Region 1
Region 2
Al Kelly
163 Scenery Rd, Libby, MT 59923 406-293-2900 griffguyal@gmail.com
Marlon Clapham 4455 Hoover Lane, Stevensville, MT 59870 406-777-2408 mbaregion2@gmail.com
Kevin Robinson 2110 Wylie Ave, Missoula, MT 59802 406-531-8243 kevin.robinson@technometalpost.com
Region 3
Region 4
Liberty Brown 275 Vigilante Trl. Bozeman, MT 59718 406-581-7216 mbareg3@gmail.com
Justin Doll 1311 15th St S, Great Falls, MT 59405 406-939-0804 j.doll6190@gmail.com
Jess Wagner 201 Big Sky Lane, Lewistown, MT 59457 406-939-3458 jess_wagner2@hotmail.com
Region 5
Region 6
Ben Buller 4143 King Ave East, Billings, MT 59101 406-672-5616 buller_ben@yahoo.com
Tristan Manuel 48538 Anderson Rd, Havre, MT 59501 406-399-5114 HiLineTraditional@gmail.com
Nick Siebrasse 4996 Bullhook Rd., Havre, MT 59501 406-390-0402 bowdude@mtintouch.net
Region 7
EVEN YEARS
Rick Miller PO Box 2336 Colstrip, MT 59323 406-749-0292 grrizzz@q.com
Bob Morgan P.O. Box 1995, Colstrip, MT 59323 406-749-0706 robertredface@gmail.com
Cliff Garness 5901 Western Drive, Great Falls MT 59404 - obsession_archery@yahoo.com 406-788-9009
Jake Garness 5901 Western Drive, Great Falls MT 59404 - powderslayer22@gmail.com
Stephanie Prater 416 Entrance Ave., Lewistown MT 59457 - mthuntress406@gmail.com 406-461-6949
Alisha Zemlicka 283 Upper Violet Road, Bozeman, MT 59718 - massagebyalishia@hotmail.com 406-853-2579 ODD YEARS
Jeremy Harwood 1047 Cheyenne Rd, Helena, MT 59602 - jeremyharwood86@gmail.com 406-579-0678
Mike Shepard 251 7th Ave E N, Columbia Falls, MT 59912 406-250-9806 – michaelshepard7@gmail.com
The MBA Magazine is a quarterly publication of the MBA and is intended to inform, entertain and educate its members on happenings within the organization and to bowhunting in general.
FALL ISSUE, DEADLINE, July 15
WINTER ISSUE, DEADLINE, October 15
SPRING ISSUE, DEADLINE, January 15
SUMMER ISSUE, DEADLINE, April 15
Stories, photos, or cartoons should be sent to Julie Jensen at 5311 161 Ave SE, Kindred, ND 58051 or email jjensen44@mac.com. All materials are the opinion of the author unless otherwise stated, and are subject to being edited. All submitted or published photos may be used by the MBA in the newsletter, and MBA Photo Album and/or on Facebook. Any questions as to policies of MBA please contact the President.
Please send new memberships or renewal memberships to MBA Tresurer, PO Box 426, Helena MT 59624 or call 406-404-6168, register online at www.mtba.org or ask a member.
www.mtba.org
PRESIDENT Ken Schultz
302 Wyoming Ave • Billings, MT 59101 schultzy@iwks.net • 406-598-8550
1ST VICE PRESIDENT
Brian Koelzer 80 Jansma Lane • Manhattan, MT 59741 rocknrollbowhunter3@yahoo.com • 406-570-7997
2ND VICE PRESIDENT
Stephen LePage 2574 Divide Rd • Lewistown, MT 59457 mbaregion4@yahoo • 406-535-5636
Mandy Garness 5901 Western Dr • Great Falls, MT 59404 camoquilter@gmail.com • 406-750-9953
SECRETARY
Jerry Davis 25 Middlemas Road • Helena, MT 59602 pipelinejerry@gmail.com • 406-475-2226
PAST PRESIDENT
Stephen LePage 2574 Divide Rd • Lewistown, MT 59457 mbaregion4@yahoo • 406-535-5636
MAGAZINE EDITOR
Julie Jensen
163 Scenery Rd • Libby MT 59923 jjensen44@mac.com • 701-361-9197
Legislative: Chair: Jerry Davis Jess Wagner • Steve LePage
Financial: Chair: Mandy Garness Al Kelly
Landowner/Sportsman: Chair: Stephanie Prater Tristan Manuel • Jess Wagner Rick Miller
Nominations: Chair: Steve LePage Stephanie Prater
Awards: Chair: Cliff Garness Steve LePage
Membership: Chair: Steve LePage Mandy Garness • Nick Siebrasse
Convention 2023 Chair: Kevin Robinson Marlon Clapham • Mandy Garness
Magazine: Chair: Jerry Davis Cliff Garness • Stephanie Prater
Carp Shoot: Chair: Kevin Robinson Stephen LePages • Jerry Davis Marlon Clapham
Bow-Ed: Chair: Marlon Clapham Nick Siebrasse • Tristan Manuel Al Kelly
Youth Membership and MBA Teen Bowhunter Camp Chair: Marlon Clapham Kevin Robinson • The Doyles
Governance Chair: Jerry Davis • Al Kelly
1ST
2ND
VICE PRESIDENT - BRIAN KOELZER VICE PRESIDENT - STEPHEN LEPAGESECRETARY
TREASURER
- JERRY DAVIS - MANDY GARNESSGreetings All,
First and foremost, I want to start off thanking you for allowing me to be the President of the Montana Bowhunters Association. I am very excited and humbled to be a part of such a “Great” Organization and honored to a part of an outstanding Team of Board Members. I can say Team, because I truly believe that! We have a great group of men and women (old and young) who represent this organization. We meet several times a year and there are hours of deep conversation about the battles that we face in Montana as well as ways we can help other organizations succeed around the State. Many great ideas and thoughts are discussed. As an organization, we really do listen to our members in Montana. We send out surveys on “Survey Monkey” to solicit feedback from our members before we ever make a decision on any topics. We want “you” to have a say in what direction we take on topics and agendas. Your feedback is priceless and greatly appreciated. Thank you to those who have responded over the past several years. Keep the feedback coming!
