montana bear hunting with hounds

[dhostetler]

MTblack&tan, you are probably right the MBA probably wouldn't support us however if we could win there support it would be great, its gotta be easier to shoot a bear out of tree with a bow than to stalk within 30 yards of one in a berry patch.
Josh, getting the sheep growers association to support us would be great and I would imagine they would support us wholeheartedly.

I have done some minor reasearch online on studies etc. that I think might help our cause. If anybody is interested I will e-mail the documents to whoever PMs me there e-mail address.

[Gary Gentry]

the mba will not support us with out some sort of detailed plan. and it can not interfear with the bear seasons all ready in place. its not about being easier to shoot a bear out of a tree with a bow. I am a bowhunter and I hunt with a long bow not becuse it is easier. I love spot and stock bear hunting as do thousands of other people. Over the years I have been in range of dozens of bears and only ever shot one. I would like to help get a season for us houndsmen. but we need help and support and the only way we will get it is by working with, and not trying to take away from what is already there. Bear hunters dont want us chasing bears while they are trying to hunt them and they are going to be woried about #s also.

[MTblack&tan]

Gary, You hit the nail on the head with that. The battle is not going to be killing bears as much as its going to be just simply chasing bears. Somehow we have to get guys to understand that 9 times out of ten they are not going to have dogs run off the bear they are stalking. In reality is it no different than stalking an elk or a deer or an antelope, and having someone or something screw up the stalk. I know its happened to me several times, but thats part of hunting imo. Once we get a hound season for bear, should we demand that there be no spot and stalk because someone may screw up or kill the bear we were chasing? I think not. Larry and I have already talked about all this, and like any battle, realize that this is going to be hard to convince guys of. Not that it can't be done, just a lot of organized information and guys is going to get it done.

[jbc67]

[kehrer10]

So what exactly do they do with the membership fee's, they sure don't update the website? let's all go and represent the actual hunting houndsmen, I don't care about my dogs placing at a bench show so I think we need some hunters to represent the hound community.

[Rico]

Jeremy, how many of these field trials have you been to? Not all the dogs that show up there are bench dogs, some of the guys even have slick bottom boots.

Jason Levine
799-1451

[larry]

Just giving an update on where things are on this. I have been in contact with several interested motivated people on here and have not had the chance to call back everyone that has pm'd me their number, but plan to do so shortly. We are going to work on a bill to submit in 2013 and we are going to do it right as we feel we have one shot at this. If the bill is defeated it won't be because the bill was flawed in any way. Some houndsmen are going to have concerns, and the bill will have to be a combination of addressing these concerns and what is needed to give it the optimal chance of passing. Forming an asso. is looking like something that is not at the top of the priority list or even necessary, still an option, and yet to be determined as we are just in the embryo stage of this process. The amount of support we want from the MSHA is something we are trying to determine, it definately would be good to have, and we want it, but will not be the backbone or driving force in this movement. It may be a tell tale sign of the struggle we are going to have if we struggle to get even the houndsmen asso to back a hound hunting bill! One would sincerely hope it would be a no brainer for the majority of the membership, if not, we may want to become the majority of the membership. Far as the MSHA meeting on June 4 in White Sulpher, we are still trying to come up with the best course of action, that we have yet to determine but are working on, some more calls and information have to be gathered. I see lots of people posting that they are willing to help, please PM me your numbers so we can get in contact and start putting to use what everyone can contribute, thanks, Cody.

[larry]

Geeting alot of PM's and support, I appreciate and am very glad to see the number of everyone getting ahold of me. If I haven't gotten back to you yet, I will very shortly. Alot of numbers and pm's to return over this holiday weekend. Thanks guys keep it coming

[montananative]

Hope to see everyone in white sulfer today!

[dhostetler]

I attended the field trial and meeting at White Sulpher. To get MSHA to support us it needs to be presented to the board first. At the meeting it was figured out that 4 of the board members hadn’t been paying there membership fees, so that disqualified them from being board members. We then elected 4 new board members with one being jbc67. The new board will meet and decide whether to bring this issue up for membership vote. Scott Cargill a very pro – bear guy was elected as president.

[MTblack&tan]

Sounds like some head way was made then. Sorry I couldn't be there, had to work. Looking forward to see where things go from here. Ready to help if I can.

[jbc67]

Here are some pictures from one of our coon hunts with my state rep. Things have been a little flooded around the river, so the dogs had to fetch the coons out of the water, which is why the coons look pretty wet and poor (my hounds sure make bad retrievers). The rep had a blast and wants to tree some more coons tonight with his brother-in-law. This will make three hunts total. Special thanks to montananative's buddy, Josh, who came with us that night and his dog was first to tree.

[Ringo]

I was just wondering if this houndmen association is really worth joining or not. I have never really been interested in joining one, to be honest I dont even know anything about them. If anyone can tell me anything about them or if they're really fighting for houndsmen rights and hound hunting for bears, me and alot of other people would be willing to sign up.

[jbc67]

The Montana State Houndsmen Association had a Board Meeting over the weekend. Although there were some "luke-warm" discussions about specific language and certain details, not to mention strategies, the Board is going to help get this movement going and support it. We are working on putting some concrete language together so that we can avoid any major pitfalls. One of the major goals is to draft this bill so that lion and bobcat hunting is not affected or harmed in any way. Some of the new board members have worked with legislation before, so I am optimistic. NOW IS THE TIME TO JOIN MONTANA STATE HOUNDSMEN ASSOCIATION!!!! The Board is trying to represent its members and wants feedback! THE BEST WAY TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR A BEAR BILL IS BY JOINING THE MSHA!!! Please spread the word! We told the other Board members to anticipate newcomers who are excited about this movement! If there is ever a time that hunters have a chance to increase hunting rights in Montana, it's now! The grizzlies and wolves have created a political back-lash against predators that we can use to gain support from the general public and ranchers. The link to the newly updated MSHA website is found below, just click "join MSHA" and follow the instructions.

http://www.montanahoundsmen.com/index.html

[jbc67]

I talked to a different Legislator who was a member of the FWP Commitee today, and he said our goal right now should be to gather data and studies showing that hound hunting does not harm black bear populations, that black bear populations need to be managed, that black bear are killing deer, elk, that houndsmen do not harm the environment, that we float on clouds and play harps, etc., etc., etc. A few of these types of studies have already been passed around, and they have helped when talking to biologists and such. If you see any such studies that could help our cause please post links or (legal) copies of them on this forum. To gain support from other sportsman groups, livestock groups, etc. we will need these down the road. Thx.