they were young. Add in the factors in regard to access - and I think that's a big one - on both private land and public land, and you have increasing elk herds.
"Twenty to 30 years ago, driving up just about any Forest Service road was an option," he said. "Many of them have been closed to maintain some component of the bull segment of the herd. But if you protect the bulls, you protect the cows, too. Private land access isn't what it was 20 to 30 years ago either."
Deer also doing well
Keeping up with the state's deer herd hasn't been easy either, although Childress doesn't see any wholesale statewide changes in the tentatives from this year's liberal seasons.
"We had some pretty good recruitment into the deer population, both in whitetails and mule deer," he said.
"The whitetails rebounded from that widespread EHD (epizootic hemorrhagic disease) a few years ago. For mule deer, we had the mild winters and no real winter mortality last year," Childress said. "We've been producing a lot of deer. We had a lot of deer. In that Miles City country, you'll see 30 to 100 deer in a hayfield. That's a lot of deer."
Childress said that some seasons will be liberalized west of the Continental Divide from what they were in 2003. As for Eastern Montana, multiple B tag options will be proposed again for 2004.
"We were a little concerned about drought conditions. I think drought is one of the real triggers that starts declines in deer numbers," he said. "Deer go into the fall in poorer condition during drought and then if we get any kind of winter, it becomes a real significant mortality factor.
"We had drought this past summer, but it was late summer drought," he said. "With good spring and early summer moisture, those fawns and most of the adult deer I saw were in pretty good condition."
Childress said he doesn't see much in the way of major changes for the 2004 antelope seasons or seasons on other species.
Once the commission sets the tentative regulations today, a public comment period will begin which includes public meetings across the state. After receiving that comment, the 2004 regulations will go back to the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission for final season-setting at its February meeting.
Mark Henckel is the outdoor editor of The Billings Gazette. His columns appear Thursdays and Sundays. He can be contacted at 657-1395 or at [email protected].
