Montana FWP - Eastern MT antelope management

The Hedgehog · Mar 21, 2018

Montana chooses to manage 6 large units (region 7 roughly 1/5 of the entire state) as one unit. There is tremendous potential and great habitat from one end to the other. Over the years, the "with a broad brush" region 7 antelope management has proven it's obvious flaws. Several once-great herds have suffered die-offs to disease and weather -with limited ability to ever recover.

Last year, there were 7,500 either sex permits issued and 1,500 doe/fawn permits. Additionally, 5,600 archery license valid from mid-August to mid-November.

What is the prediction of how MT FWP will respond to the region 7 quotas this fall, given it's likely the worst winter in many decades, from one end of region 7 to the other?

Nostradamus...

Southern Elk · Mar 21, 2018

I don't have a crystal ball, but I agree with you that it doesn't make sense to manage Region 7 that way, especially when you consider how tightly they manage antelope in other parts of the state. You can't throw a rock without hitting one where I live, which makes the quota seem very low. I've seen herds on pivots half the size of the quota for the whole unit.

If I had to guess, I would say Region 7 quotas will remain unchanged from last year.

rustneversleeps · Mar 21, 2018

When are we going to realize the true impact of this last winter? I am going to wait until the last second before putting in for my tags - hoping the FWP will release some sort of idea on the die off/impact. I'm sure its on a lot of people's minds

MThuntr · Mar 21, 2018

rustneversleeps said:
When are we going to realize the true impact of this last winter? I am going to wait until the last second before putting in for my tags - hoping the FWP will release some sort of idea on the die off/impact. I'm sure its on a lot of people's minds

They don't do their counts until after the application deadline

Ben Lamb · Mar 21, 2018

Gelegenheit Uber Alles

BlakeA · Mar 21, 2018

Easy. Zero changes.

They did make the 900 archery tag a separate drawing so you will no longer be able to draw it as a 2nd choice. So there's that.

tjones · Mar 21, 2018

Mthuntr said:
They don't do their counts until after the application deadline

This, so you could be applying for permits that do not exist.

---- · Mar 21, 2018

For reference, this is what they did after the winter of 2010/11-

Year------Buck--------Doe
2010----11000-------2000
2011-----6500--------250
2012-----2000--------100

It would be nice to not see them make the mistake they made with the 2011 buck tags. I think the change they made from 2011-2012 was a year too late.

I can't speak of how comparable this winter is to 2010-11, having spent this winter in the banana belt, but I'd be very interested to hear from the guys that are over there how it compares.

I agree that the numbers over there are an absolute shame, I can't imagine how they'll be after a substantial winterkill.

tjones · Mar 21, 2018

How was the winter in the 600's-like North side of Fort Peck? I know Miller's country got hammered, but how about Malta/Glasgow?

MThuntr · Mar 21, 2018

tjones said:
How was the winter in the 600's-like North side of Fort Peck? I know Miller's country got hammered, but how about Malta/Glasgow?

They shutdown the highway south of Malta several times due to drifting though I don't think it got quite as bad as it did in 2010-2011

NYSKIER · Mar 21, 2018

BlakeA said:
Easy. Zero changes.

They did make the 900 archery tag a separate drawing so you will no longer be able to draw it as a 2nd choice. So there's that.

I think that is definitely a good change. Especially for bow only guys like myself

SoundToMountains · Mar 21, 2018

Wondering this myself. We took two bucks in 700 this year with very little fat on them. Was a tough summer and a worse winter.....

The Hedgehog · Mar 21, 2018

NYSKIER said:
I think that is definitely a good change. Especially for bow only guys like myself

I hope the perceived value of "choose your weapon" will outweigh that of an antelope permit that isn't worth wiping with, for many years.

Schaaf · Mar 21, 2018

tjones said:
How was the winter in the 600's-like North side of Fort Peck? I know Miller's country got hammered, but how about Malta/Glasgow?

It gets progressively worse going from Glasgow to Havre. This past week I have spent some time roaming around the rough stuff close to the lake and have been surprised by how the animals have fared. I think one thing that helped this winter was the snow never developed a crust until a week into March.

Comparing it to 2010-11:

Glasgow is nowhere near as bad as that winter as well as areas going down near Glendive. I cant speak to comparisons farther down in SE MT.

BWALKER77 · Mar 21, 2018

The Region 5/7 border area comprissed of Big Horn, Treasure and Yellowstone counties was hammered by snow. The antelope look to be in pretty poor shape in Big Horn county in particular with a fair amount of poaching thrown in.

---- · Mar 21, 2018

Schaaf said:
This past week I have spent some time roaming around the rough stuff close to the lake and have been surprised by how the animals have fared.

How well they fared or how poorly?

Schaaf · Mar 21, 2018

Randy11 said:
How well they fared or how poorly?

That was worded poorly. In my opinion, they have fared well in areas that hold a little topography.

MTGomer · Mar 21, 2018

Still about 3’ of snow on the level by Sarpy Creek last weekend.

teamhoyt · Mar 21, 2018

Glendive didn't get much for snow this winter, if we don't see some spring rains we will be in a world of hurt this summer. Prolonged cold temps was more of our issue.

As for your comment tjones on applying for tags that don't exist, don't see it ever happening. Our fwp does not manage proactively except as it applies to shooting everything that moves so we don't have food and security cover issues for the next winter.

You can bet that if the winter kill numbers are lower than expected this year those 10000 antelope tags and 8500 muley doe tags will be considered the reason why.

Animals here survive in spite of the fwp, not because of them, imo.

belly-deep · Mar 21, 2018

Randy11 said:
For reference, this is what they did after the winter of 2010/11-

Year------Buck--------Doe
2010----11000-------2000
2011-----6500--------250
2012-----2000--------100

It would be nice to not see them make the mistake they made with the 2011 buck tags. I think the change they made from 2011-2012 was a year too late.

I can't speak of how comparable this winter is to 2010-11, having spent this winter in the banana belt, but I'd be very interested to hear from the guys that are over there how it compares.

I agree that the numbers over there are an absolute shame, I can't imagine how they'll be after a substantial winterkill.

A truly concerned FWP would have cut all the doe tags and made the either sex tags buck only. But I digress....

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