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Question regarding game damage issue

O

OldReliable

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2009
Messages
7
Location
Belgrade, MT
Hello all,

I recently launched Doecowhunt.com, ( http://www.doecowhunt.com ) which is a free service to Montana farmers and ranchers. The website allows landowners to use the internet to screen and invite hunters to harvest female big game.

With all the talk about damage to crops and haystacks it would seem that such a service would be welcomed. My question is this: Is this something that I should continue to spend money promoting or does the need for this type of service just not really exist? Would any of the members of this board be willing to register for such a service?

Thanks for any input,
Carl
 
Hi Carl, I met you in Plentywood last spring. I live in Sask. so can't use your service but I think it is a great idea.
Problem is not all great ideas take off. :? Fish and Game have had special hunts and some guys seem to get lots of tags so I am not sure just how you should proceed.
 
i think it's a good idea-would help you know where you can go to hunt and where you can't. My kids and I get access into some grat buck country because we fill all our alloted doe tags.
 
Thanks for the Canadian perspective guys. The idea is to get out from under the need for FWP intervention. Kind of a way to run a DIY game damage program. Also a good way for Montana families to help each other during tough times. Ranching families get better crop yields and hunting families get some tasty backstraps.

I hope some Montana folks will chime in.
 
Hi Carl,
We have suffered from game damage in both our crops and hay. The FWP has a hook up to put hunters with landowners. We tried that one year. Talk about a cluster flop.
We had people just show up without calling. Hunters that shot at our other hunters, shot bucks instead does, trespassed on other peoples property.
I even stopped hunters on the road asking them to come hunt because our doe population was out of control. They wanted the bucks only.

Enough was enough. Any hunters that showed up were told does only or don't bother to hunt.
We now have a few dedicated hunters that come every year and harvest does.
I really like the idea of your site because it allows the landowner to ask the hunters to come to their place and not just have people showing up unexpectedly. It's a better link up.

I'm signed up as a hunter on your site looking for elk for my son to shoot. I'd rather shoot a cow elk then a bull. Getting the does and cows under control is better then shooting bucks and bulls.
I would rather help someone who has the same problem we did.

Since we went from everything is open to does only the ratio of bucks per doe went from 1:50 to 3:15. It does work, but FWP doesn't care.
 
ILH,

Thanks for your response. I forsee this leading to that type of relationship between hunters and landowners. For those hunters willing to stay in touch with a rancher and develop a good relationship such as you have with your hunting group. I will be out of that loop but the news of good results should encourage others to participate. Hopefully the website can at least be self sustaining financially.

We currently don't have any landowners registered for cow elk. I find that amazing with so much news about elk populations above targets throughout SW Montana. I really don't understand the disconnect. Do ranchers really prefer to work through the game damage hunt system?

Carl
 
Carl I don't know.
we tried it with antelope a couple years ago to get a damage control hunt, but was informed that we had to apply for it the year before. We didn't know we were going to have 100+ antelope eating our winter wheat. :mad:
I know of some control hunts that were complete busts because the elk would be on one neighbors, who doesn't allow hunting, but at night coming onto the neighbor who did allow hunting. nothing was harvested.
 
I Luv Herfrds said:
I know of some control hunts that were complete busts because the elk would be on one neighbors, who doesn't allow hunting, but at night coming onto the neighbor who did allow hunting. nothing was harvested.
Click to expand...

I don't want to touch the "harboring" issue with a ten foot pole, but here I go anyway. Your are right about that problem. Elk will always go where there is no pressure. I sat in on a PLPW session and heard a presentation from an FWP biologist who documented this exact problem over by Helmsville. THOUSANDS of elk coming off a very large nonhunted, nonresident owned property onto working ranches. GPS Radio collar data proved the movement of the elk from NR property to neighboring ranches. Very little harvest. NR owner was totally uncooperative and cared less about the neighbor's problems. The property manager who had to live in the community was sympathetic but his hands were tied.
 
