For many Montanans, waking up Friday morning probably feels a lot like waking up Christmas Day. This year, Friday marks the beginning of likely the most widely celebrated season in the state: the general big game hunting season.
Running from Friday through Nov. 29, hunters only have a bit more than a month of general hunting season to bag their harvest. The race is on, though it will look slightly different from seasons past. Even hunting, a sport defined by solitude, is not immune to the widespread effects of COVID-19.
Amidst the ongoing pandemic social gatherings have all but vanished and as a result many people are turning to outdoor recreation as a pastime, meaning it may be a bit more crowded than normal in the field this year.
Base hunting licensing numbers for residents are up 5.86% and non-residents sales are up 2.27% when comparing from October 2020 to October 2019, according to data from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, or FWP.
That number may seem too low to make a substantial difference, but hunters ought to keep in mind that Montana has one of the longest hunting seasons in the country and the nearly 6 percent increase before opening day of general season indicates license sales will likely continue climbing.
“Some people wait until the last minute to buy their licenses, they might go out and grab it on the way to a hunt, so I’m sure we’ll continue to see these numbers increase in the coming months,” FWP Region 3 Information and Education Director Morgan Jacobsen said Tuesday.
In September, Niki Halver, sporting goods manager at Livingston’s Murdoch’s Ranch and Home Supply, said she had noticed a marked change in the number of new hunters purchasing hunting equipment this year compared with previous years, likely as a result of the ongoing pandemic, and some of those new hunters probably contribute to the increase in base hunting license sales.
“I have heard that there’re a ton of first-time hunters this year, because there’s a lot of people choosing to fill their own freezer instead of relying on the meat market,” which has had turbulent increases in prices in recent months, mostly resulting from issues with the supply chain, Halver said.
Any hunters out there without a ready stockpile of rifle cartridges might find themselves out of luck come the morning of a hunt. Ammo supplies are low, and Halver said hunters should be sure to prepare for their hunt earlier than usual and not rely on a last minute ammo run.
“We were told about four months ago by a distributor that the major ammunitions manufacturers were converting their entire production to pistol ammunition, and they won’t be making rifle shells anymore,” Dave Ortz, sporting goods specialist at Murdoch’s said Friday. “Our shelves are starting to go empty. We have no .30-30 Winchester and .308 is almost gone. And then .30-06 is starting to go, too. We only have a couple boxes where we used to have a hundred. So yea, we’re getting depleted.”
Discouraged rifle hunters out of ammo won’t have any better luck turning to hunting with a pistol, an uncommon, but growing trend in the hunting world.
“It’s been probably six weeks since we had pistol ammunition come in,” Ortz said. “The pistol ammo shelves are completely empty and the rifle shelves are getting there. There were millions of new gun owners this year. So that was a huge demand that was not expected.”
Public hunting access sites will probably be crowded, unless no one can find any bullets, but the wildlife forecast for the year looks good so far. According to Michael Yarnall, FWP’s Livingston-area biologist, there shouldn’t be any shortage of game in District 3.
“We didn’t conduct a flight survey last winter for the Livingston area because my position was vacant,” Yarnall said. “That said, running with the 2019 numbers and the observations we’ve made in the field and keeping an eye on the weather, virtually all of the elk in the area are at or above objective. Both mule and whitetail deer are most likely within longterm averages.”
Elk and deer should be plentiful this year, if Yarnall’s predictions hold true, but antelope populations are a different story.
“For antelope, I actually did that survey flight this spring, but region 313, Paradise valley had very low number so we actually had to reduce the number of tags because of that,” Yarnall said, adding that “other than 313, the other regions in the district are within longterm averages.”
According to FWP data, antelope A and B license sales are through the roof, with a combined increase of 61.72% in resident licensing. The hordes of hunters with antelope tags would be advised not to hunt in Paradise Valley.
Check stations
Besides being busier than average, hunters should also be aware that COVID-19 has affected some FWP policies, mainly surrounding mandatory check stations.
An FWP statement released this week outlined the procedural changes hunters should expect at check stations throughout the state, and Jacobsen weighed in on the policies.
