Montana 2015 Tips

[GFY]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I think a lot of hunters have unreal expectations year after year. I know every hunter, myself included would like to see a plethora of game everywhere but realistically that's not possible. I work for a state agency and the amount of absurd calls I getis ridiculous. Someone hunts an area for a few years and God forbid there are a few less deer/elk out there. There are so many factors that go into managing a herd you can't keep everyone happy. I feel bad for the biologists at times because there's no way they can keep hunters and landowners and the rest of the population happy.

Maybe the area cannot sustain the amount of elk it has the last 5 years and there will be a down swing. There's too many factors. While I will agree the EMP is not ideal, it doesn't mean the elk are disappearing, nor does it mean that in certain areas they can't hunt females.

I don't think that I am taking it the wrong way and am very open to hear what others have to think. But the fact is the elk #'s are disappearing in many areas. Most people would point to the Yellowstone herd at over 20,000 animals a decade ago and now down to around 5,000. Another area that comes to mind is area 410, long known as one of the best units in the state for a chance to shoot a big bull if lucky enough to draw the tag. Now because of the EMP they are shooting twice as many cows as they used to and 50 more bulls per year. Are there still lots of elk in 410 (?), yes, are there still big bulls in 410 (?), yes, could the area support a larger number of elk (?), yes, because it has supported a larger number of elk for decades and the only thing that has changed is the EMP and the price of beef.

Many factors have certainly contributed to the decline of elk #'s in MT but the biggest two factors the way I see it are wolves and over hunting. The over hunting happened because of the EPM and the wolves happened for a number of reasons (too many to list here and has been hashed out over and over with no real results and usually ends up in a very unproductive name calling contest). But saying that there are a "few less deer/elk out there" seems to be grossly over-simplifying it.

I am not trying to start any arguments and am not trying to say that there are no elk left in MT. In fact I still consider there to be lots of opportunities to harvest elk in MT. All I am saying is that the elk hunting here was better (more elk to hunt) 10-15 years ago. And with that said, the elk hunting 10-15 years ago was better than it was 30-40 years ago in my opinion.

I have hunted all over the little belts for the last 20 years and I believe that the elk numbers are down in general but still can find elk almost every trip.