Give' em hell Jack!

BUTTE -- A crowd of Butte hunters this week blamed predators for a tough hunting season last fall and called for stepped up killing of wolves, black bears and mountain lions.

"We don't kill enough predators," said Jack Atcheson Sr. "They've devastated animals where they're not heavily controlled."

Several other hunters and representatives blasted biologists with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks for not killing enough predators. They said more predator control is needed to raise the number of deer, elk, moose and other game animals.

The Butte meeting on Wednesday is one of more than 10 throughout southwestern Montana in which biologists take feedback from hunters on the proposals for the next two hunting seasons. In most districts, the regulations will remain the same. That means few opportunities in much of the region to kill cow elk with a general license, as has been the case over the past two years.

But FWP has put forward proposals to further restrict cow elk harvest in a handful of districts, including the Madison Valley. In most areas, FWP kept the general regulations the same and changed only the quotas for the number of cow elk licenses available.

Second elk tag

But Skyline Sportsmen Association members said they are still strongly opposed to the system of giving hunters a second elk tag for cow elk. They called for FWP to return to the old permit system for cow elk and limit hunters to one per year.

"There's no reason people are shooting two elk out there," said Les Castren, Skyline president.

Several people also criticized issuing any mule deer doe tags for southwestern Montana, saying the numbers aren't there to support any doe harvest. And a few hunters joined Atcheson in sharply criticizing FWP for its management of all predators.

"We're not providing any hunting opportunity for the future generations," said Jack Jones. He blamed wolves for killing too many game animals and said landowners should be allowed to shoot them any time they're spotted on their property year round.

Wolf hunting

But Pat Flowers, Region 3 FWP manager out of Bozeman, defended the agency. He reminded the crowd that Montana did not support wolf reintroduction but is now in charge of managing them. And he said in only its second hunting season, FWP biologists are still learning how to structure the wolf season. He urged hunters need to give the state a chance at managing wolves through hunting.

"We're struggling mightily to figure out how to manage them as a huntable species," he said.

Flowers also defended FWP's biologists against the criticism, saying they are among the best in the world. He told the crowd that they've heard throughout the meetings that last year was a tough hunting season, but he stood behind the biologists' aerial counts.

"I don't think our counts were wrong everywhere, in every district," he said.

And here is the problem succinctly explained:

"We're not providing any hunting opportunity for the future generations," said Jack Jones. He blamed wolves for killing too many game animals and said landowners should be allowed to shoot them any time they're spotted on their property year round.

What else is there to say?

Thanks to Kudu56.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

Just 1 word says it all..............POLITICS.

And two more words.... Wolves Suck !

I listen to a conservative talk show host named Andrew Wilkow on Sirrius/XM. Sometimes he says "this country isn't polarized enough for me". I couldnt agree more. People like those in Montana need to wake up and get pissed off, we have been led around by the nose from the Liberal machine ad nauseam. It is time to stand up against the socialist, Anti-American sons-a-bitches..

In Texas you can shoot a coyote or a mountain lion 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a spotlight, a silencer and or a machinegun...

Been that way for as long as I can remember.

We still have plenty of them, especially coyotes.

If they were protected, we would not have any deer in the state.

Just like what is happening to the elk and moose in Idaho Montana and Wyoming.

I would love to come to montana and shoot a bear, a lion and a wolf!

quote:

Originally posted by buckeyeshooter:
I would love to come to montana and shoot a bear, a lion and a wolf!

All it takes is time and money.

Yes you have to blame the wolves but its a two fold problem.Some of the Montana F&G biologists are the real problem with their liberal seasons. Like extending the hunting season years ago for either sex elk so when the snow piles up and people were shooting mature bulls and cows off the snow machines in the southern part of Montana and then they love giving out huge amounts of cow and doe tags for regular season and all their early and late season--damage hunts.And they wonder where all the game has gone to.If you want huntable critters,you need them to reproduce. Another example would be they do not give out enough bighorn sheep tags and they over populate-they do not know how to count- and they all die from pneumonia. In area 2 they let 9 herds die,what do you have to do in this group to get fired.!!!!

Then you go to the F&G commissioners where they are more worried about what the out-of-stater thinks more than the residents of Montana that pays their way,especially
when it comes to the wolf issues.They are extending wolf seasons now to April 1 in one area only. They needed to do this at the get go so hopefully they twik the season for next year to look more like Idaho.They do work for us but they do not see it that way....

They want to manage wolves as a huntable species? OK sounds well enough.

BUT!! at what cost? How much revenue and hunting opportunity will the wolves bring? Compare that to how much revenue and hunting opportunity the wolves eat.

Looks to me they are spending a dollar to try and make a dime.