I know an Outfitter from Utah that hunted on the Crow reservation (I think ) said they had permission and as long as they had a Tribe member with them at all time it was ok. They were Hunting Bears and had Taken several in the 450 lb range W/dogs. Did they need to be a Licensed Outfitter in Montana or does this fall under Indian control.

IIRC, Hunting on the reservations is out of the jurisdiction of FWP and coincidentally the MT Board of Outfitters.

The best is to call the respective reservation to make sure of the rules they have. It isn't always just because you are hunting with a tribal member.

Hunting MT Reservation Contacts

Was it Doyle Moss???? If so, the Tribal Authorities wanted x amount of bears taken each year, Doyle couldn't produce the numbers they wanted, so they employed a Montana outfitter and split the tags. The Montana outfitter fullfilled his end and will probably be back next year. Very high sucess and yes they have to have native guides under their employ.

It isn't just having a Native or Tribal member with them,and go hunting, they have to pay for the tags and the reservation is compensated. Plus the guides make good wages.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by blaser93:
They were Hunting Bears and had Taken several in the 450 lb range W/dogs.


Hunting bear with dogs is illegal in mt. It might be different on the reservation but I doubt it.

quote:

Originally posted by wetdog2084:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by blaser93:
They were Hunting Bears and had Taken several in the 450 lb range W/dogs.


Hunting bear with dogs is illegal in mt. It might be different on the reservation but I doubt it.

On the Reservations in Wi.They have their own Fish& Game and make their own rules.Off Reservation they have special rules and seasons.I would bet it is the same in Montana.

quote:

Hunting bear with dogs is illegal in mt. It might be different on the reservation but I doubt it.

It is legal on the reservations. Probably a fine line in the event the bear and dogs chase outside the boundrys of the reservation.

I have never heard of anyone hunting bear with hounds on the crow reservation before and now I'm curios. I cant get through to the tribe until Monday to find out. It will be interesting to know. Every reservation is an entity unto itself. I have fished and bird hunted on crow land but have never looked into hunting big game there.

These Guys are Heavy into Horse racing and Roping the own some of the largest amounts of land in Utah Carbon County.
Thier father new someone big on the reservation , they arranged this. They have video on thier web site.
I was looking into Hunting with them but did not find a Montana Outfitter's License . They are Too Yahoo for me.

The Crow have been trying for some time to organize big game hunting on their reservation. The have had limited success, perhaps until now. They conducted buffalo hunts above the Big Horn Canyon and in Garvin Basin near the Wyoming border for many years, and I believe clients were satified with the results. Doyle Moss, for whatever reason or connection is indeed conducting bear hunts on the reservation. Under their sovereign status the Crow can hunt as they please, with the exception of those animals that are protected by the rare and endangered species act. The same holds true for the Blackfeet, Ft. Belknap, and Ft Peck reservations north of here.

I found out just yesterday that there was a video segment on one of the outdoor channels highlighting Doyle Moss trolling by boat for bears along the canyon walls of Big Horn Canyon or Yellowtail Dam as it is often called. I haven't seen it, but I would like to. In the T.V. show it is apparently presented that he only he and his clients can do this method of hunting. Not true, exactly. Hunting is allowed within the boundaries of the Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area, which is surrounded by the Crow tribal lands. That means that if you have a boat, you can cruise the canyon in the springtime just like me or anyone else and hunt bears. Be forewarned, this is about like hunting the Grand Canyon but only on a slightly smaller scale. I seldom go down there that I don't see bear somewhere along the 50 miles or so of incredible canyon.

The bear hunting photos on Doyle's website I can definitely identify as Crow land, at least most of them. He and his organization hunt all over the West and his outfit is responsible for the Spyder Bull. I won't open that arguement.

What I'd like people to realize is that--------
(1) The two southern mountains of the four Pryors mountains along the Wyoming line are Custer National Forest. Bear hunting is very good, but there is a quota system that seems to fill early in the Spring, mostly because Billings hunters are not that discerning. But it is excellent bear habitat. Ditto for the two north mountains on the reservation where Doyle and his clients are hunting. I'm pretty sure that the segment from Best of the West, where those guys sniped two bears at 800 yards were down in my beloved Pryors and obviously shot across canyons. Maybe they were hunting with Moss too. I don't know.

(2) Non resident hopefuls can hunt bear in Wyoming on the very north end of the Big Horn Mountains out of Sheridan and Lovell. That national forest boundary abuts the Crow reservation on the Montana state line, but the habitat is the same, and the bears are also the same in size and color.

If you think you'd like to hunt with Doyle and the Crow, fine, but you can do the same thing on public land for a hell of a lot less money than what he's charging. He has to buy tags from the Crow which is in turn passed on to the hunting client. I don't want to make a particularly disparaging remark, but be advised. Not only will you pay for the services of the tribal tag and outfitter, there will be AT LEAST ONE tribal guide and or game warden, but possible SEVERAL. I know for a fact about one gentlemen who managed to "buy" an elk tag and deer tag for the Garvin Basin area east of Big Horn Canyon. He must have tipped about 7 or 8 people before that little jaunt was over with.

I have called the tribal offices in Crow Agency before to inquire about elk hunting, and just recently when I found out about Moss's bear hunts. I was told here locally at the sporting goods retailer store that individuals could buy a bear tag and hunt on the rez, maybe with a guide and maybe without. The number of tags were to be limited to 6 or 8 on each side of the Big Horn Canyon, meaning the Pryors on the west and the Big Horn Mountains on the east. Hmmmmmm.... There is a large ranch along the base of the Pryors owned by a gentleman named Holding. He also owns Sinclair Oil and Gas out of Salt Lake. He is the second largest landowner in Montana and maybe the country behind our old friend Ted Turner. Could it be that Doyle Moss, of Utah, has a hookup with Holding. I would be willing to be that he is hunting on that ranch. Nothing wrong with that at all. I'm just making some observations about how things go out West these days, Crow Indians included.

After calling the tribal offices a couple of times I felt that information over the phone was disjointed to say the least, and I never talked to the same person twice. I considered the whole thing to be the often stated C------ F---. Doyle may be congratulated for running this interference, and then again, it may all go sour next Spring. I don't know about that, but I would be very very careful about hunting down there.

The Crow are perhaps trying in their own way, but the Blackfeet are way ahead of them in managing their wildlife. There isn't any reason that the Crow should rank up there in game quality with the Apaches down in Arizona and New Mexico. I wish them luck, but I sure as hell won't be the guinea pig to start it off.

Good luck.

The sheep hunting is pretty good in the canyon to, if you can draw a Wy tag. And it also done from a boat. As Yellowstone said, the bear numbers are unreal. I have never ventured into any of that country and not seen a bear. We have bear sign on our power poles . The reason the Crow gave tags to another guide was that Moss was not taking enough bear. The Crow feel they need to manage the bear numbers and more need killed. Our power lines run from Wyoming to Yellowtail and to Billings so I spend a lot of time there, and many times in the company of a Crow Tribal member.

Kudu,
I've hunted, hiked, camped, explored, and stood in awe of the grandeur in front of me while walking underneath that power line many times, but nearly always on the F.S. side of the line.

That is one God awful trail off the Dry Head down to the desert, but bears love it.

See you there some time, and Merry Christmas.