One of the goals for this year is to build up our membership. The more voices we have, the better the decisions we can make and the more impact we can have in the forever changing policies. We have been seeing a lot of younger bowhunters joining and that’s Outstanding! You are the future of bowhunting in Montana. Many of you have young ones coming up and they will want to hunt as well. For that to happen, we have to continue to fight the battles or there will be nothing for them look forward to. Our ultimate goal is to always fight the battles, but also to make sure we “WIN THE WAR”! That’s why we need you to be actively involved in surveys and out recruiting your friends and family members to join the MBA. It’s a very inexpensive way to have a say in the future of hunting in Montana. Welcome to all our newest members!!!!
Stay connected with the FWP as much as you can. They send out updates on a regular basis. There is an email you can register for and it is montanafwp@ announcements.mt.gov . You will receive emails with great information. I encourage you to get connected with the FWP through this email. If you go to the FWP Website, you can register to receive email updates.
Drawings are now almost complete and not without lots of confusion. Hopefully everyone was successful with their tags they applied for and was able to get any issues with tags resolved. I know the FWP has been busy cleaning up some of these issues over the past couple of months. There are a few last-minute drawings to do, and the surplus tag signup has begun. Let’s hope this goes a little smother than the initial drawings. I’ll leave you with that and remember “Shoot Straight and Always be a Straight Shooter!” Ken
Summer is slipping away at an alarming rate. As I sit in the pre dawn grey light sipping coffee and poking away at this keyboard, antelope season is a scant 30 days away. Let me clarify, that is for those persons lucky enough to draw the 900 archery antelope tag. I did not. Nor did I draw my Wyoming mule deer tag for the first time ever. Grrrr…. It appears I’m going to be forced to hunt elk and whitetail this September. Someone has to draw the short straw, and unfortunately, this year it was me.
For most archers in this country being limited to hunting whitetail, mule deer, elk, black bear, and mountain lion in your home state on over the counter tags sounds like a dream come true! I’m certainly not complaining about the bowhunting opportunity we have here in Montana but with the influx of people moving out west and the numbers of new hunters we are seeing in the woods, the special tags that we once almost took for granted are going to be harder to draw.
Speaking of tags, I’m sure most of you are aware of the dizzying array of elk proposals floating around the state and the upcoming regional meetings. I will let the other board members who are much more knowledgable than me on the subject elaborate further. If possible, I encourage you all to try and attend one meeting and voice your opinion whatever that may be. The only thing that is consistent in life is change. Be it good, bad, or indifferent some folks embrace it while others are adamantly against it. Unfortunately, most sit on the sidelines and prefer to do nothing. The MBA is a membership driven organization and my hat is off to all of you willing to spend your hard-earned money to be a member and have your voice heard.
With the abundant rainfall most of the state has seen and is still seeing, it appears that the critters are all doing well and hopefully the feed will be good to get them all through the coming winter. Fawn numbers around my home and horn growth seem to be looking good as well.
Carp Safari was a ton of fun as usual, and despite mediocre weather, the turnout was great and many fish were harmed. Thank you Kevin for all your hard work organizing the event!
Good luck to all of you this fall and I’m excited to star t seeing pictures and hearing the stories of all your adventures!
Be safe and may your arrows fly true,
Brian Koelzer
Hello Montana Bowhunters Association,
Although I am preaching to the choir, I want to express the importance of belonging to the Montana Bowhunters Association. Your Board of Directors is constantly looking out for threats to your precious bowhunting seasons and tags. In addition, they are also looking for ways to help expand our opportunities.
It used to be that MBA was simply active during legislative sessions, occasional commission meetings and sometimes proposed a tentative. There now seems to be a continuous battle for bowhunting in Montana. It seems that certain groups or individuals are using the legal system more and more frequently to influence wildlife management here in Montana. Currently, wildlife management and your archery seasons are under the threat of two lawsuits. The United Property Owners of Montana (UPOM) have a lawsuit against MT FWP and the Fish and Wildlife Commission over the permit system here in Montana. Also, several individuals have a suit against the same Montana State agencies to allow crossbows into the archery-only season here in Montana. It is a disturbing trend. The entire concept is new to me and I think I would be safe in saying your MBA board is trying to figure out how to adapt to these new challenges. We are learning and, I can assure you, will continue to be your advocates for bowhunting.
On another note, here in Central Montana, we have been receiving some pretty good summer rains and I am hoping that the extra feed for the deer and elk will translate into some large antlers to chase. If you are anything like me, you love the anticipation of bowhunting season, almost as much as bowhunting itself.
Good luck to everyone this bowhunting season.
Sincerely, Stephen LePageAs I write this I am in a remote location in Montana hoping to do a little fishing. But it seems the modern world will not wait for me or any of us. Right now, we as sportsmen and women are under attack on all fronts.
Our politicians seem hell bent on limiting the opportunities we now enjoy in Montana and nationally. The key opposition this time is not the anti-hunting crowd, but instead is a contingent of landowners, outfitters, and politicians who want exclusive access to our wildlife for their own exclusive profit and personal pleasure.
I am not inferring that a majority of landowners agree, but the ones that do appear to carry a lot of influence with Montana’s current administration.
Montana’s constitution is considered to be a model for ensuring not only personal privacy and a healthy environment, but also for ensuring our fish and wildlife are a public and not a private resource.
Montana’s constitution is clear, Montana’s wildlife is to be held in trust for the citizens of Montana – all Montanans, not just a select few.
But now I am hearing rumblings of totally rewriting our constitution which would most likely remove or significantly amend Montana’s wildlife public trust Article. You may ask how that could happen. Well after the next election many believe that those in political power may well hold a super majority, roughly a 2/3 majority in Montana’s legislature. With a super majority, legislators of the majority party could be required to vote in favor of rewriting the constitution or risk the possibility of disenfranchisement with the party. A super majority for either party is not a good thing.
On the national level Montana has a politician who is co-sponsoring a bill to repeal the PittmanRobertson (P-R) Act also known as the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act which was passed in 1937. This Act places an 11% excise tax on all firearms, ammunition, and archery equipment. Those moneys are then used for conservation, wildlife management and habitat nationwide. State agencies receive $3 for every hunting license dollar generated. In the last decade Montana has received almost $2 billion from P-R funds. Without P-R dollars Montana’s wildlife management and habitat restoration stands to lose a significant amount of its funding.
