2016 MT Bison Regs....???

TRS_Montana · Apr 27, 2016

Can someone smarter than me make sense of the bison regs for MT this year? I am putting in my family's applications and there are, what seem to be, some discrepancies between the regs and the application options.

1. The regs state there will be 40 license for the Gardiner/Absoroka HD (HD 385); 20 first season, 20 second season. However, when selecting a first choice, it says that the second season tag is only valid in the Absoroka portion of the HD. There is nothing in the regs (that I found) that discusses this constraint at all.

2. Just like in HD 385, the West Yellowstone HD (HD 395) is split into two seasons. However, when selecting my application choices, there is only one option (early season), which is not the preferred date.

Am I missing something?

Here is the link to the regs:

http://fwp.mt.gov/hunting/planahunt/huntingGuides/bison/default.html

I'm glad it only costs $10 to apply, but even at that price, I'm not sure it's worth it anymore. I'm basically trading 3 beers at the Blackfoot for a small shot of adrenaline right before I see that nobody in my family drew a tag...

Jamen · Apr 27, 2016

I hear you on draws where your odds are not very good and spending the money only to be turned down. But if you don't play you cant win! that held true for me in 2013 when I drew my once in a life time ND elk tag that most spend a lifetime to get odds were 2% to draw. Just got to keep trying one day it will pay off!!

BeartoothFront · Apr 27, 2016

The 2016 regs aren't out. Went over to region 3 headquarters yesterday searching for them. The lady said the hunt numbers should all be the same but instead of there being 2 separate season dates its one season. Nov 15-Feb 15. She said something about the addition of a backcountry unit Absaroka/beartooth but I didn't really understand it because it was open last year too. Hope that helps.

TRS_Montana · Apr 27, 2016

Huh. After I started this thread, I sent an email to FWP and asked for some clarification. I don't receive any answer, but now the regs have been updated and it turns out that instead of applying for the Gardiner/Absoroka HD Jan-Feb tag, I applied for the Absoroka backcountry Sep-Nov tag. Not sure what happened.

Anyway, if I draw that one, hopefully I can find someone with some horses that feels like hauling a 2000 lbs behemoth out of the backcountry!

Could make for quite an adventure!

TRS_Montana · Apr 27, 2016

beartoothfront said:
The 2016 regs aren't out. Went over to region 3 headquarters yesterday searching for them. The lady said the hunt numbers should all be the same but instead of there being 2 separate season dates its one season. Nov 15-Feb 15. She said something about the addition of a backcountry unit Absaroka/beartooth but I didn't really understand it because it was open last year too. Hope that helps.

Yeah, I must have been looking at the 2015 regs...

---- · Apr 27, 2016

TRS_Montana said:
Huh. After I started this thread, I sent an email to FWP and asked for some clarification. I don't receive any answer, but now the regs have been updated and it turns out that instead of applying for the Gardiner/Absoroka HD Jan-Feb tag, I applied for the Absoroka backcountry Sep-Nov tag. Not sure what happened.

Anyway, if I draw that one, hopefully I can find someone with some horses that feels like hauling a 2000 lbs behemoth out of the backcountry! Could make for quite an adventure!

My wife and I did the exact same thing. Lesson learned- ALWAYS check the regulations.

I am 100% sure the tag we clicked on when we applied said 'Nov-15 through Feb-15 GARDINER', and wasn't updated to reflect the new wilderness regulations.

What should have been a decent odds tag will likely be very hard to draw due to this snafu. If one of us draws, we won't send the money in for the tag, hoping FWP will give it to someone who has the ability to get back there.

---- · Apr 27, 2016

Randy11 said:
My wife and I did the exact same thing. Lesson learned- ALWAYS check the regulations.

I am 100% sure the tag we clicked on when we applied said 'Nov-15 through Feb-15 GARDINER', and wasn't updated to reflect the new wilderness regulations.

What should have been a decent odds tag will likely be very hard to draw due to this snafu. If one of us draws, we won't send the money in for the tag, hoping FWP will give it to someone who has the ability to get back there.

Here we go- this is what my receipt shows-

KDOG247 · Apr 27, 2016

you can email [email protected] and have it changed.

Bugle 'Em In · Apr 27, 2016

Thanks KDOG247, I just sent that email address an email asking them to make the correction on my behalf. Like Randy11, I too got zinged with the changing info.

Let's hope they are quick to react.

Thanks again.
SW

KDOG247 · Apr 27, 2016

make sure you give them the area you put in for and the one you want to change it to.it only took her about a 1/2 hour to get it done

KDOG247 · Apr 27, 2016

and put in your b-date and als number

Bugle 'Em In · Apr 27, 2016

Thanks KD,

I did include all of that info. Hopefully, they'll reply to my email to let me know it has been corrected. Coming from a gmail accnt, I'm nervous that my email will go into their "spam" folder.

I'll give it a day or so and follow up if I don't hear anything from them.

Thanks again.
SW

TRS_Montana · Apr 27, 2016

Thanks, KD. Hopefully they can change this. If not, I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles.

TRS_Montana · Apr 27, 2016

Randy11 said:
What should have been a decent odds tag will likely be very hard to draw due to this snafu.

That's exactly what bugged me most about this. It was basically a slam dunk to put a bison in the freezer, now it's a long shot....

The Hedgehog · Apr 27, 2016

A slam dunk backcountry bison hunt?

---- · Apr 28, 2016

KDOG247 said:
you can email [email protected] and have it changed.

Thanks for posting that. She swapped out our apps this morning.

Bugle 'Em In · Apr 28, 2016

Agreed...thank you for posting that. She was quick to help when she received the emails. The boys and I are squared away and hoping to draw.

brendog84cj8 · Apr 28, 2016

Glad I came across this thread. This happened to me also, applied when they only had the 2015 regs on the web site. Will be emailing now.

TRS_Montana · Apr 28, 2016

Yep, got mine fixed too.

I watched The Revenant last night, though, and I was starting to get excited about the prospect of hunting bison in the Absarokas. Obviously I'd have to watch the movie a couple more times before I headed out in September, but I'm pretty sure everything I needed to know is in that movie.

KDOG247 · Apr 28, 2016

Your welcome hope someone draws one.

2016 MT Bison Regs....???

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