Expanding elk hunting seasons on commission’s agenda

Montana’s Fish and Wildlife Commission will vote Thursday on whether to approve extended hunting seasons across the state to address overpopulations of elk following a successful pilot program in northcentral Montana.

In November, the Fish and Wildlife Commission approved late-season elk hunting for five districts in Region 4 to address over-population of elk mostly on private land.

The extended seasons, called shoulder seasons, began Nov. 30, after the 2015 general season closed, in four of the districts and will end Feb. 15. The season begins Jan. 1 in one of the districts.

The purpose of the extended seasons is to reduce the number of elk congregating on private land.

Gov. Steve Bullock stopped in White Sulphur Springs late last month to see how the shoulder season was progressing.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials told him that interest from hunters was extremely high, and that hundreds of elk had been harvested.

Now the commission will vote on expanding the pilot effort to 43 other districts across the state.

The state has more than 160,000 elk.

Of the 138 elk management units in Montana, 80 are over the population objective, according to FWP.

Commissioners will vote on 2016 and 2017 elk hunting season dates, lengths, quota ranges and structures including the establishment of early and/or late elk shoulder seasons in the 43 hunting districts, and liberalizing general season opportunities in many elk districts.

Many of the final proposals that will be presented to the commission by FWP have been modified to reflect more than 700 public comments, both from the meetings and written communications, FWP said.

During the meeting, commissioners also plan to take final action on:

• 2016 and 2017 hunting regulations, season dates, quota ranges and structure for deer, antelope, moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, bison, black bears, mountain lions, upland game birds and migratory game birds.

• Expanding the number of elk hunting districts in western Montana where certain permit holders may hunt from a vehicle.

• Quota ranges for a Helena urban deer plan.

• Maximum numbers of deer, elk and antelope that can be harvested during damage hunts, management seasons and wildlife health authorization quotas.

• A five-year commercial carp fishing permit for Lake Helena and Canyon Ferry Reservoir.

What’s next

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission will meet at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at Montana Wild, 266 Broadwater Ave. in Helena. People may listen to the meeting online at at fwp.mt.gov (follow the link to “commission”) or view a live television feed of the meeting at any FWP regional headquarters or the Helena headquarters.