So now the question you may have is what can I do to stop the attack on our hunting heritage. The simple answer is be an informed voter. On the local level, ask those running for the legislature in your district if they will work to protect our public trust wildlife and access to that wildlife and as such protect our existing constitution in particular the Montana Public Trust Article. If they cannot promise you this –Do Not Vote For Them.
On the national level ask the candidates if they support the removal of the Pittman-Robertson excise tax. If they support removal of the tax, then it is apparent they do not support Montana’s hunting public… Do Not Vote For Them.
I hope that we as Montana hunters will vote in mass to ensure that Montana’s wildlife will continue to be public and accessible to all of us now and in the future.
Davis
Ihope you’ve been successful in drawing tags for this fall. I’m plotting some antelope, deer and elk hunting for sure.
I was fortunate to be able to head north to Kutawagan Outfitters in Saskatchewan for a spring bear hunt. They’ve been generous donors to the MBA for years, and have become personal friends over our many trips. My father-in-law and I both harvested black bears and made new friends at hunting camp. My mother-in-law joined us again as well and is becoming the leader of our film crew! If you’re thinking about hunting black bears or white tails up north, be sure to get in touch with Jeff and Annette at www.kutawagan.com
Mandy Garness
The finance committee met to work with Claudia in putting together a budget for this year. I appreciate the input from Jeremy Harwood, Al Kelly, Claudia Davis and Ken Schultz. If you have an interest in participating in future meetings, please reach out to me.
We’ve been out camping, attended a couple 3-D shoots, and put out some trail cameras. One camera caught the running of the bulls. We thought that was in Barcelona, but apparently not exclusively! If you’ve got an entertaining photo you’d like to share, we love to see them. Send us what you’re seeing from your phone, camera, trail camera, anything. You can send them to any board member to be shared with Julie for the magazine. My email is camoquilter@gmail.com
Please remain diligent in communicating with your legislators and FWP committee members throughout the year. There are ongoing meetings and planning for crossbows and elk hunting in particular. It’s paramount that we foster good relationships and positive feedback all year long and not just in the crisis moments in order to build credibility and loyalty. I know I’m preaching to the choir, but we’ve got to do all we can to protect the opportunities we have!
Our summer has been way too busy for my liking. It seems like the wind hasn’t stopped blowing since the Carp Safari, we have been stay at home bodies for the most part.
The MBA got a request to send a Bowhunter Ed instructor to Pat Tabor (FWP Commissioner from Reg. 1) Outfitting School in the Swan Valley. The camp was 120 miles from home and I thought that it was in Region 2, so Merri and I went up to teach a one day Bow-Ed. I took the workbooks up two weeks early so the students could read through them in advance and have an idea what we would be talking about. There were twelve students, all from
Hello my Bowhunting Friends,
I’m writing this and here it is July already. Man this time of year goes by fast! I hope everybody has some great hunting plans to look forward to. I think this year I will just have some shoulder surgery instead of bowhunting.
Not what I was hoping for, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do and I hope to be healed up enough for some late season action.
Last month I had the Privilege of helping with the MBA Teen Bowhunters camp. It was a lot of work with some long days, but was a great lot of fun as well! A great bunch of folks assembled to put it on and it was a great success. We had kids from the full spectrum of experience levels and it was awesome to see the comradery that was built between team members. These kids worked together for each other’s benefit and learned a lot about the great sport of bowhunting. The cooperation and friendship they shared will be memories of the kind they will carry for a lifetime.
Getting to spend time with such a great bunch of people and being involved with the kids was the highlight of my summer. If you can help out with this event (It is a yearly camp) you will come away from the experience with more confidence in the future of the sport we love so dearly. I know I did. When you see Beckie and Jerry Doyle give them thanks for all the effort they put into the camp. Those two are very hardworking individuals who do one hell of a great job pulling it all together! I would also like to give a shout out to all the adults and members of the Libby Archery Club who gave so generously of their time for the kids.
Al Kellyback east. We started at 8 am and stayed with it until 6:30 pm. Took the test and wrapped it up. Everyone passed. I felt like it was way too crammed for my liking, but the students were all in and loved it. Now it looks like they would like us to do another class in August and keep it on the agenda for years to come.
The MBA helped another physically challenged bowhunter with an arm brace that helps him hold his bow in the shooting position. I just got it finished and mailed it off July 14 th and haven’t heard back from him as of yet to see if we need changes or even if it works for him. The last fella that needed a DrawLoc and a place for a wounded warrior to be able to hunt, which the MBA got a contact from Mike Shepard and we passed on the information. After he made contact with the landowner who talked him out of trying to bowhunt and going with a rifle. After having meet with the wounded warrior, it was for the best.
As far as the MBA sponsored Youth Camps, I have a little news on that front. Beckie will have a detailed report on the MBA Teen Elk Camp. I was not able to attend this year, as we were in the middle of haying. I was able to take one day and take Gene and Berry Wensel up to the Magruder Camp on the River of No Return where they gave a talk on youth in the outdoors. It turned into a story telling about hunting but the young campers soaked it up. They spoke for almost two hours. It is a little over two-hour drive from Hamilton so I got to spend five hours in the car soaking up a lifetime of hunting stories. Best day for me. The MBA sent Hunter Edens up to take my place teaching the campers archery for the week and Hunter did a great job. I’m hoping to hand all the events off to him but I know he will be going off the school learning how to weld under water. The Girl Scouts had their week-long camp and I set up the net and shooting butts for them and left them the bows and arrows and once again the girls said it
was their favorite activity all week. And they gave me three boxes of cookies!
I would like to thank all the Sponsors who supported out camps with their generous donations. This is how we fund all the camps the MBA is involved it; first and foremost, the Teen Bowhunters Elk Camp. Traditional Bowhunters of Montana, MT. Safari Club International, Montana Bowhunter Educational Foundation, Western Montana Fish & Game Association, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Teller Wildlife Refuge, Libby Archery Club, Stimpson Lumber Co., Team Shirts, Scheel’s, Bob Wards, Cabela’s, Shiver Shield, Rapp Family, Phelps Game Calls, Ben Matteson Cow Calls.
