Mule deer advisory counsil
Montana
Fish, Wildlife & Parks received almost 100 applications to be a member of the Mule Deer Citizens’ Advisory Committee by the deadline in January. It has taken us quite a while to read all of the applications and determine who best represents mule deer enthusiasts in Montana with so many well-qualified applicants. This email is just to let you know that we are still working through the evaluation process and hope to be able to announce the selected candidates around the end of March. There are many competing demands for our time and the selection is difficult at best. We haven’t forgotten you and hope to be in contact with you soon!
I will be interested to see what this group comes up with and if their recommendations are followed. I hope they do a good job, mulies don't get much respect from FWP in my opinion.
Are you part of the group then Steve?
I did apply but the group hasn't been picked yet
Well good luck I know you'd be good for mulies. Let us know when you start!
just got notified that I did not make the Counsil but a local outfitter did hum go figure
Yeah go figure. I can't find a list of who made it, do you know if the list is published anywhere?
I've looked but can't find it either, the outfitter on the list said he was notified ??
these are the members of the Mule deer counsil let them know what you think about Mule deer, Beau Albright, Kalispell
Eric Albus, Hinsdale
Rob Arnaud, Gallatin Gateway
Gwendolyn Cooper, Bozeman
Cory Danreuther, Loma
Jeremy DeHerrera, Billings
Rick Douglass, Butte
Mitchell Griebel, Glasgow
Arthur Hayes, III, Birney
Tom Herzog, Broadus
Mike Mershon, Billings
Bill McKinley, Jr., Conrad
Ian Wargo, Kalispell
Joel Webster, Missoula
The MD council released their guiding principles. I am not impressed.
List is missing several names. non of the proposals will make it even montanas fws said its, doa
here is the recommendation from the mule deer council, NOTICE the change in the archery seasons:
The Big Change to Deer Hunting:
1.) Deer: Choose your region, choose your species: The idea is to spread around pressure and move the mule deer hunt out of the rut. Hunters must select a region and a species to hunt. This does not limit the hunter on OTC regional B licenses or unit specific B licenses. If you wish to hunt antlered mule deer in eastern Montana, who have to declare the region and the species. This limits your antlered hunting to that area, but you still may utilize a B license in the unit it is valid.
What doesn't change:
1.) Limited entry districts do not revert to the new general season structure, as they have limited pressure already, and can sustain longer general seasons. 2.) The backcountry hunts in the Scapegoat and Bob Marshall, Absaroka Wilderness, etc. stay the same. 3.) Two day youth hunt remains the same. Youth hunters during this two day season will not be limited to single region only and may hunt whitetail or mule deer in accordance with the regulations of the unit they are hunting.
Basic Season Structure: August 25 - September 30th: Archery for whitetail, mule deer and elk
October 1 - October 31: Antlered Mule Deer. Doe harvest by permit only
October Cow Elk Season: Private land only, two weeks in length applied in the middle of mule deer season.
November 1-30: General Whitetail and Elk season. Liberal cow seasons on private land, permitted/licensed on public with very tight limitations to reduce hunter pressure.
December 7-16: Muzzleloader season
December 10-25: Additional Cow only season.
The cow seasons are meant to provide a meaningful alternative to shoulder seasons, which after a decade of use have both good and bad results. The idea on cow seasons is to focus pressure on areas that need it over a shorter period of time in order to “shock” elk back on to public land where tolerance is far higher and to assist biologists in bringing elk populations closer to objective in over objective units.
i believe the number one issue in mule deer management is not actually managing mule deer but managing mule deer hunters, In regions 6 and 7 for instance there are simply to many people, I like the idea of having to designate your hunting region and not being able to hunt mule deer anywhere else. But to take it a step further there should be a cap for each region, I also think the season dates could be changed a bit, Keep archery season as is and open general Rifle season the day after archery season closes and if stopping the hunts during the rut is your concern close the general season for Mule deer with in the first 10 days of November, the rut hasn't kicked in yet,
My feeble mind would need more time to digest. My first thought is I’m confused as to why the ‘mule deer’ council spent so much time on elk? Do I read that right as no bow hunting during October for whitetail? As someone that bowhunts September through Thanksgiving, I have a hard time with anything that changes that. I agree with you on solutions for the number of hunters. Seasons haven’t drastically changed in my lifetime and populations did okay. What has changed a bunch is technology. 300 yards use to be a decent poke. That’s typically my benchmark still today. I’m a really bad hunter if I can’t get inside that distance. Sorry to offend the long range enthusiasts but it’s not hunting to take something beyond 400 yards. Since we can’t seem to reign in technology, maybe we should limit the amount of people out there using it. Any guesses as to why there seems to be more wildlife, mule deer included, on public land limited to archery, shotgun, pistol or muzzleloader?
So not bull elk hunting in October and start the archery bull elk in August way before the rut... That is way out of whack, leave the archery bull elk the same as its been, why make it harder to harvest than it already is with elk number over objective?
