Eastern MT??? Thoughts?

[MT-nuffgun]

This is the result of a rapidly growing resident population, a general season that runs from September to almost Christmas now with the traditional season, and 6+doe tags a person. Eastern Montana has always been the spill over for western Montana deer hunters but with the growing resident population it is no longer sustainable. But fwp isn’t going to make any changes

The majority of the annual buck harvest is done by nonresidents in region 7 ( according to FWP survey). Yes the resident population is growing in the state but the majority of
Growth is not happening in the eastern part of the state. A lot of this problem could be solved by making the eastern regions permit areas with preference going to residents within the region and nonresidents only receiving 10% of the permits. And make it like they did elk recently. If you draw that permit, that is the only
Place you can hunt deer for that season. This “general” season crap needs to go. If they managed deer like they managed antelope in the east we might get somewhere.

 

[Dos Perros]

In 2018 and 2019 the mule deer were fat and healthy in November. In sudden contrast during November 2020 they were terribly skinny.

That was my experience in 2018 (fat) and 2020 (skinny).

 

[Dos Perros]

The majority of the annual buck harvest is done by nonresidents in region 7 ( according to FWP survey).

Can you please link the survey? Thank you.

 

[MT-nuffgun]

Can you please link the survey? Thank you.

https://myfwp.mt.gov/fwpPub/harvestReports. FWP states 5040 mule deer for nonresidents and 3840 mule deer for residents in region 7 for the 2022 season. Go hunt has also compiled the data.

 

[Dos Perros]

https://myfwp.mt.gov/fwpPub/harvestReports. FWP states 5040 mule deer for nonresidents and 3840 mule deer for residents in region 7 for the 2022 season. Go hunt has also compiled the data.

So for bucks, I see 4895 Non vs 4606 Res. Pretty even.

But NR's killed 1766 does. That doesn't seem right to me. I would propose to limit NR doe harvest before buck harvest.

 

[mtwarden]

. I would propose to limit NR doe harvest before buck harvest.

If numbers are below objective, I would limit doe harvest by everyone.

 

[brockel]

Growth is not happening in the eastern part of the state.

O I know the growth isn’t happening on the eastern part of the state as I have lived on the east side my whole life. But the growing population on the western side of the state comes this way to hunt because the deer hunting is so terrible out west anymore. I think half of bozeman ends up in eastern Montana middle of November.

Here’s that survey

 

[Erict]

The majority of the annual buck harvest is done by nonresidents in region 7 ( according to FWP survey)...A lot of this problem could be solved by making the eastern regions permit areas with preference going to residents within the region and nonresidents only receiving 10% of the permits. And make it like they did elk recently. If you draw that permit, that is the only place you can hunt deer for that season. This “general” season crap needs to go. If they managed deer like they managed antelope in the east we might get somewhere.

Here are the numbers from FWP - estimates actually, because they don't seem to want mandatory reporting.



It is much more complicated than simply looking at a few numbers or that survey. I've hunted R7 for the past eight years and this was by far the worst in quality and quantity. Some drastic changes are needed but not sure what. I'm all set to take some short term losses for long term gains.

 

[Dirtscoots]

Since these are estimates do they publish the percentage of hunters that actually report? It seems far fetched to really have a good statistic since they don’t require mandatory reporting? The way the general tags are laid out I don’t see how they have much of an idea how many people hunt which region much less where or what they actually harvest. Please correct me I very well could be wrong on understanding this.

 

[mtwarden]

They do it with telephone survey- how many days did you hunt, what districts, did you harvest anything, etc.

What percentage do they make contact with, not sure. They call me every year, sometimes multiple times if they don’t get me on the first (and even second and third) time.

 

[Dirtscoots]

O copy. I’m pretty good at being unsuccessful so I’m probably at the bottom of the list to call in any state

 

[mt terry d]

" Proven by research". Pffft.

Survey results are meaningless. Strictly voluntary.

I quit answering their calls a couple decades ago because I knew then it was just BS.

It's all politics and $$$ driven.

"Maximize hunter opportunity" is their mantra. Which to them means "sell more tags, increase revenue, grow the agency".

Numbers have dropped drastically in the last several years/decades.