Ther e were some questions about how the MBA finances these camps. All the above mentioned donate funds or merchandise to the MBA earmarked for the Camp. Claudia holds the earmarked funds in the general funds until we need it for the camps. We put in for grants where individuals like the Rapp Family sends us funds. All the funds we raise are through the MBA for the camps. A side note–every camp held has Archery on their agenda and if possible the MBA sends a representative to the camp to run the Archery (not all, but most).
Just a r eminder for Region 2 we have the 2023 Convention and will be held first of April at Fairmont Hot Springs. We are forming a committee and if you are interested, let Kevin or me know. There is a lot of planning to be done and merchandise to be gathered for the fundraisers. We are looking into the seminar speakers so if you have someone in mind that you think would be a good draw, let us know sooner than later so we can try to book them.
Well, that’s about all I got for now. KeepEm Sharp and Shoot-Em Straight
Abig howdy here from Region 2. Our beloved big game archery season opener is upon us!
I wish everyone an action-packed, safe, and successful season. Again, I cannot stress how good we have it here in our great state with our current long seasons and with our freedom to bow hunt. There will always be threats to change what we have and I’m proud to be a part of an organization that keeps tabs on all things threatening.
Speaking of potential threats, there’s some talk of changing our seasons to a “choose your weapon” type structure. Initially my thoughts were that I was fine with it since I am a %100 bowhunter even during general rifle season. It may lesson pressure during bow and rifle seasons but reading about how those weapon structures have failed in other states for bow hunters has changed my position. What are your thoughts? I would like to hear some feedback from not only Region 2 members but any member with your thoughts or ideas on this, emails preferably. Montana’s population is growing, is this what needs to happen?
On another note, I know hunting season is just now upon us, but Region 2 is hosting the Convention this year at Fairmont Hot Springs in the spring. Marlon and I would appreciate any help from region 2 folks when we get closer to the new year. Also, Marlon does a tremendous amount of work with the PTMAE and local youth events here in region 2 so volunteers to help us out for any of the youth events would be greatly appreciated. We will keep everyone posted when volunteers are needed.
Good luck to everyone this season and take time to smell those roses. Please share your success with us in photos or tell your story for the newsletter. As for myself I have a pocket full of tags this year and a bunch of arrows, life is good.
Hello Region 3 Bowhunters,
Hopefully as you read this you are sitting back enjoying a beverage of choice with a freezer full of meat. As for me, I had the opportunity to chase some speed goats recently, but my freezer is still empty. Hopefully I can correct this trend in the coming weeks.
Obviously, the topic of discussion lately has been elk and the lawsuit against FWP by the United Property Owners of Montana (UPOM). The lawsuit says that the State is in violation of elk management goals. That there are too many elk and that FWP needs to meet the objectives.
Understand that UPOM does not represent all the landowners in Montana. This lawsuit is mostly being fueled by out-of-state interests and just a few resident landowners.
UPOM has tried over and over, both through the legislature and the Fish and Wildlife Commission, to try to dismantle public elk hunting opportunities throughout Montana. Now they are trying to use the courts to push their agenda, including unlimited bull elk tags for themselves and their clients.
If you feel as I do, that this lawsuit is an attempt to privatize elk hunting in Montana, and that we need to defend our elk hunting heritage and traditions, then please visit keepelkpublic.org and consider donating to our fight.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call or email me.
Thank you!
Liberty Brown 406-570-4280 mbareg3@gmail.com
Hello from Region 4
By the time this issue is coming out, some of you have probably already been out hunting antelope. I had big plans to dedicate some time to archery antelope hunting this year, so I bought a bow mounted decoy and was looking forward to August 15th. When the results came out, I was disappointed to see that I was unsuccessful in drawing a 900 antelope permit. I didn’t even know that was a possibility! It just goes to show how much the demand for permits is increasing. I can’t complain too much; the Arizona draw was good to me, and I will be hunting Coues white-tail deer in December. Those little deer might be my favorite animal to hunt.
There is a lot going on with elk management right now. I have been following the Elk Citizens Advisory Group meetings closely. The group has been doing some good work, and it is encouraging to see them come up with some out-of-the-box ideas. FWP is currently holding public scoping meetings to gather ideas about local elk management issues. Hopefully you all are showing up and making your voice heard. FWP is also taking public comment on unit specific elk objectives through October 15th. I think all hunters would agree that current objectives are far too low. Region 7’s current objective would equal one elk per 42 square miles! I strongly encourage you to get online and submit your comments. Good luck with your hunts this fall!
Summer has flown by once again. Hopefully everyone is putting the finishing touches fine tuning their bows for the upcoming fall. I wish everyone the best of luck. I hope many of you were able to tune in and watch the Elk Management Citizen Advisory Group meetings throughout the summer. The group was able to come up with some great ideas and it will be interesting to see what is done with those ideas in the future. I would also encourage everyone to take time to attend and comment on the Elk Plan Public Scoping Meetings as this will be a chance for everyone to voice their opinion on the new Elk Management Plan FWP is working on.
Good hunting buddies are hard to come by, but so great when you do. It’s like a finding a good dog, or a great pair of hunting boots that fit so good you keep wearing them long after your toes are sticking out and the water proof is long gone. What do I think makes a good hunting buddy?
Before I’d share camp at my secret spot with anyone, I want to know that he knows not to invite anyone else unless it’s my idea. Now say he has so much fun and maybe even kills something around my camp, he might think, “I’d sure like to bring my cousin or maybe his father-in-law next time”. Well, next thing you know it’s said Father-in-Law’s camp and then he invites his buddies and so on, pretty soon camp isn’t what you expect.
The second thing I look for in a hunting partner is how serious is he about getting the job done. I don’t always have to kill to have a great experience but I sure like to work hard to get it done. If my buddy just wants to be there to eat my fine camp cooking, I can’t blame him, but I like to hunt with hard hunting fellows–makes me up my game and that’s why we are there.
Third, I’d like him to contribute to camp, maybe some good groceries, like say, rib steaks or say some king crab legs. I could use some help around camp–always like a nice camp. They don’t have to cook, because I always like to cook, but it’s totally fine for them to keep the woodpile full and dishes, pots and pans clean; always lots of water to pack, horses need fed etc.
More handy pointers next time.
Nick Siebrasse
Hi from Region 7,
Hoping this finds you out enjoying the warm summer days. It makes me smile when I think of all the great summer outdoor opportunities we have as Montana residents. We live in a truly special place. With that said, special places tend to attract special attention and we are certainly starting to feel the increase in outside interest.
