Montana elk hunting is about to take a dive

[PablitoPescador]

I just got a very nice response from Jedidiah Hinkle-R. I know he’s an avid hunter and he basically said that many elements of the bill are not good and that they’re looking into making some major amendments. So far I haven’t heard back from anyone else

 

[brocksw]

I just got a very nice response from Jedidiah Hinkle-R. I know he’s an avid hunter and he basically said that many elements of the bill are not good and that they’re looking into making some major amendments. So far I haven’t heard back from anyone else

No Amendments. Kill the bill altogether. That's what needs to be done.

 

[PablitoPescador]

I’m probably gonna get crucified for saying this, but something needs to be done to solve the problem of private land elk. Every year after opening day of rifle it seems that 95% of elk just go to their private land sanctuary where no one hunts and they stay there indefinitely. I’ve heard people reference the “king’s” deer and the European model and that’s basically what’s happening here already. Wealthy landowners either just let the elk graze their land all year and show off “their” elk to every affluent guest that visits and then cash in on any damages to their property they incur. All these wealthy transplants don’t see the value in managing game and as a result you see elk way over objective in many of these units.

The other scenario is the middle of the road rancher who incurs real damage to their crops and livelihood. I know one rancher who says he stays up many nights during the winter running elk off his haystacks. The problem is many ranchers don’t trust just anyone to hunt their land because they’ve been burned in the past. What I see as the intent behind this bill is to incentivize landowners to let people hunt while giving them some control over who can actually hunt their land. I see the intent but disagree with the way they’re going about it. Not saying I have a solution but as a local, I’m getting really tired of seeing hundreds and sometimes thousands of elk all bunched up on one property for the entire season. Some added pressure on private might bring more opportunity to public land hunting

 

[Legend]

I’m probably gonna get crucified for saying this, but something needs to be done to solve the problem of private land elk. Every year after opening day of rifle it seems that 95% of elk just go to their private land sanctuary where no one hunts and they stay there indefinitely. I’ve heard people reference the “king’s” deer and the European model and that’s basically what’s happening here already. Wealthy landowners either just let the elk graze their land all year and show off “their” elk to every affluent guest that visits and then cash in on any damages to their property they incur. All these wealthy transplants don’t see the value in managing game and as a result you see elk way over objective in many of these units.

The other scenario is the middle of the road rancher who incurs real damage to their crops and livelihood. I know one rancher who says he stays up many nights during the winter running elk off his haystacks. The problem is many ranchers don’t trust just anyone to hunt their land because they’ve been burned in the past. What I see as the intent behind this bill is to incentivize landowners to let people hunt while giving them some control over who can actually hunt their land. I see the intent but disagree with the way they’re going about it. Not saying I have a solution but as a local, I’m getting really tired of seeing hundreds and sometimes thousands of elk all bunched up on one property for the entire season. Some added pressure on private might bring more opportunity to public land hunting

Here is an idea. If the wealthy landowners won't support elk management then make their private land "COW ONLY" hunting. It won't be long before they participate or sell the ranch and creat their private reserve elsewhere. If nothing else it would get their attention!!

 

[finner]

Can we move this over into the elk section so more people will see this only reason I found it was I saw it had a thread going on google looking into the bill need as many people to see this as possible


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Not sure how to do that... Can an admin move it over?

 

[S.Clancy]

I’m probably gonna get crucified for saying this, but something needs to be done to solve the problem of private land elk. Every year after opening day of rifle it seems that 95% of elk just go to their private land sanctuary where no one hunts and they stay there indefinitely. I’ve heard people reference the “king’s” deer and the European model and that’s basically what’s happening here already. Wealthy landowners either just let the elk graze their land all year and show off “their” elk to every affluent guest that visits and then cash in on any damages to their property they incur. All these wealthy transplants don’t see the value in managing game and as a result you see elk way over objective in many of these units.

The other scenario is the middle of the road rancher who incurs real damage to their crops and livelihood. I know one rancher who says he stays up many nights during the winter running elk off his haystacks. The problem is many ranchers don’t trust just anyone to hunt their land because they’ve been burned in the past. What I see as the intent behind this bill is to incentivize landowners to let people hunt while giving them some control over who can actually hunt their land. I see the intent but disagree with the way they’re going about it. Not saying I have a solution but as a local, I’m getting really tired of seeing hundreds and sometimes thousands of elk all bunched up on one property for the entire season. Some added pressure on private might bring more opportunity to public land hunting

I don't think this bill moves the needle as far as the types of places you mention.

That many elk sanctuary there for a reason and the person owning the property almost always wants them there. I know of several large ranches that actively keep very large groups of elk on their property. I believe this bill would incentivize them to do more of it, as it would essentially add $50,000+ to the bottom line.

The number of and rapid increase of NR landowners in MT is the reason for all this elk BS. Real ranchers/farmers who are being affected allow hunting, for the most part. They also have a much different approach to land ethic than the NR landowners, primarily in active management and the idea that they are stewards of the land, vs the NR ethic of $$$$.

