NEWS

Elk shoulder seasons expanded statewide

Karl Puckett
kpuckett@greatfallstribune.com

Extended hunts called shoulder seasons were OK’d Thursday by the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission in 43 hunting districts across Montana to address overpopulations of elk, despite concerns raised by some commissioners about the ethics of such aggressive hunting of the state’s iconic big-game animal.

The cow-only shoulder seasons will allow hunting before and after the regular big-game season, essentially creating a six-month hunting season in some areas. Shoulder seasons will begin as soon as Aug. 15 in some districts, and extend as late as Feb. 15.

Seasons won’t overlap with archery seasons in Region 3, Region 4, Region 5 and Region 6, a key concern for archery hunters.

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“We need to be aggressive in harvesting elk,” said John Vore, who heads Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park’s Wildlife Bureau. “That’s just the bottom line of it.”

The elk population in the state is 160,000, which is 29,000 over population objective, Vore said.

The extended seasons will be conducted in six of FWP’s seven regions and be effective for the 2016-17 season.

Commissioners supported the shoulder seasons reluctantly.

Matthew Tourtlotte, a commissioner from Billings, said he was uncomfortable with having an elk season that extends into the middle of February.

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“I think there are some ethical challenges there for me hunting animals trying to make it through the winter,” Tourtlotte said. “I’m not sure hunting seasons that go this late follow the principals of fair chase that we’ve talked about today.”

He said he would have preferred that the state start out slow rather than implementing shoulder seasons on such a large scale.

“I’d like to start out slow rather than coming in with everything we’ve got,” he said.

J.W. Westman of the Laurel Rod and Gun Club raised concerns, too.

“We’ve taken an iconic big-game animal in Montana and reduced it to vermin,” Westman said.

Nick Gevock of the Montana Wildlife Federation called the widespread shoulder seasons a gross overextension of a program meant to begin slowly.

Although the seasons might be popular, that doesn’t mean they are good for wildlife. He’s concerned about the affect of the aggressive hunting on pregnant cows.

In December, commissioners approved shoulder seasons on a pilot level to test it out for five hunting districts in Great Falls-based Region 4 to address overpopulation and damage to private property caused by elk.

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Bill Galt, a White Sulphur Springs-area rancher who opened his land, said the season was a success for hunters who got additional access and time to hunt and landowners who received help with moving elk off private land.

Vore said the problem of elk congregating on private land will only get worse if the state doesn’t take action to harvest more animals.

FWP officials find the aggressive hunting of elk distasteful as well, he said, but he added the agency is required by law to keep populations at stated objectives.

The shoulder seasons will be performance-based meaning the hunts will have to meet certain objectives to be considered again. The hunts were approved through the 2018 season into 2019 and will need to be revisited after that.

Mike Thompson, an FWP wildlife manager in Region 2, said a shoulder season is a way to address chronic game damage in the Potomac Valley in western Montana. Game damage hunts targeting specific parcels have not solved the problem, he said. A shoulder season will allow management over the breadth of the hunting district.

“This is distribution issue on private lands during the early part of the season,” Thompson said.

Seven of the 43 hunting districts where shoulder seasons will be conducted fall within Great Falls-based Region 4.