quote:

Originally posted by hunt99:
I think that anyone who hunts elk in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming have been directly affected by this problem. I live in SW MT and I now avoid the mountains as the elk hunting is very poor in most areas. This of course just means more pressure on the good elk herds elsewhere in the state.

A problem that Guy failed to mention was the big money "trophy ranch" phenomenon which locks up the land that holds the most remaining elk. This is another part of the "death spiral" which was really focused on the political pressures on state F&W agencies after we were screwed by the Clinton administration forcing the wolf reintroduction. Guy was especially spot on with the winter kill impact as many of my favorite MT pronghorn hunting areas are completely killed out. Eastern MT pronghorn tags have been cut from 13,000 to 3,000 and it may be a decade or more before populations recover.

The double-whammy of predators and winterkill is very real and any non-resident hunter will find very different conditions that just a few years ago!

For reference, as of today, MT has 4,147 non-resident elk license remaining (includes the big-game combo). As the article says, many are probably looking to CO and NM instead since we have a lot fewer elk, deer and pronghorn to hunt. Guy also forgot to mention disease which has devastated whitetail herds throughout much of eastern MT! Mule deer and all the extra B deer tags are also way down or eliminated in many areas.

AZ writer, make sure and get an ID wolf tag, your odds there are much better than for another 6x6, central ID has been hit the hardest of all. I used to hunt the upper Salmon area each year but wolves have hammered the elk throughout that region. With a good outfitter and lower hunting pressure you might still get lucky!!

quote:

Originally posted by hunt99:

The double-whammy of predators and winterkill is very real and any non-resident hunter will find very different conditions that just a few years ago!