Montana Combination Spring Predator Season

[ThunderJack49]

I'm curious to see if there are any Montana hunters who would support a "Spring Predator Season" where wolf and/or mountain lion seasons were allowed to overlap into the spring bear seasons. I think this would be easier to adopt in the units where wolf and/or lion quotas are rarely hit.

I live just North of Yellowstone, so I likely will never see this but I often think about it.

If there are other hunters who hunt in states that have something similar, your opinions and experiences are appreciated.

 

[TL406]

It’s especially silly that there isn’t a Spring wolf season, I can’t make that make sense in my head.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

I regularly see wolves where I bear hunt in the spring, always bummed I cannot hunt them at the same time.
I haven’t dug into it though as to why or why not, speaking from a purely selfish perspective.

 

[Erict]

Not quite apples to apples, but here in NY, coyotes are defined as a "furbearer" and are managed for their fur. Oct 1-Mar 26 season, no quotas. Lots of deer hunters would like a year round season, and May 1-31 turkey hunters would like to be able to shoot them then. I'm sure there's enough "SSS" going on.

Here are some reasons why I think there would never be a "spring wolf season" in MT:

- There would likely be few, if any, wolf quotas left by the April 15 bear opener.
- Wolf pelts are generally not prime during that time of year. Not likely to get any support from the trappers.
- Wolf trapping is far more effective than hunting, but the wolf trapping season is in many places not allowed to begin until grizzly bears hibernate. This cuts out several weeks of prime trapping.
- Wolves are having their litters that time of year. No one is going to want to justify allowing wolf hunting where pregnant or nursing wolves or, worse yet, pups are shot. One poor social media post and the entire wolf season would be back in jeopardy.

I think this is a case of "the juice just ain't worth the squeeze".

 

[MTtrout]

Can you share a link?

 

[ThunderJack49]

Not quite apples to apples, but here in NY, coyotes are defined as a "furbearer" and are managed for their fur. Oct 1-Mar 26 season, no quotas. Lots of deer hunters would like a year round season, and May 1-31 turkey hunters would like to be able to shoot them then. I'm sure there's enough "SSS" going on.

Here are some reasons why I think there would never be a "spring wolf season" in MT:

- There would likely be few, if any, wolf quotas left by the April 15 bear opener.
- Wolf pelts are generally not prime during that time of year. Not likely to get any support from the trappers.
- Wolf trapping is far more effective than hunting, but the wolf trapping season is in many places not allowed to begin until grizzly bears hibernate. This cuts out several weeks of prime trapping.
- Wolves are having their litters that time of year. No one is going to want to justify allowing wolf hunting where pregnant or nursing wolves or, worse yet, pups are shot. One poor social media post and the entire wolf season would be back in jeopardy.

I think this is a case of "the juice just ain't worth the squeeze".

Idaho and Alaska have overlapping wolf/bear seasons and I believe Washington has overlapping bear/lion seasons. We obviously can shoot coyotes year round here.

 

[ThunderJack49]

Can you share a link?

There's no link, this is just an idea I think about a lot and I was curious to get other folk's opinions.

 

[BRTreedogs]

At a meeting in Oregon I asked fish and game why our bear season is not 365 because they are such a problem especially on elk calves.

He told me they were worried if they extended the season it would flair up the anti's they would come hard and we would loose the season all together.
And that he was really surprised we still have spring bear at all.

 

[finner]

Won't happen until grizzly bears are delisted, and probably not even then. Montana's legislature and governor got spanked by USFWS this year on related grounds.

 

[ThunderJack49]

At a meeting in Oregon I asked fish and game why our bear season is not 365 because they are such a problem especially on elk calves.

He told me they were worried if they extended the season it would flair up the anti's they would come hard and we would loose the season all together.
And that he was really surprised we still have spring bear at all.

I absolutely understand not doing things to flair up the anti-hunting crowd, I live in a unit that got aggressive with wolves and now has a 3X tighter quota than before and will probably be some years before we ever get it back again.

That being said, if we are only ever playing defense, even if it's great defense, we are going to be losing ground. Keep fighting the good fight out there in Oregon.

 

[macronbill]

Stii

I'm curious to see if there are any Montana hunters who would support a "Spring Predator Season" where wolf and/or mountain lion seasons were allowed to overlap into the spring bear seasons. I think this would be easier to adopt in the units where wolf and/or lion quotas are rarely hit.

I live just North of Yellowstone, so I likely will never see this but I often think about it.

If there are other hunters who hunt in states that have something similar, your opinions and experiences are appreciated.

What about the hunters?