Most of the discussions I’ve been involved in recently concerning deer and elk management have been centered around a diminishing public land experience. Yep – I know some would argue that one’s view of quality is subjective, but I think most agree the experience is changing. The new elk management advisory group is recognizing this same concern and has come out with recommendations to help mitigate this negative trend. You can find those thought-provoking ideas on the MT FWP website.
My two cents (not necessarily the MBA’s) in this discussion are as follows:
- The nonr esident big game combo licenses were once capped at 17,000. FWP data shows there were 59,395 issued in 2021 (22,818 elk & 36,577 deer). That’s an increase of nearly 42,500 nonresident licenses. Impacting – absolutely! We need to understand how we’ve moved so far away from the 17,000? At minimum, there should be a unified effort to restrict all nonresident licenses beyond the 17,000 to private land use only.
- Incr easing public land hunting pressure has permanently displaced many deer and elk populations. We need to be looking for ways to reestablish those populations. My recommendation would be to use a proven - very successful approach from the past. Basically, we would be returning to the days when cow elk hunting was very restricted. The only change needed now is that those restrictions would only
be on public side of the fence. All private lands would be open to over-the-counter unrestricted cow elk hunting. Swapping where the pressure is being applied is the only way to reestablish the displaced public land herds. This same approach would work well for mule deer as well.
- The Block Management pr ogram is one of our primary tools for public land hunter pressure relief. But, with over twenty years of successful use it may be time for some updating. A decrease in the number of participating quality landowners has many of us scratching our heads. From conversations I’ve had with some of these folks, they are concerned about the amount of time required to be involved, and integrity of today’s public hunter. I’m sure each of us would have the same hesitancy if a stranger showed up at our door – with a weapon - and asked if they could explore our backyard. The challenges are not insurmountable as there are options, we could use to make the program more attractive. Here are a couple:
o Expand type 2 BMA’s that use onsite FWP oversight. Having a FWP employee take care of most of the time consuming and sometimes intrusive responsibilities seems to work well when implemented. Participants don’t have to spend time dealing with permission slips and ranch rule violations, as the FWP folks pretty much run the program from a location near or
on the ranch. Groups of ranches could use this service with a pivot FWP rep overseeing this great access privilege.
o Build and implement a Level 2 hunter education program. This type of program is long overdue and would help address hunter integrity concerns. Content would be derived directly from the Ag Community, with an emphasis on guest expectation. The program would be online and voluntary. A completion certificate would be issued to use when asking for permission. To give the program accountability, any hunter who is certified as level 2 and is found in violation of FWP regulations, would pay twice the fine.
Yep – that would take legislative action – but is certainly doable. I’m told the PLPW Council is currently working on their version of this goal.
Do take the time to give the FWP folks your thoughts on the new elk plan as it is developing. I’m sure the folks who are pressuring (even suing) to further commercialize our deer and elk resources are doing so.
Wishing good luck to each of you in the upcoming seasons. Make it a point to focus on all the positive aspects of the Montana hunting experience as this amazing privilege is as fragile as our will to preserve it.
Rick Miller (Colstrip)My son Scott’s Colorado high country bull. Rumor has it that they were at such high elevation the bull kept passing out from lack of oxygen while aggressively responding to Scott’s calls. This new “extreme” tactic could be a game changer when working bulls at high elevation. The guy who took the photo said they probably could have run up and tagged the bull before Scott took the shot, but they didn’t know if that was legal? Now that’s a lot of bull!
Well...Another year of not drawing most tags for me. I did draw my 900 Archery Antelope, but that is about it. Hopefully you folks reading this had better success than me. In the coming days/weeks, we will be sending out email blast reminders for the upcoming elk scoping meetings in various locations. We need all of you to have a voice and give your opinions and suggestions constructively. Please take these elk comments and proposals seriously, as it not only affects us, but our kids and grandkids as well. Complaining about it after the decisions are made and implemented does none of us sportsmen and sportswomen any good. If there was ever a time to be more involved and vocal about YOUR archery hunting and seasons, now is that time. The last meetings that FWP Region 4 Great Falls had for comments were attended by only a few; (short notice on their part to the public was most of the issue of ill attendance), so hopefully we can get more support to the meetings this go around.
Everyone be safe out there and have a great season. If you have any comments or questions, please reach out at obsession_archery@yahoo.com
Garness Region 4 Director at LargeIt’s hard to believe it is already July and hunting season is around the corner—time to start putting some arrows down range. Drawings are done, and of course I didn’t draw the super tag or the Big 3, but I am fortunate to have drawn the permits I wanted this year. I’ve been hearing some scuttlebutt about folks not drawing archery permits that used to be a guaranteed drawing. Unfortunately, the secret is out, and more people are moving here; the number of resident (and non-resident) hunters is increasing. The pressure on the landscape/public lands and our wildlife is increasing, and it’s becoming a big issue that will need to be resolved in the coming years. The one benefit, more bowhunters (and all sportsmen and sportswomen) equal more presence at the decision-making table and more voices to be heard.
As I write this, I only have 3 meetings left on the Elk Management Citizen Advisory Group. We are polishing up our recommendations and tweaking them based on feedback from one another and the public. Some of the recommendations are big changes such as season structure and dates, some are simply “sharpening a tool” that is already in existence, like damage hunts. We are all hopeful that FWP sees some value in our recommendations and that they help shape the future of elk hunting in Montana for the better. One thing is for sure, the 12 people chosen work well together and really seem to be a dynamic and diverse group looking to work together for the good of the whole. The discussions are good and everyone listens to each other. I hope I see more of this type of collaboration in the future between user groups— finding middle ground and compromise. We certainly hear the two “extreme” sides most frequently, at the expense of the majority who lie somewhere in the middle on these issues.
I strongly encourage you to attend your local Elk Plan Scoping meeting. You can find the meeting schedule on www.fwp.mt.gov under the tab “About FWP -> Public Comments.” Keep staying actively engaged and involved. Your voice really does matter.
