Bear hunting in mt

[sheimer]

[dhostetler]

Ok for a little back ground on this bill. A couple years ago there were several posts on here about bear hunting. I was involved with several of you about trying to get something going. Some of us went to the Montana State Houndsmen Association meeting in White Sulpher Springs and helped vote Josh Cook in as a board member, he is a very pro - bear guy. The State Association board agreed to support this. For Bear Hunting to be allowed the Montana Code 87-6-404 needs to be revised. This bill does just that. If this bill doesn't pass we won't get bear hunting. If this bill does pass we will still need to go through the FWP Commission which will probably be pretty hard. This bill is a pretty weak bill as it only gives the Commission authority to create a bear hunting season it doesn't force them. Several of you wanted a bill to force a bear season however I figured the bill as written will be a lot easier to get passed then a bill that will force a season. If we get this passed and on the books we at least got it legal under Montana Code. If the Commission refuses to give us a bear season we can go in with a more forceful bill in the 2015 session.
Somehow I ended up being the lead guy on this. I would've prefered to have somebody else be the lead guy as I have a business with 20 employees and don't really have the time for this but I am doing my best.
Last summer I realized that not much was being done on this. A friend of mine in Lewistown knows Bill Harris, so he talked with him about it and Bill said he would consider submitting a bill. In September I met with Bill and showed him some of my research and my draft of the bill. He agreed to submit the bill and said the bill as written is perfect and just submitted as is though the bill writer entered in black bears rather than just bears. I had purposedly only specified bears as I wanted the bill to give authority for a future grizzly hound hunt.

I will be at the Jan. 22 hearing come hell or high water and I believe the more people there the better. I am planning to mail a letter to each of the Committe members stating our reasons etc. As I have been working primarily with Josh Cook I e-mailed the letter to him for his approval, he hasn't replied back yet. Once I gain his approval I will e-mail it to everybody that PMs me there e-mail, so we can all be on the same page. I also want to call several of you that posted your phone numbers and sent me PMs when I get a moment.

My cell 406-291-3428

[REB]

I will be there at the hearing,I have Emailed my support to my state rep.I'll talk to everybody I can to get support for this bill.

[iinvno1]

four o six

[jbc67]

In addition to Scott's link, here's another thread discussing this topic:

montana-bear-hunting-with-hounds-t21695.html

I also want to add something to what's been said about HB 144. It may not be perfect, but it is more than adequate. The bill may not use demanding language forcing the FWP to implement a hound hunt statewide, but it specifically allows hounds to be used for black bear hunting, and it uses the same permissive language that's used in the statute for lions and bobcats. The fact is that FWP must implement the intent of the legislature in passing this law, which would result in a hound season of some sort. The details of locations, grizzly areas, spot and stalk vs. hound season dates, how far to go in limiting non-residents, etc. would all be worked out later by FWP during its formal rule making process, where the public and houndsmen would be deeply involved and we can give our 2 cents on every detail. I like the fact that the bill is not too forceful and allows for some discretion from FWP, which is necessary to gain their support and necessary for them to properly manage, it also allows us to be more involved in the details later on. But if we don't get this bill passed then hunting black bears with hounds will probably never happen here and the FWP will never be able to let us hunt hounds. There is an anti predator mentality in local politics right now that we can capitalize on. For those who were hoping to avoid the spotlight, it is too late-- public attention has already been drawn to our hounds. Now we'd better put out a strong showing or our hunting rights might be at risk down the road. Anyone who thinks that their kids will always have the same hunting privileges as they do has their eyes half shut. I think it's worth fighting for just to move the ball in the other direction for once. It's good that people are passing phone numbers around and trying to create a network, but all that means squat unless people take action. If you haven't called the legislators or the FWP Committee about this bill then do it. If you haven't written any letters or emails to the reps then start. If you are a member of a StockGrower's Association or some Houndsmen association then pressure your leaders and get them involved. Showing up at the hearing will probably make the biggest difference of all. It's nice to be organized, but if everyone just sits around waiting for instructions then nothing will get done. Having a mob sized group of supporters show up would be great, even if we aren't all using the same words. I think it's more honest that way anyway. Don't wait to be told what to do--just get going!

[jbc67]

In case anyone wants some articles or facts to send letters to FWP Commissioners or legislators, below are links to a number of articles addressing black bear problems.


http://www.missoulabears.org/resources/news.html

http://missoulian.com/news/local/wildli ... 002e0.html

http://missoulian.com/news/local/apple- ... 002e0.html

[triple s]

thanks for all the info i will let my buddys know about it. I will keep watching what is going on let me know what i can do.

triple s

[Terry L. Zink]

I will be there to testify, I will put together a good letter. I've worked for a long tme here in Montana on a lot of hound hunting issuses. I have connected several other houndsmen who will be willing to testify also. I also spoke to bill harris and he needs houndsmen there to fill the room. If anyone has anything they'd like or can add to letter please feel free to e-mail at houndy65@yahho.com or call me @ 1-406-253-4670.

[406hound]

On HB144, I can say this: I encourage all houndsman, from MT or elsewhere, that want the opportunity to ever run bears in MT to join the Montana State Houndsman association and let it be know that their support of this bill is what is driving you to join. I can say MSHA will back this bill if it is what the members want so we need members who support this bill to support MSHA.

[Ringo]

I was wondering if any of you guys have talked to any of the fwp and if any of them are for bear hunting with hounds?

[jason]

http://leg.mt.gov/css/sessions/63rd/legwebmessage.asp

The above link will allow you to send the committee a message if you are unable to attend the hearing.

[Tree talkin]

I've sent out some emails to my district and a couple surrounding me. Hopefully we can get this passed! I'm only 21 and really don't care for politics but I care on this issue! It's amazing how much you find out about your local politics when you start looking into stuff.

[jbc67]

[406hound]

When it comes to biologists that work for the FWP, at this time you probably won't get any to take a stand on this issue because they are employees of the state and are not really supposed to get involved at this point. Once Helena has made a decision they are essentially to keep in line with that. The best thing would be to meet with your area's commissioner. If you can, you might be able to get a FWP biologist to set in on that meeting with you to give the commissioner some input. I and another fellow MSHA board member are meeting with our commissioner tomorrow.

[dhostetler]

Following is the reply from my local State Senator Chas Vincent in response to my request to know who to contact for FWP support:

This bill has been run before a few time by a few different legislators. It has passed out of one house and died in another both times I believe. The Dept as a whole is in transition and restructuring, so I'm not even sure who best to talk to about it right now as things are so fluid. My best advice is to work the committee members in the House. Letters from interested parties and phone calls to committee members followed by a strong presence at the committee hearing is the best foot forward. Also cc the speaker of the house in the letters as well.

I will follow the bill and talk to some of legislators myself.

Good luck!