So there is a petition ( to be on the ballot in November) in Montana to get Outifitters banned. Their argument is, it will provide more public land to other hunters. While I think outfitting is a good source of revenue for the oufitter and for the state, and it gives people chances to hunt in areas they might not beable to without them, there are also a lot of illegal activity that goes on, such as hunting without tags, etc. What are your thoughts on Outfitters?
I like 'em. I hunted with a nice bunch'a guys in S.Carolina...very ethical...managed their herd and got us hunting over soybeans and standing crops. Very productive. State game commissions need to beef up enforcement so the skunks get put out of business.
I believe that putting outfitters out of business will serve to cut the number of out of state hunters, without specifically denying them the ability to obtain tags. It's a back-door method of keeping outsiders out.
I am not big on outfitters hunting on public land, but why not on private land. I realize Mt is much more vast than say MD, and hense possibly be room for outfitters on public land. but if there is a petition, then some hunters must feel squeezed. then its a problem.
I can't imagine a guy feeling 'squeezed' in Montana. THere's guys who just want to exclude out-of-staters from the tag pool. Less 'outsiders' mean more tags for residents.
It's a sorry state of affairs when it comes down to that. If game populations are down, then maybe the TOTAL number of tags should be cut, regardless on resident or non-resident status. Certainly, there's guys who make their living from travelling hunters...an entire industry of outfitters, game butchers, sporting goods stores, etc. IF there's a petition going around, maybe these guys should be made aware of the amount of money they stand to lose because a few guys want a particular resource all to themselves.
Personally I'm all for limited entry tags, or at least manage half the state's areas for torphy quality and the other half for opportunity.
If it takes 10 years to draw an elk tag and I apply to 10 elk states, I can be hunting quality elk every year! vs. hunting every year and not having quality experiences.
I'd certainly give up hunting the same state every year to hunt it every other year if that meant I'd be hunting with half as many people in the field!
Some states seem to completely manage for one or the other, ie trophy quality vs. opportunity, not sure why states really can't manage for both quite well.
Limiting outfitters to private ground sounds interesting, though I'm sure there are arguments against limiting them to only private ground and vice versa about not being able to use them on public land.
Same goes for wilderness areas in WY, requiring an outfitter to hunt those areas. I think really its just to bring more revenue into the state for non-res who want to hunt these areas as well as creating a better hunt for residents. Fair or not.
Personally I'm all for limited entry tags, or at least manage half the state's areas for torphy quality and the other half for opportunity.
If it takes 10 years to draw an elk tag and I apply to 10 elk states, I can be hunting quality elk every year! vs. hunting every year and not having quality experiences.
I'd certainly give up hunting the same state every year to hunt it every other year if that meant I'd be hunting with half as many people in the field!
Some states seem to completely manage for one or the other, ie trophy quality vs. opportunity, not sure why states really can't manage for both quite well.
Limiting outfitters to private ground sounds interesting, though I'm sure there are arguments against limiting them to only private ground and vice versa about not being able to use them on public land.
Same goes for wilderness areas in WY, requiring an outfitter to hunt those areas. I think really its just to bring more revenue into the state for non-res who want to hunt these areas as well as creating a better hunt for residents. Fair or not.
eh....can't say. I've hunted NY, NJ, Maine and S.Carolina. NY appears to be an 'opportunity' hunt where you get a buck if you see one and no attempt is made to manage the herd for quality...too many weekend warriors walking around in the woods with itchy trigger fingers. In NJ, its also opportunity, but game populations are so high that tags are set up where you need a doe before a buck, and you can take almost as many does as you want for the season. In Maine, they've hunted 'if it's brown it's down' for many years. Couple that with traditional destruction of hardwoods and softwoods alike for paper production, and it's also an opportunity type of hunt, with game populations in the Norther Tier at least, to be somewhat scarce. In S.Carolina, I hunted with an outfitter who had an eye on quality....there were minimum antler sizes imposed along with fines for violations and the hunts were pretty good with lots of quality deer taken. I'll tell ya' after hunting brutal November snows in Maine, that shirtsleeve hunting in the 70's and 80-degree temps in S.Carolina seemed like heaven ('cept for the snakes which I'm not used to seeing hunting in the Northeast).
Hunting mostly as a NON-resident, I am somewhat sensitive to petitions and resident initiatives to close hunting seasons down for outsiders. Those of us who travel do so for increased opportunity so being cut out affects us. No matter...there will always be a good hunt to be had SOMEplace. I've been looking at Anticosti Island for a long time...big dollar hunts up there....
Outfitters provide a service to the public, public land, private land, shouldn't matter. However they can't lock others out of public land. If there are abuses, deal with those, don't shut down an entire industry.
I am a Montana resident that is not in favor of this petition!!!
Outfitters can book hunters with the outfitter sponsored tag in Montana, this is a great tool for the outfitter. The non-resident can book his hunt knowing he will draw the tag.
Some greedy residents think this is hurting there hunting. This is not true the number of non-resident hunters has not changed it is still 10%.
This is the type of cry baby stuff that has me thinking about moving out of this state of Montana.
I know one thing, if lets say in MD, I couldn't get deer tags because of lottery or alotment for out of staters, I would be ticked off.
So if MT residents have trouble getting elk tags in thier own state but out of staters are able too thru outfitters, then thats a bunch of crap. I don't blame em.
Hunting Outfitters