Stephanie PraterHave not a lot to say... Very hot and dry, smokey, and lots of biting flies, so must be late summer. My Harley and I have been to Red Lodge, to and from Columbia Falls in 103 degrees, then Sturgis with 106 one day. Too hot, but smelled lots of road-kill deer and antelope that moved across roads at the wrong time. FWP still has me just boiling, as living and doing most of my elking in region 1, we lack elk–PERIOD. The Elk working committee rep in our area whom I have no idea who that is, blames it all on preds. Sure, they are some of it, but how many outfitters worked Thompson Falls over for years, and at one time USFS issued over 20 plus outfitter permits in that area alone. So just who or what killed all those elk??? Just words to think about. And the either-or concept will never work, pitting group versus group—and what is next—statewide elk rifle bugle season? Get real...stay bear aware, as I have four in my neighborhood—GRIZZLIES. And be ethical outdoors this fall. Wish the best to all you young pups out there.
Mike Shepard, Ye Olde Bowhunter
Iwas fortunate enough to go to South Africa last summer and bow hunt for some of the most beautiful animals on earth. Kudu, nyala, sable and impala are just a few that have hunters putting a safari on their bucket lists. But on the other hand, hunting in Africa can also bring up all sorts of strange emotions in people. Of course, there are the anti-hunters who don’t understand conservation and why hunting is so important to the country. Some hunters really don’t understand the allure–my husband was one of them until he went–and now we are planning to return in the next few years. Some are “weirded out” by the idea of hunting certain species, such as monkeys, zebras or baboons, and I was one of those.
I am often hesitant to share this story and pictures, but I think it’s good for people to understand hunting, different cultures, and how they deal with apex predators.
One of my first hunts was disrupted by a troupe of baboons. The group that came in was instantly extremely destructive and started tearing apart the blind we were sitting in… it was downright terrifying. My PH (professional hunter or guide) said we needed to get them out of the area and the best way was to take out the lead male–and our only weapon was my bow. So, I complied, shot the 70 or 80 lb. male sitting by the waterhole and the group quickly left. I did not want to kill a baboon because I did not understand shooting a primate. At the time, it didn’t feel like a hunt to me, almost self-defense. The baboon stunk to high heaven and I didn’t even want my picture with it, but I did. I figured it was one of those pictures that I’d share with a couple people close to me, but not publicly because I didn’t want to deal with the ridicule and explaining why I shot a primate. The PH asked if I wanted to take the skull home and I replied “NO” so we left it in the bush and kept hunting. When we got back to camp, everyone was more excited I killed a baboon then the nice impala ram I got later in the day. The concession owner said thank you so much and went on to say the one I shot was a huge male after seeing the picture. He went and picked it up, drove into town and got me a cites permit, the requirement and small fee you pay if you hunt certain animals and want to bring them to America. He said baboons are a real trophy for a bowhunter and you’re lucky to get a shot at one. Several people in camp had them on their wish list. I still really didn’t get it.
Baboons are VERY intelligent and have excellent eyesight. They would send a scout to check and make sure the coast is clear, then the entire group would come in. They always have a guard keeping an eye out and when they were at your blind, other animals would come in too, knowing the baboons felt “safe.” That being said, they are not like the Disney-fied Rafiki in the Lion King. I was told stories by my PH of how baboons would come into yards and kill dogs with a single bite, attack children and kill tons of baby animals, rip them open & eat the “milk-filled belly.” They are considered a nuisance
in Africa– “Wolves with thumbs.” I actually watched a male baboon make a fist and punch a kudu in the face. They are predators like our wolves, coyotes, cats or bears. They need to be managed as such.
Recently, the owner of the concession had his family dog get torn apart up protecting his home from a troupe of baboons. Luckily, the dog survived but was badly injured. He said, “The baboons are a real nuisance, causing damage wherever they go. If they can get into the garden, you can be sure there will be nothing left. If they can get on a roof, especially a thatched roof, they WILL tear it down. Their numbers have also increased exponentially over the last twenty years and there are just too many of them.” He went on to offer anyone hunting with them, as many baboons as possible for free to help them fight the war on baboons and help reduce their exploding population.
As I end this story, I still feel nervous sharing it to a broader audience. I still shy away when someone asks
*** side note: my arrow fletchings are 2.5” for reference on how big their canine teeth are.
to see the picture or skull. However, I do know that I took an apex predator, a fawn killer, a destructive beast off the landscape. The wonderful family that owns the concession and hosted us for two weeks is thankful for one less baboon and that to me is one of the best trophies of the trip.
This issues Blast From The Bast comes from the 1986 issues of our Newsletters. Buck Damone was our President at the time. Our Vice President was writing the president’s message as Buck was recovering from an accident.
There was a Tentative secession going on and the talk was of region 6 elk permits for the breaks. The MBA was trying to get the initiative tabled or thrown out. It was brought up that bowhunters were 12% of the hunting population with a 4% success ratio. Yet the Bowhunters were killing all the big bulls, go figure. We were fighting the biggest gadget, the airplane. Trying to get a handle on there uses for hunting and or scouting. Also radio communication was another problem being looked at.
There was also another push for the Crossbow and Muzzle loaders in the Region 1 area. The MBA got those shut down during the Legislation Secession just a year earlier.
Later in the year Buck Damone returned to active duties and was welcomed back with a message in the May June issue. He made a remarkable recovery.
There were three proposed constitutional changes that came up for membership vote.
1 – To add a 2nd vice president. Their duties were to include public relations and the annual convention coordination.
2 – The proposal was to increase the area reps to three per area in each of the seven regions.
3 – This was to clarify the four classes of membership, Honorary, Active, Associate and Club Affiliation. And how each get to vote.
The Montana Outfitters and Guides Association drew up a new licensing proposal. It was actually well written. They gave 8 different types of licenses, B10, R10, B11, R11, with different scenarios for each type. It is quite a long read so I didn’t feel it necessary to go into to much detail. They also gave 23 points of Advantages of this Licensing Proposal. #12 was to give eastern Montana outfitters some stability to their businesses. They also support landowners to charge Trespass Fees. I will be looking into the next few years of issues to see how these proposals played out.
Our 1986 Convention was held in Butte and MR James was the Guest Speaker. Buddy Lundstrom was the new elected President. And the next 1987 Convention was awarded to Bozeman.
The MBA had a Belt Buckle designed and in November it was available for sale to the membership on a limmited edition. The inscription reads: 1973-1986 Dedicated to the Founding Fathers of the MBA whose foresight has perpetrated Bowhunting in Montana. No.15 of 250 – 1986 Limited Edition.
