Public meetings set for proposed hunting regulations for 2020-21

Courtesy MT FWP

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is requesting public review and comment on proposed hunting regulations for 2020-21.

In FWP Region 7, public meetings are scheduled in January in Miles City and Glendive to outline both statewide and regional proposals for people who are interested in attending. Those meetings will be held on:

-Wednesday, Jan. 8 in Glendive at Dawson Community College, Ulman Center Room 102, 7-9 p.m.

-Thursday, Jan. 9 in Miles City at Miles Community College, Room 316, 7-9 p.m.

FWP will accept public comment on the proposals through Jan. 22, 2020 at 5 p.m., with final adoption at the February 2020 Fish and Wildlife Commission meeting. Supporting information on these items can be found on the FWP website under “Opportunity for Public Comment” at http://fwp .mt.gov/hunting, or copies may be obtained at the Miles City regional FWP office.

The proposals address many topics including season and quotas for deer, elk, antelope, moose, sheep, goat, bison, black bear, mountain lion, wolf, turkey, upland game bird, and migratory game bird. There are also proposals regarding hunting district boundary changes, shoulder season changes, season dates, and the biennially adopted quota ranges for licenses and permits. Except for the proposed changes and regular calendar rotation, the 2019 regulations are being re-proposed for 2020 and 2021. For reference, the 2019 regulations are available on the FWP website.

In addition, FWP will also be taking comments on the implementation of a third elk license after the adoption of House Bill 497. Only one of the three elk could be antlered.

Specific proposals for Region 7

In southeast Montana, there are just two region-specific proposals, both affecting pronghorn.

For all Region 7 hunting districts, FWP propose renaming the 700-20 and 700-30 pronghorn licenses to 007-20 and 007-30, respectively, to reduce hunter confusion on where licenses can be used. The current prefix of “700” may make hunters believe the licenses were used in HD 700 or that the whole region is named “700.” This could skew harvest and hunter effort survey estimates, with an overestimate in HD 700 and underestimates in HDs 701-705.

In hunting districts 704 & 705, FWP proposes creating a new 799-30 doe/fawn second-opportunity license (quota 2,500, range 50-4,000) available over the counter to hunters who draw a 007-20 and/or 007-30 pronghorn license.

Region 7 is proposing no changes for deer or elk or any other seasons.

TO MAKE A COMMENT

A public comment period on these proposals is open and will run through Wednesday, January 22, 2020, at 5 p.m., with final adoption at the February 2020 commission meeting.

The complete list of proposals can be found on the FWP website under “Opportunity for Public Comment” at http://fwp.mt.gov/hunting, or copies may be obtained at the Miles City regional FWP office.

Comments will be accepted at the public meetings; online at fwp.mt.gov/hunting; in writing sent to: Wildlife Division, PO Box 200701, Helena, MT 59620-0701; and by email to [email protected].