Mont Wildlife Federation Shoulder seasons are being abused by FWP

 

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Montana Wildlife Federation" <mwf@mtwf.org>

Subject: Shoulder seasons are being abused by FWP

Hi John, When Montana began extended elk “shoulder seasons” in 2015, they were not meant to be permanent, and more importantly they were never meant to replace the harvest of elk during our archery and rifle seasons.    But under a proposal from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, that’s where shoulder seasons are heading in 18 hunting districts. They include HDs 262, 290, 298, 390, 391, 393, 411, 417, 502, 510, 511, 520, 530, 540, 560, 575, 580 and 590. These are areas with very limited public hunting access during the archery and general seasons to help us manage elk populations.   The Commission last year shortened these seasons because they weren’t meeting the criteria that were agreed to with the hunters of Montana. Those included data collection on how they’re working, whether we’re seeing the increase in elk harvest during the 11-week archery and rifle seasons, and whether we’re getting half of the needed harvest in the longstanding archery and rifle seasons.     If the Commission considers accepting these recommendations, it has yet to provide the public the data on how these seasons are working, and whether they’re meeting the criteria for a shoulder season.   The shoulder seasons in the long run encourage some landowners to harbor elk. They can sell trophy bull hunts for six weeks of archery hunting and five weeks of rifle, then get hunters in for winter cow elk hunts to address the over population.   Contact the Commission today and tell them to stick to the agreement with the hunters of Montana. The deadline to comment is July 26, so please send your message by emailing the Commission at fwcomm@mt.gov.   PLEASE WRITE YOUR OWN MESSAGE, but hit these main points. Shoulder seasons aren’t meant to replace the harvest during Montana’s archery and rifle seasons. Hunters support fair chase and ethical hunting. Chasing elk in deep snows and bitter cold when they’re just trying to survive is not supported by hunters, or the general public. We need to see the data on whether these hunts are opening up more hunting access in the archery and rifle seasons, when we need the most elk harvest to effectively manage them, including by getting elk back onto public lands. This was never the deal that FWP made with the hunters of Montana, and it’s wrong to extend these hunts another month after elk have already been hunted for five months. Shoulder seasons mean fewer elk on public lands, more leasing of private lands and de facto game farming of our public elk for private interests to profit off of it. DONATE   Montana Wildlife Federation PO Box 1175 Helena , MT 59624 United States If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, pleaseunsubscribe.