I have never hunted Montana, but have always wondered in this day and age how you can manage a hunting season that is that long and liberal. If people want a chance at a long season where you can use any weapon, then why not make the difficult areas open and change the more accessible units to limited draw units where you pick your weapon? If people want the option of the liberal season, then there is nothing wrong with them having to work for it. Making people select their weapon really helps spread out the pressure, also.
The killing of lots of doe mule deer can be problematic, too. Mulies are a lot harder to manage than white-tails because they are not nearly as prolific. If deer are having a tough time, then the first thing to do is make sure that you are not over-harvesting the producers.
Antler restrictions are not the answer for several reasons. For one, you have a certain amount of waste where animals are shot and then left when it is determined that they are not legal. Also, if there are antler restrictions, you end up with deficient "illegal" deer doing the breeding, If there are restrictions on antlers and no antlerless options, then people that like to eat deer (like me) go home with nothing if they can't find an older deer. I hate to eat tags.
Here in Nebraska, it is ridiculous to shoot little bucks because there is a lot of opportunity to kill antlerless deer. I don't need antlers anymore and love the antlerless hunts. HOWEVER, I spent a number of years in NM and hunted only mz. It was buck only hunting and difficult. It was way more important for me to get some deer meat than worry about the size of the head gear. At that time, it was over-the-counter, but due to the primitive (back when it was still primitive with no scopes etc.) nature of the hunt, the pressure on the animal was limited and the hunt was really a good hunt.
The habitat issues are always a concern with deer, too. Probably one of the best things that have happened recently for the mule deer are the big forest fires. It will be interesting to see what those areas do in the future.
There is no easy fix when it comes to balancing trophy quality with opportunity. Game departments bottom line is funding. In most cases, this funding is provided by license sales. It is in their best interest to provide the most opportunity that is possible. The amount of trophy hunters is far out-weighed by the numbers of people that just want to go hunting and hopefully bring back some meat.
The Nebraska Game and Parks does not even know the meaning of "trophy". Fortunately, if you want a trophy deer, there are some around, so the opportunity exists. They strictly want to provide opportunity to go hunting and luckily, there is also a chance at a trophy buck about anywhere in the state. In fact, there are some huge mulies killed every year. Trophies are not a management objective here, but instead are a bi-product of the management objective.
