On Feb. 4th, the FWP Commission approved changes to the elk season. This approval came despite the opposition of many. Representatives of hunters, outfitters, and rich landowners, which are typically adversaries on several issues all called for the Commission to reject the new elk season proposed changes. These three different groups simply asked the FWP Commission to forego these changes and reinstate the regulations that were used for 2020-2021 and start fresh going forward.
However, the Commission responded that too much work had gone into these changes to reject them. At that point, the Commission made a few amendments and approved the season changes for the next two years.
“I can guarantee we did read your comments and spent a lot of hours doing it. So I don’t want you to think we didn’t listen. We did. We’re just trying to do the best we can.” – Commission Chair Lesley Robinson
The hunting contingent opposed the changes. Stating that they felt that the rushed process led to a massive jumble of confusing changes. Last year, FWP Director Hank Worsech, told biologists and other wildlife officials to eliminate tools like cow permits and increase the number of licenses and bull permits as much as possible to make things simpler. Likewise, he asked officials to enlarge hunting districts. He did all this because he believed that hunters were having a hard time reading regulations.
This process began soon after, then only weeks before the deadline Worsech added more requirements. These last-minute changes and the public comment period left the Commission with under two weeks to discuss the changes before making its vote.
Elk Season Changes
The overall process of these proposed changes was messy and multifaceted with each side wanting different things. However, overall all three groups felt it would be best to start over with the process. You can read more about this process by clicking here.
Below we will list some of the approved elk season changes.
- Elk districts 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, and 330 in Beaverhead and Madison counties will combine to form HD 322. However, the Wall Creek Special Hunt section of HD 323 will be maintained for elk.
- Elk districts 331 and 332 in Beaverhead, Deer Lodge, Silver Bow, and Madison counties will combine. In Beaverhead County, HD 329 and the western portion of HD 328 will combine, as will HDs 321 and 334.
- Elk HDs 319 and 341 in Silver Bow and Deer Lodge counties will combine. In Madison and Jefferson counties, HD 320 and the southern portion of HD 333 will combine.
If you’d like to read more about Montana hunting-related news you can click the link here.
