Traditional Bowhunters of Montana Opposed to Expanded Shoulder Season

Recently the FWP Commission requested comment on a proposal to expand late elk shoulder seasons in 19 hunting districts.

The Proposal

FWP is requesting comment on extending the late-season end date extensions to February 15, 2022, for all relevant license-permit types for antlerless elk shoulder seasons in Hunting Districts 262, 290, 298, 390, 391, 393, 411, 417, 502, 510, 511, 520, 530, 540, 560, 575, 580, and 590.

Traditional Bowhunters of Montana Comments Submitted July 26th, 2021

The Traditional Bowhunters of Montana (TBM) is opposed to the proposal to extend the elk shoulder seasons in hunting districts 262, 290, 298, 390, 391, 393, 411, 417, 502, 510, 511, 520, 530, 540, 560, 575, 580, and 590.  TBM is an organization of nearly 200 members dedicated to the preservation and advancement of traditional bowhunting values in Montana.

When FWP established the first shoulder seasons in 2015 they were not meant to be permanent fixtures. They were never intended to be a replacement for the already lengthy 11 week hunting season, and extending them is a bad faith move by FWP, countering the promises made to Montana hunters. At this point the data shows that shoulder seasons have been an abject failure and that they have not delivered on their promises of opening private lands to the public hunter nor have they forced elk on to public lands.

The long-term effect of embracing and extending elk shoulder seasons means that the department is effectively waging war on elk, eliminating opportunities for hunters by forcing elk to private lands early in the season and then incentivizing land-owners to harbor elk throughout the season. There is the additional lack of ethics in pursuing pregnant cow elk through deep snows of winter when every ounce of energy is needed to survive. Montana is better than this and should be the standard-bearer for the ethical pursuit of our shared public resource. 

This proposal falls well short of that and should be considered an embarrassment and a black mark on the department. A department that appears to have lost its way and is no longer managing elk for Montanans, no longer using the best available data and has given up trying to actually manage wildlife.