Open Letter to Montana FWP

This morning, eating breakfast, on my pool deck, watching whales off the coast of Baja my phone rang.

I very seldom answer calls from numbers I don't recognize, but this was from Bozeman, Montana, so I answered.  I seldom get cranky or asshole phone calls from Montana.  Neither do you.

I  answer.  It was a paid contractor hired by the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks to conduct a telephonic survey of big game hunters in Montana this past fall. 

I have wondered for years why Montana doesn't stop wasting taxpayers' money on the retrieval of ALL hunter data, which will continue, not just SOME hunter data.

Why can't Montana do what other states do that require MANDATORY hunter reporting?   Some states will fine you, others will not allow you to apply for a license the following year.  So simple, so easy, everyone has a cell phone.

Silly me, I thought, the survey results were critical and used to improve game management; however, I don't think that is the case. In fact, I think it provides very little information to improve animal herds and more about how to show statistics, so FWP can justify their jobs.  Granted, it’s not about fixing the deer herd. Filling out a harvest survey on a swan tag doesn’t do much for the deer herd. Or a cow elk harvest. I’ve never claimed any of this would fix the Montana mule deer herd, because I’m smart enough to know that buck hunting has nothing to do with deer herd numbers and the health of the deer herds.  

FWP, you have so much "intel" to glean from these calls, why not do it?

This caller, who was professional and diligent, only asked me about the two deer tags I had in Montana this year.   She didn't question me on whether I had harvested an elk, asked nothing about waterfowl or how many I had bagged, no mention of partridge, pheasants, doves or turkey.  Had no questions about the number of predators I might have killed.  Did not ask me where I had stayed, whether in public or private accomodations, whether I had paid for access, whether I travled by air or drove, hired an outfitter, hunted public land, witness any game law violations, hunted private land, the change in the number of animals I might have observed if I had hunted in Montana in previous years, and on a 1 to 10 scale as a non-resident what I thought of the Montana season overall and my hunt.  Didn't close with any open-ended comments like "Will you apply again to hunt in Montana?" or "Is there anything else you would like to add to your overall hunting experience this fall in Montana?"

The call ended and I felt this feeling of dread.

Mule deer numbers are dismal in Montana.   That may never change in my life.

FWP was still issuing mule deer doe tags in Region 7.  If you care about mule deer, it's unbelievable what government won't do for herd health.