Montana to cut deer tags

[Icepirate]

Was visiting with a sponsor of the Clean Water Wildlife and Parks ballot measure 2013. Out of that the Outdoor Heritage Fund was created at $15 million. That passionate sponsor has never attended a meeting or has not once visited the website. They had a meeting Tuesday.

https://www.ndic.nd.gov/research-grant-programs/outdoor-heritage-fund

Meeting minutes and recordings are not up to date.

Instead click on Grant Rounds and Final Reports. Grant Round 27. Proposals. And advisory board members.

The wildlife non-profits are making off with your money faster than the Somali non-profits.

those dat gump non-profits and their conservation liking ways....how dare they try to improve habit in a state with overall terrible habitat..

 

[Kurtr]

those dat gump non-profits and their conservation liking ways....how dare they try to improve habit in a state with overall terrible habitat..

What have the done? Delta has the nest box program and predator trapping program and paying farmers to wait to cut winter wheat till the ducks have hatched. Those are all things that results can be seen. Alot of the other non profits do alot of pint nights and talking but see little on the ground results

 

[Tymurrey]

What have the done? Delta has the nest box program and predator trapping program and paying farmers to wait to cut winter wheat till the ducks have hatched. Those are all things that results can be seen. Alot of the other non profits do alot of pint nights and talking but see little on the ground results

I've had some good luck with our local chapter of pheasants forever too, they have chipped in some when i asked for habitat projects and things like that. They are handcuffed some by the organization on what they can spend their money on though i believe.

 

[Tymurrey]

As far as montana cutting tags the last time i was in eastern montana hunting deer was 2 years ago. I had been going out there for 5 years before that i think. Each year there was some fluctuation on the deer we seen but two years ago was the worst. Buck quality is absolutely terrible in the area we hunt. Looking at the available doe tags in the area it seems like they were trying to reign in the harvest and each year were dropping tags. Also they went to only being able to shoot does on private land and the block management areas. When i asked about that they said something along the lines of letting the landowners regulate the deer better and to help push them off private land. Hopefully the herds recover with the changes.

 

[bucksnbears]

I feel the lack of deer in wide open terrains started when the 6.5 creedmore came out. Deer that were somewhat safe at 500 yards were no longer safe.


Simple answer is: most areas ND no longer has enough winter habitat to sustain high #s of deer.
And if there is a pocket of good habitat, the surrounding area is gonna get Hammered.
You guys just need to realize (as much as it sucks), it ain't coming back. IT CANT!

Deer can't eat dirt nor survive harsh winters bedding in it.

 

[SDMF]

https://www.outdoorlife.com/conservation/montana-reduces-nonresident-deer-tags/#:~:text=In an effort to reign,available in 2026 and 2027.

Looks like Montana is cutting its nonresident deer tags starting next year. I've hunted in region 7 many times for deer, but haven't the past 5 years or so. That area already had a lot of NR hunters and then add in EHD, you could see the herds get smaller and smaller year after year. With the reduction in revenue, one has to wonder if they will up tag prices again. Still a fun hunt though and hopefully can get back out there again.

2500 tag reduction for MT NR’s is pissin’ in the wind.

 

[Tymurrey]

2500 tag reduction for MT NR’s is pissin’ in the wind.

I don't think it will do much overall but the reduction in their deer B licenses is where the differences will be made i feel. From their deer b drawing statistics for the 600 units which i think is the NE part of the state They have dropped tags dramatically.

2020: 9,800
2021: 14,100
2022: 6,100
2023: 6,200
2024: 2,825
2025: 1,425

Hopefully this will let the population bounce back. I'm not sure what their target numbers are for these areas but looks like things can change pretty fast.

 

[Tymurrey]

The area we hunted in montana wasn't really rugged ground just a mix of farmland, hayland, and pasture land. Not a whole lot different than what we have in many areas of north dakota. The difference was their deer herd was mostly mule deer with the occasional whitetail and another thing i noticed was the areas that were CRP it was different grasses than around home. Our CRP seems to lay flat after the first snow, theirs must be more of a mix of warm season tall grass prairie. Our brome grass and other cool season grasses that seem to take over everything is great for grazing but crap for winter habitat.

