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Author Topic: Question for the Montana Sportsmen... not relevent to ice fishing  (Read 5905 times)

Offline double_a85

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So with a little over a month left, we still are well under the quota for the wolf season. How does everyone feel about the season thus far? We have been debating improvements... One question is who is out hunting for wolves now that elk season is over. Do you think it would be good to be able to buy more than one license? Predator hunters would be able to harvest more than one wolf a season. Think some setup like this would be the only way to hit the quota.... so what are everyone else's thoughts on this?

Offline PerchAssault

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I think one tag filled should earn another tag for those who are serious about it.  Most guys (and gals) I know did it during general season, and now aren't in the woods. Still folks chasing cats so some more should get harvested...

Trapping season as well.  Maybe next year for that? I wish I had the time to get out after one, but I didn't even buy an elk or deer tag this year.

THANK you to those who ARE out there trying to even things up a little.
If I\'m not fishing, I\'m probably thinking about fishing...And if I\'m thinking about fishing, I\'m probably not getting much else done so, I might as well go fishing...Yeah, I just said that!

Bullelk34

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My personal thought is FWP is on their way to "managing" themselves out of a job. As far a big-game goes, I think they are doing a horrible job- and the wolf issue is only making things worse. As far as multiple tags for wolves, I think that would be a great idea. I bet 99% of the people who bought wolf tags bought them "just in case" they saw one while hunting elk or deer.

Offline needin2fish

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 I believe if we treated the wolves as a predator, like coyotes, we wouldn't kill enough of them to help the deer and elk numbers in areas were the wovles have been an obvious factor in the decline.  Some areas have already closed like the swan, were the quota was 12, what a joke!  In the last three years the quality of hunting has gone way down, and the winters have not been that bad.

Offline chucknduck

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Can't agree more bull elk. Fwp has been killing off elk just like wolves. With either sex and b licences in many districts for years.  They even extended the seasons a few times in areas with the most wolves.  How retarded can you be to start killing more and more elk while the wolf population was growing uncontrolled.  In a few years there will only be wolves and deer left and all the deer will be on private.

Offline HVFD14

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Sell as many tags as possible (REVENUE), even multiple tags to one person (MORE REVENUE) until the quota is met.  This will help the elk numbers and people will want to hunt elk in MT again without being so frustrated (EVEN MORE REVENUE!).  Funny how that works hu?!?
  BE THERE!

Offline cnelson

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i think  people who kill wolves should get a free conservation sportsman licence for the following year as a reward.  and make the collard wolves a money wolf like some tagged fish are.  it would entice more people to go out and get one.     

Offline wolfkiller

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i thought tags came in boxes of 20.  :). idaho is trappin the u know what out of them now. we need to trap. fwp needs to do more.

Offline flyfisherman83

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Sell as many tags as possible (REVENUE), even multiple tags to one person (MORE REVENUE) until the quota is met.  This will help the elk numbers and people will want to hunt elk in MT again without being so frustrated (EVEN MORE REVENUE!).  Funny how that works hu?!?
fact is numbers arnt bein met and numbers arnt being managed.  trapping season would be good, i would do it. miss it since i moved from ak. i havvve gone twice since elk season closed. just shot a handful of yotes.
come up with something to manage numbers or people will continue to feel its their duty to manage it themselves.

Online missoulafish

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The 100$ "reward" is a great idea. Wish they could figure out a way to offer more as that may sway people to get out more often?

Offline oldflatlander

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back east i saw the same thing. lack of good management. our problem was coyotes and lots of them. thier sulution was to stop trapping and could only hunt them during the deer season. ( bad management ) now it has spun out of control.it effects alot . from the wildlife to money coming into the state. no one wants to hunt there, and now the fish and widlife dept is suffering.   " I hope this state doesnt follow in thier footsteps  " 

Offline RobG

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If we can't meet quota then obviously we should allow more than one tag, perhaps with a recipe for cooking them. ;) Most people I know don't hunt them because they don't know what to do with them. I was thinking of tying flies with the fur, Royal Wolf, Grey Wolf, etc.

I'm glad we *can* hunt them, but the way people talk you would think they are the only thing killing elk and livestock out there. They just found that mountain lions and bears were taking more of the Bitterroot herd than wolves (but that could change over the winter). Grizzly bear numbers are way up. And hunters (including me) have been killing cow elk down here for some time. Last year was a disgusting elk slaughter by a mob of slob hunters, yet cows can still be harvested with OTC tags.