Well, this wraps up the Bast From The Past for this issue, hope you found that it brought back a few memories. Hope You Enjoy.
Matt Seibert, CLCS
Sales Executive, Commercial Lines 406-321-0700
matt.seibert@hubinternational.com
Laughter, friendships, respect, fun…these are the echoes at the MBA Teen Bowhunting Camp that bring an excitement to all involved. Our fourth camp is now completed, and friendships are evolving across the state. This year in Libby was truly a blessing after two years of Covid denying us all a grand adventure. Eighteen teenagers and five feral pygmies (ages 7-11) finished up the 3 ½ day camp with lots of arrows shot, new life and survival skills learned, and amazing memories for all.
Thanks to Stimson Lumber Company, our camp was able to be held at the Fawn Creek Campground North of Libby. This site is amazing and along with the Libby Archery Club, the MBA was able to provide an amazing experiential learning experience for Montana Youth in Bowhunting. Our sponsors are awesome and this year kids went home with over $750.00 in donated gear each, along with full scholarships for all the youth. 2023 camp will see us back in the Bitterroot and 2024 takes us to Lewistown. Many of this years’ participants are hoping for spots in the coming years and that is the best compliment we can get. This camp doesn’t happen without the full support of the MBA, volunteers, and sponsors and I thank each of you.
MBA members Jackie & Justin Weidow hauled gear and kids from the Bitterroot, and were team leaders and that was a huge help. Marlon Clapham keeps us on track, and while he wasn’t able to be there in person, you were always with us. Rich Hjort and the Libby Archery club (see Richs’ story below) were invaluable and such a pleasure to work with. Support from Mt FWP & The Lincoln County Sheriff’s office was truly appreciated and to John Opst and John Davis, I say, Thank You. Austin from Blue Creek Outdoors came and videoed the happenings at elk, and we excitedly await the release of the video this fall. Austin was a huge help during activities and he enjoyed himself immensely.
In Rich Hjorts words, “I would like to thank all the people from the Libby Archery Club who helped the MBA put this Elk Camp on. Mike Vinion, John Davis, Al and Teri Kelly, Kerri & Jason Sunnell, and Eric Kapan. Between them being team leaders (guides), and then seminars, they all went above and beyond.
The Camp itself was really great. The way Jerry and Beckie run it, the young hunters learn life skills like cooking and cleaning! Mom was NOT there! Mike Vinion put on a Flemish string-making class that went on past O’dark thirty and finished the next am. He made 10 or so string jigs and gave them to the new string makers which were well received.
Jerry Doyle and John Davis put on the elk Bugling/calling seminar, and they can call elk like nobody else! John is sponsored by Phelps Game Calls so we all got new grunt tubes and mouth reeds and were taught how to use them. Jerry knows elk behavior and how to bring them in close! I wish I had this knowledge fifty years ago.
We also used our FWP Sargent Warden, John Obst to bring a road killed deer. We showed how to cape the deer for the taxidermist. Then Jerry showed how to do the gutless method to process the animal in the field, and Kerri (Rosauers’ Head meat cutter) took the meat and showed how to and why the meat gets into those little white packages for the freezer.
Jason Sunnell, USFS Fire employee, stepped up to demonstrate how to start fires–that was interesting. Al and Jerry gave a tree stand safety class, and that went hand in hand with our 3-D shooting course that had two shots from the ladder stand. The Libby Archery Club let us use 20 of their 3-D targets along with practice targets. Mike, Jerry, John and I and the kids who came early, set up the shooting course. We did not stake or flag at the targets as the kids shot the targets how they would hunt them. It was nice to see the young hunters get up at 5:30 am to shoot the course one last time before work on Sunday!
Sunday morning saw us giving back to Stimson Lumber Co by rebuilding their log fence by the pavilion. Everyone was involved and helped peel, cut, set, and paint logs. After a surprise PIZZA lunch, we broke camp and headed home tired but fulfilled. Like always I brought home a new fire trick, DUCT TAPE!!”
Thanks, Rich for the great re-cap and again a HUGE THANK YOU to EVERYONE involved in the 20222 MBA Teen Bowhunting Camp.
My love for hunting with archery equipment all started when I was just a little boy. I remember when my mom or my dad used to carry me around the mountains in a backpack to archery shoots with my family. I’ve always enjoyed the great outdoors whether I was camping with my family or out trekking through the mountains hunting for big game. Some of my favorite animals to hunt are the whitetail deer, the antelope, and of course the great rocky mountain elk. While I enjoy the long hot late summer days chasing antelope through wheat fields and coulee’s or sitting in tree stands or ground blinds for the elusive whitetail, my favorite has always been the bugling, rut crazed elk
I’ve hunted elk for 12 years with archery equipment and never could connect for one reason or another. In 2020 I drew an archery bull tag for the Missouri River Breaks. We scouted various times during the summer, once seeing 28 different bulls in two days. We set out some trail cameras and thought I had the season all figured out. There was surely not a lot of water around besides the river, so that changed the elk travel patterns throughout the summer. Hunting season finally rolled around and while there were opportunities, it was difficult to get away from work as much as I would have liked. I had multiple attempts, but all failed in harvesting of an elk. The elk beat me once again for another year, with archery equipment. 2021 rolls around, same area with the same tag, as I am committed to harvesting an elk in this area. Similar to 2020 weather
with water limited, as well as with information from last year, I had a better idea on how to hunt them and where their hangout spots were to be. I took Thursday and Friday off work for opening weekend so we could get in, set up camp, and scout for opening morning. Seeing lots of elk on these two days, I had a pretty good idea how I was going to hunt them opening morning.
Opening morning I woke up stoked to start our hunt. We made coffee and had some good ol’ gas station chocolate donuts and we were off to find some elk. Our camp was about one hour from where we decided to hunt. On the way to our hunting location, we had a nice six-point run across the road right in front of us in the dark, which was a great way to start off opening day. We got to our spot and planned to hang out until daybreak as we knew there was lots of hunters and traffic in the vicinity. We hadn’t been sitting long and it was a constant stream of vehicles and hunters. There were probably about 15 people that started walking way before light in the same general direction that we were headed. We could see headlamps all over in the bottom and thought those elk that were in here last night might be gone. We thought the morning hunt was over.
