MSA comments to FW Commission on Shoulder Seasons.

Shane Colton, Chair
Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission
1420 E. Sixth Ave.
Helena, MT 59624

RE: Elk management

Dear Chairman Colton and Commissioners:

The Montana Sportsmen Alliance is the voice of reason for many people throughout Montana.  MSA has been active throughout several legislative sessions, FWP Commission meetings and many other activities where the sportsmen and women of Montana need a voice. We are avid hunters, anglers and conservationists who are deeply engaged in Montana’s sporting traditions.

We have serious concerns about the direction Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is taking in elk management. In particular, we are disturbed that FWP is slowly reneging on the initial agreement with sportsmen and sportswomen to follow the performance criteria in the shoulder seasons.

These seasons have performance criteria to ensure they do not become a replacement for general season harvest of elk. That’s stated clearly throughout the document in the criteria. They were also meant to be a short-term measure to address elk herds that are chronically over the objective population targets.  Other problems, as expected, the most accessible portions of hunting districts have taken the brunt of the shoulder season pressure, leaving less elk on the landscape during the archery and general season. There are plenty of examples to cite regarding this activity. 

However, it appears in certain situations that FWP staff has little regard for the criteria that were initially agreed to for shoulder seasons. The most egregious example of this is found in FWP Region 2, where several districts are actually under the objective population and are showing poor calf recruitment. Yet FWP staff there is recommending a continuation of these shoulder seasons. We question why this is occurring and would offer that it doesn’t warrant doing.

It is irresponsible to be hunting elk herds below objective for six months of the year. This is exactly what we got away from well over a decade ago, when we abandoned special late season hunts to put an emphasis on the general rifle season as the primary tool to meet our elk management needs. That decision was based on ethics, sound science and a respect for our longstanding Montana tradition of fair-chase hunting. Montana’s five-week general rifle season is the most liberal in the West, and hunters from around the country look to it as a model.

Additional seasons outside of the general season should meet certain criteria as a way to supplement general season harvest, disburse elk from private lands and reduce game damage to crops. Game damage and management hunts on private lands are required under state law to occur on lands with reasonable public access during the general season.  That’s meant to support effective, whole elk management.

We expect FWP to honor the agreement it made with the hunters of Montana and conduct a thorough analysis of the shoulder seasons to eliminate all of the districts where the hunts are not meeting the criteria. We are committed to working with landowners to bring about more effective elk management, and we know that will require significant antlerless elk harvest during the general season.

The leadership group at the Montana Sportsmen Alliance strongly believes our agency, FWP needs to conduct a thorough analysis of shoulder season results based on the performance criteria.  These are incredibly important public trust resources that demand that level of attention.  We don’t want to see the shoulder seasons become a way to clean up the scraps after the commercial outfitters have profitted from them during the general season.  We at MSA say loud and clear; Enough is Enough. 

Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

The Voice of Reason,

Montana Sportsmen Alliance