Again, I'm glad we *can* hunt them, and I'm really glad we've moved onto a new chapter in management, but there are many factors in lower elk numbers.

rg

Offline MatCat

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The best way IMO would be to Start the season january 1st and run it through the year until the quota is met and then restart january 1st the next year and so on.  Then you don't have to worry about extending a season, just keep it open from the start of the year until the quota is met.

Offline HVFD14

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If we can't meet quota then obviously we should allow more than one tag, perhaps with a recipe for cooking them. ;) Most people I know don't hunt them because they don't know what to do with them. I was thinking of tying flies with the fur, Royal Wolf, Grey Wolf, etc.

I'm glad we *can* hunt them, but the way people talk you would think they are the only thing killing elk and livestock out there. They just found that mountain lions and bears were taking more of the Bitterroot herd than wolves (but that could change over the winter). Grizzly bear numbers are way up. And hunters (including me) have been killing cow elk down here for some time. Last year was a disgusting elk slaughter by a mob of slob hunters, yet cows can still be harvested with OTC tags.

Again, I'm glad we *can* hunt them, and I'm really glad we've moved onto a new chapter in management, but there are many factors in lower elk numbers.

rg

This might be true with the cats and bears right now, but I know many friends who are skittish about taking their hounds out after cats knowing the numbers of wolves out there waiting to go after dogs.  Makes it hard to get a cat if you don't have the dogs out there too.  I grew up here in the Bitterroot and have seen a huge change in the last 5-10 years.  The bear season may be getting extended next year too.  Hopefully we can get the numbers back on track.  Elk-up, wolves-down!
  BE THERE!

Offline RobG

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Yeah, good point on making it difficult to get a cat with dogs. 

rg

Offline montanaguy

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Personally, I don't believe that cats and bears get more elk than wolves. Somewhere, buried in those statistics, I smell wolf lovers. And while I don't agree with all that Montana Fish and Game does, we have to remember that they have to abide by Federal law. And Federal law seems to follow the courts and we've all seen how they rule on wolves, logging, oil, and now transportation(moving equipment down the highway)-youknow, all the stuff that creates jobs. I read an opinion in the GF paper the other day from some kind-hearted soul who didn't want to see canner horses slaughtered. Guess he'd rather see them starve. Wonder how many he would like to have in his back yard. Wolves are killers, always have been and always will be. They were eliminated when most people in this area lived off the land and it was obvious what needed to be done. Now most folks live in town and there are fewer voices addressing the problems in the rural areas. What is lacking in all this is anyone in a position of power able to exercise plain old common sense. Until that happens, S.S.S.

Offline Mike MT

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Well, I'm new to this site (hello all!), but not new to Montana as I've lived here all my life.  My take is to bypass tags altogether and put a bounty back on them.  There was no season and no limit...see a wolf, shoot it, skin it, bring in the hide, get paid, rinse and repeat.  That's the way it was years back (when the elk hunting was MUCH better).  Just a thought,

~Mike
Be the kind of person your dog thinks you are

Offline i c

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no season, no limit ,treat them like the plague they are.

Offline TLKN2LK

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I don't go out because I have no idea where to find them.  Montana is a big place.  So what if the FWP created a wolf tracking site?  Folks could call in or post information on line on the whereabouts of the packs (much like this site).  Certrainly there are land owners who want them off their land.  They could add to the information or let it be known they would welcome wolf hunters on their property.  Just a thought.

Offline wolfkiller

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i aree with i c. we were fine with out them. they are a plague. s.s.s.

Offline intheknow

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A wolf tracking sight would be great- if they would use it!!  Montana FWP in fact has flight data on the wolves nearly every 4-6 weeks.  However, they will not post the data during the wolf season to ensure a fair chase hunt.  You can find the "old" flight reports on the FWP websight.  By now I was hoping that they (management) would have realized wolves are hard to hunt regardless of location information.  They should post the flight data and allow electronic calling- that would be some fun stuff-and a decent chance of success! 


Offline Fishing2471979

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The only effective way I think is trapping. I tried to hunt wolf on many occasions this year and was not that successful. I know where they are at but it isn't that easy. If we can bait or some how legally get them to come in would do the trick.

Offline Robbi

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Kill and Call........just like Idaho.........or S.S.S.