 

[SDMF]

I don't think it will do much overall but the reduction in their deer B licenses is where the differences will be made i feel. From their deer b drawing statistics for the 600 units which i think is the NE part of the state They have dropped tags dramatically.

2020: 9,800
2021: 14,100
2022: 6,100
2023: 6,200
2024: 2,825
2025: 1,425

Hopefully this will let the population bounce back. I'm not sure what their target numbers are for these areas but looks like things can change pretty fast.

2-3 years worth of "0" B's I don't think would be a bad thing. Yes, you'd put the buck/doe ratio a bit out of whack. Triple the reduction in NR deer tags would help that out. Lots of NR folks would just have to be happy only having an elk tag, or 2 if you drew an elk B as well.

I say the above as a NR hunter in MT. I've drawn 18 MT NR tags since 2001 (2019 was deer combo only as an alternate, the rest have been elk/deer combo tags). I'll take the Gut-Punch on tag #'s as a NR if it means residents regs mostly don't change. My reasoning is that for the most part, I haven't experienced issues w/MT residents as a NR DIY hunter. I don't hear a lot of grumbling about DIY NR's when I'm there.

 

[Tymurrey]

2-3 years worth of "0" B's I don't think would be a bad thing. Yes, you'd put the buck/doe ratio a bit out of whack. Triple the reduction in NR deer tags would help that out. Lots of NR folks would just have to be happy only having an elk tag, or 2 if you drew an elk B as well.

I say the above as a NR hunter in MT. I've drawn 18 MT NR tags since 2001 (2019 was deer combo only as an alternate, the rest have been elk/deer combo tags). I'll take the Gut-Punch on tag #'s as a NR if it means residents regs mostly don't change. My reasoning is that for the most part, I haven't experienced issues w/MT residents as a NR DIY hunter. I don't hear a lot of grumbling about DIY NR's when I'm there.

I agree with that. It always amazed me that it was so easy to get a combo tag out there as a non resident. It was only a matter of time before all good things come to an end and reducing non resident tags wouldn’t be a bad thing. I would love to see no “b” tags in the area I hunt for a few years if it meant we would be able to hunt good numbers with a tag or even two out there again especially when my kids get old enough.

 

[Kurtr]

The one thing its sounds like there is no shortage of whitetails out there pushing the mule deer out so keep killing the white tails

 

[SDMF]

The one thing its sounds like there is no shortage of whitetails out there pushing the mule deer out so keep killing the white tails

Dunno where that might be, but, it's not Region 6 and unlikely it's Region 7 either.

"Out There" is a BIG place. There's pockets of higher populations but NOTHING like it was through the 2000's for whitetail or MD.

When I 1st hunted region 3 for elk in '02, every single pivot from Billings to Dillon that you could see from the road was FULL of deer. Now it's maybe 1:50 you see with a bunch of deer out lazing all day, the rest have the odd deer here or there on a distant corner. Habitat in 3 has changed VERY little in that time.

Lower populations in 6/7 make sense w/CRP mostly gone. No much for beans or row-crops in that country though so populations have still fared much better than the areas in ND that used to be an ocean of CRP and are now an ocean of homogenous beans and/or row crops.

 

[Kurtr]

Dunno where that might be, but, it's not Region 6 and unlikely it's Region 7 either.

"Out There" is a BIG place. There's pockets of higher populations but NOTHING like it was through the 2000's for whitetail or MD.

When I 1st hunted region 3 for elk in '02, every single pivot from Billings to Dillon that you could see from the road was FULL of deer. Now it's maybe 1:50 you see with a bunch of deer out lazing all day, the rest have the odd deer here or there on a distant corner. Habitat in 3 has changed VERY little in that time.

Lower populations in 6/7 make sense w/CRP mostly gone. No much for beans or row-crops in that country though so populations have still fared much better than the areas in ND that used to be an ocean of CRP and are now an ocean of homogenous beans and/or row crops.

Just going of what the residents are saying about r6/7.