MONTANA PROPOSES CHANGES TO ELK SEASONS – Montana is one of the best states to hunt elk. The landscape of the state allows for large elk numbers, which drives hunters from all over the country to apply in Montana. In recent years, the number of elk has grown significantly. Due to this growth, the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is looking to change the structure of some of the limited elk seasons.
Reason Behind the Changes
The biggest reason to make a change to the current plan is to better manage the elk herds. The changes would also provide better hunting opportunities. Over the past several years, Montana has seen a significant growth in elk populations. In fact, there are 14 districts that are currently at 200 percent above their recommended numbers. Amongst those districts, the elk are beginning to congregate on private property, which is limiting hunting opportunities.
“What we know is the status quo isn’t working,” said FWP Director Hank Worsech. “So, we’re going to propose a few new strategies we think can finally help us make progress in addressing the problem, both for hunters and for landowners.”
Recommended Changes
According to the Montana FWP website, the objectives of the new structure are:
- In all 14 hunting districts, FWP proposes to remove some or all of the limited either-sex permits.
- Eight of the hunting districts, FWP is proposing to retain the limited either-sex permits but make them valid only on public land. In most of these districts, the permit quotas are proposed to be half of the 2021 quotas. The hunting districts proposed for this structure are: 411, 417, 426, 535 (newly proposed for 2022), 590, 702, 704 and 705.
The FWP is also looking to make some of the limited hunts either-sex hunts. The intention is to help lower the numbers in the eight districts addressed in the second bullet point.
“We can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. We have to try something different. This proposal is a new strategy we can implement for two years and see if it has the desired effect. [Which is] more elk harvest, better elk availability on public lands, fewer landowner conflicts, and elk at population objective,” Worsech said. “In some hunting districts, we have broad public tolerance or outright support for limited permits, and we want to keep those in place.”
Conclusion
There are several other changes that Montana is recommending. A full list of the changes can be found here. Ultimately, the changes will provide more hunting opportunities. Something that all hunters support.