Offline BackCountry Kyle

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The 10yr old and I had one howling yesterday while I was working on getting an icehouse out. I howled back, it replied. Went on for about 45 minutes. Think I may go drive my gun around on the snowmachine this weekend. With Bison hunts going on it may be a good time to get out. That being said, we (Montana) need to trap these animals. It rewards the dedicated and would fill any gap in the quota. Trapping could be the most effective means available! In the meantime,.... take your rifles,you never know

Offline Cornbread

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We need to be allowed to trap them, and have no restrictions about setting traps around fresh kills or baiting trap sites etc. Then issue a new tag to anyone who shoots one for free, and pay money for any with collars. Flight data would be excellent as well. Also FWP needs to quit with the cow tags nonsense even for youth hunts in areas where the herd numbers are down.

Offline chucknduck

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The area where I live.is closed already met the quota. They just need a statewide quota. None of this hunting district stuff. I'm layed off for.a few weeks but I'm not driving across the state to hunt wolves. If I could hunt a with in a hour of the house is be out all the time 

Offline fishin247

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So 1st off, they're not going to issue muliple tags to one person. I could see you getting another tag after you kill one wolf, but muliple tags at the same time...no. The fear would be of one person wiping out a pack.

Here's the way I feel: there's a happy medium between killing them all and letting them all live. Like it or not, wolves are here to stay. Anyone that publicly subscribes to s.s.s. Just puts management of wolves in jeopardy of being taken out of the state's hands, and back in the federal government's hands, and I think we all can agreee we don't want that. Put a bounty on them...same thing. How's that working out for WY? From a P.R. Standpoint, everytime someone on the fence about wolf management hears someone say kill them all, it takes away an opportunity to educate people on what we think is going on here.  For example, Outside Bozeman put up a picture of a man with a dead wolf and the caption that wolf hunting had been extended and for all the backcountry skiers to be carefull if they ski with their best friend(dog). Don't get me started on the irresponsibility of OB for posting that in the first place, but the cursing and "kill em all" mentality by some of the posters just serves to turn off the people watching that aren't diehard environmentalists. The repsonses should have been more of a "as a hunter, I make sure of my target before the saftey on my rifle comes off" or similar reponse.  Will any of you listen to an environmentalist that is of the "wolves are cute animals-type mentality? We all need to start going with more of a, wolves are decreasing the # of elk, and a lot of MT families depend on the elk that they harvest for the meat to feed their families.  Now to disagree with me on the management of wolves makes you look like you're taking food off of my families plate. Now I get to tug at the heart-strings.

Arm yourself with facts, not ignorance and you stand a much better chance of furthering the cause of wolf management. We're never going to get rid of them again, so you better learn to live with them and help be part of the solution of how to manage them.

Offline PerchAssault

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Posting this as info, if you're looking for a place to tag one...

"About 75 percent of the wolf quota has been met in FWP Region 1.  A total of 54 wolves have been taken of the quota of 71 for the Region.  However, Region 1 Wildlife Manager Jim Williams points out that good wolf hunting opportunity remains. 

“Hunters may not realize that the Thompson River area (south of Highway 2) is in Wolf Management Unit (WMU) 121 along with the Lower Clark Fork.  This is a good, accessible area for wolf hunting, and there are still 8 wolves left in the quota for that district.”
Further west and north there are still six wolves left in the quota for WMU 100, which includes the Yaak River valley, and the Purcell Mountains north of Libby.  In WMU 110 (North Fork Flathead) there is one wolf left in the quota.

WMU 101 closes Thursday at sunset because the quota of 19 wolves has been met; WMU 130 closed several weeks ago.

Williams reminds hunters that a wolf harvest must be reported within 12 hours of harvest by calling 877-397-9453, or 1-877-FWP-WILD.  Check the FWP website for quota updates or call 1-800-385-7826."

If I\'m not fishing, I\'m probably thinking about fishing...And if I\'m thinking about fishing, I\'m probably not getting much else done so, I might as well go fishing...Yeah, I just said that!

Offline double_a85

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Thanks all for the good comments on the thread! Seems like I fit into the norm... bought a tag in hopes I stumbled across one while elk hunting. Didn't see a wolf, didn't see an elk for that matter either :( Quota has been met here and don't plan on traveling across the state just for a wolf. Fishin247--- your right on! I doubt they would ever let us have a pocket full of tags-- would be too easy to remove an entire pack. It would be nice that once you have checked your wolf in through the state system, they would offer you the opportunity to purchase another... with no limit this way until the quotas have been met. Thanks all for the good comments...

Offline Bareback Jack

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I bought one with hope of seeing one,just like my my bear tag.Once big games season is over,my time gets shifted to other things like waterfowl and ice fishing.
BBJ

 



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