Commission limits Breaks archery permits, establishes Hi-Line moose season
Montana’s Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission last week finalized hunting rules for the next two years, limiting archery elk permits in Missouri River Breaks hunting districts, establishing a youth pheasant season and also establishing a moose season in Region 6.
Those are just a few of the changes approved by the Commission at its Feb. 20 meeting in Helena. Here’s an overview of regulations with implications for hunting in northeastern and north-central Montana:
The commission limited archery elk permits in those Missouri Breaks districts that have previously been managed with unlimited permits. In 2008 either-sex archery elk permits in Missouri Breaks districts (districts 410, 417, 620, 621, 622, 700 and 701) will be available as a first, second or third choice in the draw. The permit quota will be 100 percent of the most recent three-year average. A limited quota of antlerless archery elk permits will be available to bowhunters as a second choice if they apply for either-sex archery elk permits in the same hunting district. In 2009 the either-sex archery elk permit quotas will be set at 75 percent of the most recent three-year average and the quota for antlerless archery elk permits will be reduced; The commission also approved limited archery elk permits in those hunting districts where either-sex permits are limited in the general season. In 2008 there will be unlimited either-sex archery elk permits, but in 2009 the quotas for these districts will be limited; The commission replaced the unlimited 900 archery antelope licenses with a quota of 5,600 licenses available through the drawing for regions 3-7. The archery antelope licenses may be applied for as a first, second or third choice in the draw; Hunting season dates will continue to be set using the traditional process, except pheasant and antelope openers will be tied to the Columbus Day holiday. Antelope season will open the Sunday prior to Columbus Day Monday and pheasant season will open two days prior to Columbus Day; Permit quotas for deer, elk, antelope, moose, sheep, mountain goat and black bear will be set on a biennial basis. The commission established a range of quotas for each species within each hunting district that can be used without seeking further commission approval; Wolf hunting will start this fall pending legal action. The season opener will be adjusted to the opening of the general deer and elk season except for backcountry areas where the season will open Sept. 15. Trapping is excluded for the first two years of the wolf season; A new two-day youth pheasant season will run concurrent with the existing youth waterfowl season. Limits and allowable harvest mimic the adult pheasant season; A new moose season will be established starting this fall in all of Region 6 as well as the Sweetgrass Hills (District 401). Two either-sex moose licenses will be issued in the drawing. The new moose district designation is HD600; Hunters who draw bighorn sheep licenses in any hunting district except for 301 or unlimited areas can start hunting with archery equipment 10 days prior to the start of the rifle sheep season; Bighorn sheep licenses issued in District 680 will also be valid in Sheep District 620 (portion of the Little Rocky Mountains); Five adult ewe sheep licenses will be issued in Sheep District 622 east of Reynolds Hill Road and will be available in the draw; Hunting District 640 will become smaller as the portion west of Scobey will be incorporated into District 670 and the portion east of Plentywood will be incorporated into District 641. The existing 3-week buck deer season in District 640 will remain in place; The commission implemented 100 antlerless mule deer B licenses in District 641; The commission combined non-resident and resident anterless whitetail Deer B licenses valid in Region 6 into a single quota; The commission also changed the rules governing antlerless elk permits in districts 621 and 622. Antlerless elk permits valid in those two districts are now also valid in District 620, and the 550 District 621 antlerless elk permits will be valid in the entire hunting district; The commission implemented 300 A9/B12 antlerless elk licenses in District 622 (also valid in District 620) that will be valid in both the archery and rifle seasons; Youth antlerless elk permits in District 621 will be valid for all of districts 620, 621 and 622, and youth antlerless elk permits valid in District 631 will be valid in the entirety of districts 630, 631 and 632 during the three-day early youth season and throughout the remainder of the general season; The 680 A9/B12 antlerless elk licenses were eliminated but the new 690 A9/B12 antlerless elk licenses were boosted to 200, and will also be valid in District 680; Twenty five youth antlerless elk permits will be issued in District 690 and will be valid in neighboring District 680; Fifty additional antlerless elk licenses for the general season were issued in District 690, and they will also be valid in District 680; The commission adjusted the boundary between antelope districts 620 and 690 to conform to the boundaries for deer/elk districts 621, 680 and 690.
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