Good news Montana folk you've got a gaunted up bronc rider arriving in your midst-it sounds like out of state students will get to buy resident tags down there. give Ty a call at MSU he's not too proud to shoot a doe or a cow elk-he'll be just bringing his bow down since crossing with guns is such a hassle.
 
A lot of the private land around here (which takes in most the river bottom area land) is either being bought up by Hunting "groups" or leased to Outfitters....And as cattle/grain/farm and ranch income prices shrink in comparison to production costs-- more and more land is being taken from access to the public- unless you have the money to pay to hunt...

One of the things Montana/Sportsmen need to do is put much more money into the "block management" program- and payments to landowners to match the rising costs- or soon there will be little left to hunt except for the rich...

I've tried to- and have kept my land open to everyone as long as I know who is there- but as the profit involved with hunting leases/outfitting keeps rising so much faster than production profit- it won't be long and you see few being able to resist the money offered....

It appears to me that I am totally surrounded by hunting groups or outfitter leased property anymore....

http://ranchers.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=394508#394508
 
I hear what you are saying Oldtimer, aahhh for the good old days.......

I think you are right about more money for Block Management, I think Montana hunters would be willing to pony up more money on their licenses for that. I know I would. The fly in the ointment is that the majority of the money comes from out of state guaranteed tags.

I don't agree with this, but I have heard of a hunters group that has launched a petition to outlaw private land outfitting. If they get enough signatures it will go to the voters. What a hornets nest that will stir up. Like you say, that outfitter money keeps a lot of ranchers on the land. I think that is FAR more important to the state of Montana than the selfish desires of obsessed trophy hunters. I have no problem finding places to hunt, Forest Service, State Lands, BLM, CMR, Block Management, I hunt them all. :wink: :D :!:

Carl
 
Hey Oldtimer, on another subject, do you find that there are more deer coming onto your property from the less hunted lands that are outfitted? Do the outfitters get enough female harvest to control numbers? I'm thinking of taking another run at MOGA and see if more outfitters would be interested in the website.

Thanks, Carl
 
OldReliable said:
Hey Oldtimer, on another subject, do you find that there are more deer coming onto your property from the less hunted lands that are outfitted? Do the outfitters get enough female harvest to control numbers? I'm thinking of taking another run at MOGA and see if more outfitters would be interested in the website.

Thanks, Carl
Click to expand...

Yep- except during hunting season when my open to the public land gets used- and the outfitter leased and private "game farm" lands only get one or two high paying clients at a time- and a lot less pressure- they stand across the road in the now semi closed area looking at me- sometimes in herds of hundreds...
Few females are harvested off the outfitter lands (they pay the big bucks to get big bucks)..... And even when the Fish and Game allows damage or overpopulation non antlered hunts- they are usually so late in the year that the bucks are losing their horns- so the leased out landowners/outfitters don't want to take the chance of losing a next years trophy buck by a nonantlered hunter...

About the only thing you can do on winters like last year is build bigger and higher deer fences around the haystacks....

On the bright side in the case of my new potential neighbor/landowner- he is quite a sportsman- and former Fish and Game executive- so may understand the importance of cull hunts and preventing overpopulation in an area...
 
You know timber wolves eat deer too-just had to give a little poke. The key to keeping game under control is youth tags-kids just love to hunt and we need more doing it.As far as I'm concerned they should give youth anterless tags out for free. Another solution is 'earn a buck' where you need to fill x number of doe tags to get a buck tag. I used to guide whitetail hunters and most of them would of gladly took a couple does to give to the food bank.
 
NR they have a youth sportsman tag set. It is for kids just starting out and they get a deer, elk, fishing and conservation tags. I think it is around $45.
Kids that just completed hunters safety get it for free.
 
Here's some news you might like-we saw a big old timber wolf laying dead in the middle of the highway going through Utah-drove 700 plus miles today and the only wildlife we saw was a seagull lol.
 
Thanks for those replies. I have had the earn-a-buck idea bouncing around in my head but it would require a re-do of the website $$$$!! Gotta let this thing get off the ground as it is for at least this hunting season and see where I want to go next year. Earn-a-Buck would attract more hunters but I can't see it attracting more landowners.
 

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