Funny, they've just discovered it. But then that's how "experts" roll.

 

[MT-nuffgun]

Either way, Montana is giving out way too many nonresident licenses and those hunters are far from being evenly distributed across the states “general” hunting areas. Anybody can look at the data/estimates and realize that sort of management (or lack thereof) is going to lead to problems. And it’s not just nonresidents. If FWP could could do a shred of in-depth research they would probably find that the eastern regions are heavily hunted by the resident population from the West. Turning region 6&7 into permit areas and actually managing deer population on a smaller scale would do a lot to mitigate these issues.

 

[mtwarden]

It was mentioned earlier, but I like the idea of selling non resident whitetail AND mule deer licenses seperately- more of the first, less of the later. It's only one of many steps needed, but I think it's a good one.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

It was mentioned earlier, but I like the idea of selling non resident whitetail AND mule deer licenses seperately- more of the first, less of the later. It's only one of many steps needed, but I think it's a good one.

as a non resident i can agree with this

 

[Dos Perros]

Either way, Montana is giving out way too many nonresident licenses and those hunters are far from being evenly distributed across the states “general” hunting areas. Anybody can look at the data/estimates and realize that sort of management (or lack thereof) is going to lead to problems. And it’s not just nonresidents. If FWP could could do a shred of in-depth research they would probably find that the eastern regions are heavily hunted by the resident population from the West. Turning region 6&7 into permit areas and actually managing deer population on a smaller scale would do a lot to mitigate these issues.

Of the MT residents I've met deer hunting region 7 most were from Billings area or further west. We met one dude from Kalispel! Which meant he drove 10 hours to hunt, and we drove 12 from Kansas.

 

[mtwarden]

I put on 200+ miles this November (Central Montana) hunting elk and saw one lone mule deer. Definitely a reason that a lot of western/central Montana folks are driving east.

Back in the late 70's when I was living in the northwest corner, had a couple of families that traveled all the way to eastern Montana to hunt deer. Talking maybe 8-10 folks, traveling 500+ miles one way. They would come home with 30-40 deer! Couple of garages so full that they couldn't hang another single deer.

Region 6 & 7 have been very (very) liberal with their mule deer harvest for decades (multiple doe tags over the counter). It's not nearly as liberal now, but with mule deer numbers of late, it needs to be more restrictive than it is.

 

[Dos Perros]

I would definitely hunt Montana deer less often to have a better hunt. I came away from my 2021 feeling like FWP had done something damn near criminal selling me the tag, it was so bad compared to 2018.

This one spot, I saw probably 100 deer in 2018, and then in 2020 saw a couple dozen but killed a nice buck, and then in 2021 I think we saw 6. I do think what I saw could have been geographically isolated, and we should have moved an hour or two, but we just kept bouncing around this area hitting spots I knew and finding very few deer and zero mature bucks.

 

[ProStaffSteve]

I put on 200+ miles this November (Central Montana) hunting elk and saw one lone mule deer. Definitely a reason that a lot of western/central Montana folks are driving east.

Back in the late 70's when I was living in the northwest corner, had a couple of families that traveled all the way to eastern Montana to hunt deer. Talking maybe 8-10 folks, traveling 500+ miles one way. They would come home with 30-40 deer! Couple of garages so full that they couldn't hang another single deer.

Region 6 & 7 have been very (very) liberal with their mule deer harvest for decades (multiple doe tags over the counter). It's not nearly as liberal now, but with mule deer numbers of late, it needs to be more restrictive than it is.

Human greed really has no limits. I've seen photos like this from Alaska over the years, and I think as a fisherman I see it in myself at times. Taking game home just because I braved the evil cold and needed a bit more dopamine to pair with suffering of life. Just seems like its all too much for us to just take one animal a year just to ensure that the activity is still possible for the rest of folks. I'm sure these deer were used as food, so no knock there. Suppose I wouldnt make any other decision if I were in the same situation as them or our 30 kill influencers of modern times. I sure would hope that I wouldnt do something like that if legal and available, but I have European bison hunts in my DNA.

 

[j_volt]

Are there any anticipated changes for 2024 or is it already too late in the cycle?