BY ANDREW MCKEAN
If you think the biggest
hunting decisions are made in the field, then you’re either naïve or a beginner. The big picture—the one that defines where, when and even how you can hunt—is framed miles away from your elk camp or duck blind, often by folks who wouldn’t know a drop tine from a hail call.
Decisions made by Montana’s legislature, by the Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission, even by
bureaucrats in Washington, will affect your enjoyment and success this year.
So in the spirit of new
beginnings, and old ideas, here are some issues Montana hunters need to watch in 2009:
• Wolves: The tolerance of Montana’s hunters is being sorely tested by these wild canines, and wildlife managers
need to be aware that simmering discontent is starting to boil. FWP is in an unenviable position of having to balance control of rapidly expanding predators with the kid-gloves treatment dictated by federal endangered species rules. Watch for FWP to become more vocal about the impact wolves are
having on big-game populations, maybe even finally suggesting that wolves are partly responsible for last fall’s record-low elk harvest.
• Block Management: This
access program is wildly popular, but with more than 8 million acres under contract and dwindling revenue, it’s time to find a more stable funding base. Hunters are almost universally willing to pay more for access, but they need to be assured that it will be good habitat.
• Minimum Hunting Age: It’s time for Montana to join the national
movement that is lowering or even abolishing minimum age limits for hunting. The catalyst for the trend is
decreasing involvement of kids in
hunting, and many analysts think
making kids wait until they’re 12 is one reason. Look for this issue to come before the Montana Legislature, and Hunter Ed instructors—many of whom have resisted lowering the age
limit—will have a big role in its fate.
• Ranching For Wildlife: Speaking of polarizing legislation, don’t be surprised to see Montana’s agricultural community pushing for more big-game management on private land. In Colorado, this is called Ranching
for Wildlife, and it allows private landowners to sell big-game tags (usually for big money) in exchange for offering a few hunts to the public. In Montana the argument will be “forage compensation,” with ranchers arguing that they should be able to profit from elk and deer that are eating their hay and grain. Forget that this is totally contrary to America’s tradition of public ownership of wildlife, look for critics of Ranching for Wildlife to remind cattle growers that forage compensation should also include revisiting subsidized grazing leases on public land. That should neutralize the issue.
• CWD: Montana has dodged this bullet for a few years, but don’t be surprised to find that the disease that kills elk, deer and even moose has arrived in Big Sky Country. It’s likely to come from in the state from Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin (or maybe Saskatchewan) and you can expect an intense big-game eradication effort wherever it’s detected. That means game wardens killing deer and elk, maybe even using helicopters to wipe out the infected herd.
• World-Record Bighorn Sheep and Moose: On a more positive note, it’s just about time for Montana to leap to the front of the record books. The most likely species to establish new marks? Shiras moose and bighorn sheep.
Look for a 210-inch ram head to come out of the Missouri River Breaks this year, and a world-record moose is due to come traipsing out of Saskatchewan into Montana’s
Hi-Line, where a moose hunting
season (2 permits) will be held for only the second time this fall.