If they truly cared about elk numbers maybe for every 10 cows that are harvested on their place they are eligible for 1 NR tag, with a limit of 3 or 5 or something. At least this approach provides an incentive to allow the public to access the public's elk and giving access to bull tag they so crave.

 

[cgasner1]

If these ranchers don’t participate in the block management program and allow people on to try and fix the elk issue the state should tell these ranchers they are out of luck I’ve felt the same way about shoulder season that only ranches in the bma program should be eligible for the shoulder hunt problem is they don’t care about the elk they want cash plain and simple


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[S.Clancy]

If these ranchers don’t participate in the block management program and allow people on to try and fix the elk issue the state should tell these ranchers they are out of luck I’ve felt the same way about shoulder season that only ranches in the bma program should be eligible for the shoulder hunt problem is they don’t care about the elk they want cash plain and simple


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It's tough to take that "hard line" approach because private property provides a lot of good habitat, especially winter range, that boosts our elk numbers and quality.

The best way, in my opinion, is to create relationships that incentivize public access. BMA does that, this bill does not.

 

[Deadfall]

It's tough to take that "hard line" approach because private property provides a lot of good habitat, especially winter range, that boosts our elk numbers and quality.

The best way, in my opinion, is to create relationships that incentivize public access. BMA does that, this bill does not.

Siebn is great example of how bma works.

 

[MThuntr]

It's tough to take that "hard line" approach because private property provides a lot of good habitat, especially winter range, that boosts our elk numbers and quality.

The best way, in my opinion, is to create relationships that incentivize public access. BMA does that, this bill does not.

The FWP Director nominee hates Block Management

FWP director nominee predicts agency changes during hearing

The Senate Fish and Game committee heard testimony on Hank Worsech’s nomination and asked the nominee about his intentions as director of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Worsech indicated he’d be making some changes in the agency.

missoulacurrent.com

 

[S.Clancy]

The FWP Director nominee hates Block Management

FWP director nominee predicts agency changes during hearing

The Senate Fish and Game committee heard testimony on Hank Worsech’s nomination and asked the nominee about his intentions as director of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Worsech indicated he’d be making some changes in the agency.

missoulacurrent.com

That's interesting, because the feedback I was getting is that this nomination was basically universally praised by conservation orgs. Maybe I read it wrong and it was universally opposed?

Either way, I think it is hard to argue with the BMA model. Not saying it can't be better, but it definitely has been beneficial for the residents of MT. I know, for me, if I'm looking to hunt birds in Eastern MT it's nice to know there is places I could hunt if knocking on doors comes up empty.

 

[mmw194287]

https://mtstandard.com/opinion/colu...O5_4KFTnXM5RiV0X6uE4zNtI1Kw43wtXnYJDGzOIyqSSs

 

[Legend]

https://mtstandard.com/opinion/colu...O5_4KFTnXM5RiV0X6uE4zNtI1Kw43wtXnYJDGzOIyqSSs

Thanks for adding this article.

 

[Schaaf]

You can expect a vote on this on Tuesday.

 

[brocksw]

That's interesting, because the feedback I was getting is that this nomination was basically universally praised by conservation orgs. Maybe I read it wrong and it was universally opposed?

Worsech worked for the FWP for nearly 2 decades and I think many in the conservation community thought the appointment was not nearly as bad as they anticipated given they knew what Gianfortes agenda would be. Worsech represented someone high up in the food chain from the previous admin from within the FWP.

But I think that opinion is quickly changing and worsech is proving to be as bad as anyone they previously anticipated.

 

[Firestone]

I am curious what he had to say about mule deer in region one.

The call ended up happening yesterday but it went really well. The purpose of the call was to discuss mule deer management in Region 1 and we had some great conversation pertaining to that.

 

[S.Clancy]

Worsech worked for the FWP for nearly 2 decades and I think many in the conservation community thought the appointment was not nearly as bad as they anticipated given they knew what Gianfortes agenda would be. Worsech represented someone high up in the food chain from the previous admin from within the FWP.

But I think that opinion is quickly changing and worsech is proving to be as bad as anyone they previously anticipated.

It's certainly changing my opinion.

 

[Legend]

Where are the bill amendments? The website said they were available 3/11 but I can't seem to find them. Anyone....

 

[finner]

https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2021/AmdPublicWeb/HB0505.001.001.pdf

Just knocking the bonus point incentive from 5 down to 1. Doesn't fix the bill, and is likely what they had in mind all along.

 

[Legend]

Well that is disappointing. They put the ridicuolous 5 bonus point in there to get people focused on it and then amend it to 1 so they can say "we listened to everyone's concern" and amended the bill. This is childish politics from FWP. This bill simply needs to be tabled at this point.

I hope we had enough people raise concern???