“The changes may look a little bit different depending on which station people stop at,” said Jacobsen. “In some places hunters may be asked to stay in their vehicles. Overall our staff will be working to get people out of there as quickly as possible to reduce crowding. If social distancing is difficult, please be ready to wear a mask. We just encourage hunters to follow staff directions to make the check station process go as smoothly and as safely as possible.”
Montana state laws require every hunter to stop at check-stations after every hunt, whether they’re headed home with a 12-point buck or going home empty handed.
Hunter participation is important because check station biologists aren’t only interested in whether a hunt is successful or not, their primary goal is to meet with hunters and discuss conditions in the field, from weather patterns to wildlife encounters.
The process is intended to help FWP gather localized information that can help to learn more about various herd populations and health, as well as to inform changes in regional policies. Jacobsen said he wants hunters to remember that actively engaging in the check station process is every hunter’s responsibility, both legally and ethically and that one hunter’s participation could produce real impacts on hunting as a whole.
CWD
Chronic wasting disease, or CWD, sample stations will also look different this year. The precautionary measures are basically the same as check station procedures, following posted signs and staff instructions, wearing a mask and avoiding crowding.
The primary difference is that, unlike check stations, CWD sampling is entirely voluntary, so hunters opting out of check station participation won’t be noticing anything new.
Jacobsen said that every hunter has an ethical obligation to participate in sample stations. Hunter participation is typically very high, and he hopes this year’s sample numbers aren’t affected by COVID protocols or safety concerns because the samples help biologists understand a disease with so many unanswered questions and such a large impact on regional wildlife.
“The main benefit is (sampling stations) help us better understand what CWD looks like in Montana. Samples give us data that we can use to make sound management decisions to keep CWD at a safe level in Montana. So collecting those samples really helps us understand the distribution and prevalence of the disease in an area,” Jacobsen said.
Any member of the deer family is susceptible to CWD, including moose and elk. While there is a vaccine, the disease is fatal and there is no cure.
One huge incentive for hunters to submit to sampling is that CWD is a risk to human health as well, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
“The CDC says don’t eat meat from animals that are known to be CWD positive,” Jacobsen said. “Providing these opportunities for sampling is also a way for people to know if their animal was positive for CWD so they won’t eat it,” not just for research purposes.
Each year FWP rotates their CWD priority surveillance area in Montana, and this year southwest Montana is a priority area, meaning there will be a more concerted effort to gathering samples from game harvested in District 3.
“What that’s intended to do is gather as much information as possible concerning the prevalence of the disease from this part of the state,” Jacobsen said. “Primarily the way we do that is by collecting samples from hunters at those stations, though hunters can collect samples and deliver them themselves. These locations are at certain areas in the state to collect good data and make it convenient for hunters.”
According to Michael Yarnall, FWP biologist for the Livingston area, CWD has yet to be detected in Park County, but it’s close and getting closer.
“Just over the hill in Gallatin County there have been some cases,” Yarnall said. “Earlier this year they had their first case confirmed, but there have been some additional cases in the area since then. We really encourage people to submit samples, because you can’t manage a disease if you don’t understand its prevalence.”
According to a Tuesday FWP release, FWP was notified in October of 18 deer testing positive for CWD from areas across the state.
Jacobsen said that the most recently reported cases of CWD came from Madison, Liberty, Daniels and Gallatin counties.
Each county had previously identified cases of CWD and Jacobsen emphasized that those areas are simply where the latest cases have been detected.
Statisticians will be disappointed to learn that there are no statewide, or even regional statistics regarding numbers of animals infected with CWD, according to Jacobsen.
“CWD is extremely localized, and its prevalence differs drastically from herd to herd, even in a given area, making it extremely difficult to collect numbers,” Jacobsen said.
Hunters unable to visit a sampling site, or unwilling to risk the social exposure, are encouraged to take their own sample and send it in for testing.
“FWP will cover the cost of testing hunter-harvested animals for CWD,” the Tuesday release said. “Hunters should look online for information on how to take a sample themselves and submit it for testing or bring animals by an FWP regional office for sampling.
