Calendar's Seven-Year Itch Has Montana Hunters Scratching Heads

Print

The seven-year itch has caught up with Montana’s 2007 antelope and pheasant hunting seasons.

In Montana, the general antelope season opener is set by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission policy for the second Sunday in October, with the pheasant season set to open the day before, on Saturday.

These hunting-season standards often correspond with the federal Columbus Day holiday, which annually falls on the second Monday in October. That’s Oct. 8 this year.

Due to the 2007 calendar progression, however, the second Sunday in October falls on Oct.14, which causes the general antelope and pheasant seasons to open a week later than last year. This calendar cycle occurs every seven years.

"We set the 2007 big game hunting-season dates early last year based on Montana’s routine criteria," said Quentin Kujala, FWP’s wildlife management bureau chief. "We’re discussing a few more date-setting checks to follow in the future to ensure that we maintain our traditional season-date structure no matter what the year may be."    

Montana hunting tradition also usually sees a two-week gap between the general antelope season opener and the opening of the general deer and elk hunting seasons.

That won’t happen in 2007. This year, there’s only one week separating the opening of   these big game seasons.

Montana’s five-week long season dates for deer and elk are determined by counting back five weeks from the Sunday following Thanksgiving Day, a decades-old tradition established for Montanans who enjoy hunting over the holiday weekend.    That puts the big game opener at Oct. 21, just a week after the opening of the antelope season.