Has Montana general deer tag become a waste of money?

[sp6x6]

Yes they should have more limited spots in MT,more set up to trophy hunt.You don't have to put in if you don't want.There are a lot of whitetails in the farmland near me, but I can only handle so much tree stand hunting

 

[laker]

When I was working in B.C. years ago . The muley had to have 4 points on a side after after Nov 12 till the end of season to protect the young deer during the rut. It does help

Also run the risk of killing the bucks with good genetics and end up with a lot of big 3pts

 

[Rosebud]

Th

Too many cats, too many wolves and too many bucks being taken during the rut.

They need to get way more liberal on the cat season, IMO they won't be able to take enough cats to make a dent in them. Same with wolves....

As for quality deer, unless one has a very limited entry permit and or are hunting extremely controlled private land then it's going to be very tough to find a main frame 150 Whitey or a 160 main frame muley.

IMO they need to look at the idea of shutting the buck hunting down on November 15th. That would give people a few days of the rut but not 2-3 weeks of it. They could allow for a few rut permits in a lot of the units. This would help with the age of bucks available.

As well, it would be nice to see people stop shooting young and immature bucks. Take a doe and or buy more beef and chicken. If we could slow down the attitude of I bought a tag so I have to shoot something things would come a long ways in 3 or 4 years.

Montana could have some really good buck hunting but it would take work, sacrifice and commitment by hunters, fwp and landowners.

They don't want to loose the non resident tag fees! Some of the highest in the country!

 

[RockyMtnMT]

I think you are all right. The deer hunting in MT is terrible. Anyone, resident or non resident should reconsider hunting in MT. Just not worth the effort.

 

[Rosebud]

I think you are all right. The deer hunting in MT is terrible. Anyone, resident or non resident should reconsider hunting in MT. Just not worth the effort.

Very self serving! The whole state to yourselves!

 

[tonyf3]

The area we hunt we are seeing more cats, and we did see a lone wolf 3 years ago with locals spotting them on and off.
We aren't seeing as many deer as we used to. Things change...

 

[Wallrat]

Very self serving! The whole state to yourselves!

Right. All to ourselves…and the 2,000,000 out-of-staters that moved here 'cuz Montana is awesome. Opening day now resembles a Walmart parking lot. You wouldn't believe it until you try it. I'm a Montanan since 1970…looking at Idaho now. This place is trashed. Can you get a deer here? Sure, mulies aren't smart. But a big buck is a fluke anymore. Elk are even worse. You really have to work at it, or get really lucky. Your average Joe that has to be back at work on Monday doesn't have much of a chance unless he knows a rancher.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Right. All to ourselves…and the 2,000,000 out-of-staters that moved here 'cuz Montana is awesome. Opening day now resembles a Walmart parking lot. You wouldn't believe it until you try it. I'm a Montanan since 1970…looking at Idaho now. This place is trashed. Can you get a deer here? Sure, mulies aren't smart. But a big buck is a fluke anymore.

If you think Idaho is any better you've bumped your head.

 

[Hespco]

Sofar in our area there seems to be decent numbers of whitetail deer. Muleys are harder to come by.

 

[birddog 68]

If we could slow down the attitude of I bought a tag so I have to shoot something things would come a long ways in 3 or 4 years.

I agree with most of your post except this.
If a hunter chooses to shoot a smaller legal buck that's their choice. Not all hunters are looking for a trophy buck.
I would put the blame on fish & game for either not adjusting season dates or limiting the amount of tags and or upping the number of cat tags as this sounds like a large part of the problem.

 

[Rosebud]

Right. All to ourselves…and the 2,000,000 out-of-staters that moved here 'cuz Montana is awesome. Opening day now resembles a Walmart parking lot. You wouldn't believe it until you try it. I'm a Montanan since 1970…looking at Idaho now. This place is trashed. Can you get a deer here? Sure, mulies aren't smart. But a big buck is a fluke anymore. Elk are even worse. You really have to work at it, or get really lucky. Your average Joe that has to be back at work on Monday doesn't have much of a chance unless he knows a rancher.

Yeah, it sucks all the California crazy moved there. Rich people who buy up the best land! Next the political climate will change. I'm truly sorry about the invasion. I was responding to the sarcasm form the hammer guys. No offense was ment.

 

[dfanonymous]

You really have to work at it, or get really lucky.

I wonder if this is the real complaint.

I can understand a population increase.
I can understand not enough predator conservation.

…but it sounds like the total complaint is: "I can't pull of the side of the road, and shoot a deer, and thus I'm sad."

 

[Plinker147]

Well welcome to the west. These
Same population increase happened in every western state. NM population has more than double since I was 18, Colorado oh my gosh has increased. Funny how people grow up in a state think they have more rights than someone who moved to their state. High predator population and high interest in trophy hunting has dwindled most state general and trophy areas to less than they once were. You just have to work harder to get the same results as 10 years ago. It is what it is and it's not going to change or get way better with out extrem cuts in hunting opportunities.

To answer the original question, yes it's always worth it to have a deer tag in your pocket with an opportunity to go hunting and maybe find a good one!

 

[laker]

I agree with most of your post except this.
If a hunter chooses to shoot a smaller legal buck that's their choice. Not all hunters are looking for a trophy buck.
I would put the blame on fish & game for either not adjusting season dates or limiting the amount of tags and or upping the number of cat tags as this sounds like a large part of the problem.

Yep I have no problem with someone filling the tag fwp sold them. They are the ones paid to manage the resource. Hopefully they start soon