Daybreak finally came, and my dad and I decided to go for a walk down the ridge overlooking the river bottom to see where the elk had gone. All the people we saw that morning were off to our right, in the bottom, leaving no one on the ridges which created an escape route for the elk. Dad and I didn’t make it 300 yards from the truck, and we were into the elk. We looked down just glassing and we spotted a 5-point in an old slough feeding a few hundred yards away. While we were not even in shooting distance yet, I still started to get excited and get the shakes. As we soon found out, there was more than the lone bull; the rest of his buddies were with him at about 250 yards straight below us. Dad and I hustled down the hill, staying in cover to see how close we could get before we ran out of cover. As we closed the distance, we lost sight of the elk, as we no longer had an advantage of elevation on them. At about 100
yards from where we believed they might be, my dad stayed back while I crept up closer to the end of the finger ridge. As I continued to close the distance, I was slightly lower than the ridge top, but I could look over and down the other side. Suddenly, I’m right in the middle of a group of about 50-60 elk. They were grouped up to my left with a couple of decent bulls leading the group with some rag horns and spikes single-file right behind them.
I noticed a trail in front of me that the elk appeared to be walking down at about 38 yards. I had no cover to get any closer, so I decided to get set up and ready to shoot if I had an opportunity. I was going to be a little picky when it came to choosing which bull I was going to shoot, as it was only opening morning. There were still elk coming out of the brush and around the hill, so I had plenty of time to get ready, but that allowed for excitement to also set in. I picked the bull I wanted to harvest; now all I needed him to do was read the script and come about 20 yards down the trail. As though my wish was coming true, down the trail he came. I drew back, slowly stood up, and cow called to stop him. As I cow called, the arrow was already airborne and on its way toward the elk.
Meanwhile, my dad couldn’t see any of the elk up close, only ones well out of bow range from where we were. I had tried to give him slow hand signals, but he wasn’t understanding, so he still didn’t know about the closer herd of elk.
While the arrow was airborne, everything appeared to be in slow motion and the arrow flight looked perfect, until the elk ducked at the last second. I watched my arrow go right over top of him. I was upset at myself and knew that I had messed up a great opportunity on opening morning. The rest of the herd dispersed and disappeared out of our sight quickly. My dad told me he didn’t understand most of the hand signals I was trying to give him, but what he did understand was that things were about to happen when I drew back my bow.
It was a little foggy, so it was difficult to see the elk at times, but we kept track of them to try and make another play on them either later that morning or save it for the afternoon hunt. He and the two other bulls finally meandered into the brush, so we decided to go back up to the truck as the elk had all disappeared. It was a brisk morning and there was dew on the grass. I shot at the bull around 7:30 and started walking back around 10:30 as there was no valid play on the elk.
We started to make our hike up the hills and back to the truck. It was too late in the day to go all the way back to camp, so we ate lunch and hung out on the top of the hill for the afternoon, waiting to see if some elk would eventually come out to feed. The elk did come out, and they weren’t far from where they had been that morning. We utilized our spotting scopes and bino’s to watch a couple of bulls way over on the other side of where the brush meets the trees. Around 2:00 the wind shifted so it was perfect to hunt the drainage. I decided I was going to dive off the top and go get set up for the evening hunt, while dad and grandpa stayed up top to watch and hang out with some other hunters that came to chat.
On my way down the ridgeline, I was in my own world, out in the great outdoors chasing one of my favorite animals with archery equipment. As I headed into the bottom, my sour feeling from the morning hunt had started to change. I had one of those butterfly feelings in my stomach and I felt that something good was going to happen this evening. I got in the open trees and found a good heavy, beaten trail to sit by, so I set up about 25 yards off, and waited. As I sat there, I could hear a couple bulls sounding off occasional soft chuckles. I threw out a couple soft cow calls about 30 minutes apart, but nothing showed up. I could hear the elk behind me and what sounded like horns rubbing against the thick brush. About 4:00 I slowly packed my stuff up and made my way closer to the brush line and out of the trees.
From where I was, I could look down the brush line and see the edge of a couple meadows, so I figured I would just slowly walk towards them and look over those meadows. As I was slowly walking across the crunchy fall leaves from the trees, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I saw a big tan and brown body feeding in the back of one of the meadows. I slowly bring my binos up and it’s a nice rag horn 5. As though a repeat of that morning, my heart again started to race and the adrenaline was starting to flow. I got to a big lone tree, about 50 yards from the meadow, and I dropped my pack, took my boots off and stripped down the extra clothes I didn’t need. The bull was at about 90 yards and it was in taller grass in the meadow with some spotty brush around the edges. In order to close the distance, I was on my hands and knees crawling around and through little brush piles to try and move in closer for a shot. Well, little did I know there were seven other bulls still in the brush nearby. As I was slowly sneaking, I would be out of sight at times, but as I came around another little brush pile there would be more and more elk in the meadow—more eyes and noses.
As I’m sitting there watching these bulls feeding, I have bulls from 45-80 yards and most of the smaller bulls were closest to me. Yet again, I was trying to be selective and wait on some of the more mature bulls to feed over. I sat there for close to an hour with all of them feeding back and forth, some friendly calling and sparring going on, in and out of the brush. I was very careful about watching how much I moved because they would pick their heads up quite often and were alert. I was sitting there, tucked into a little patch of brush with a couple of shooting lanes and yardages mapped out in my head. The bulls started to feed away from me into the brush one after another and I thought my night was done. As I sat there for what seemed like an eternity, which was probably only 10-15 minutes, I started to see the tops of horns through a patch of willows where they entered. I was trying to stay a step ahead and was strategizing how I could get around them and head them off to possibly get a shot, when seconds later they were coming single file towards me.
My bow was now in my hand and arrow nocked. I had the yardages memorized, and I had a small rag horn 4-point at 25 yards. The elk were pushing each other around but coming closer and closer. At one time I had another rag horn 4 straight to my left at 14 yards but I had seen a 5-point that I was going to try and shoot. The bigger bulls walked straight to me and stood at 28 yards broadside. As they were feeding in the “red zone,” the wind switched just a little bit and the rag horn 4 to my left caught my wind, with head and nose straight in the air.
I slowly drew back and picked the nice 5-point out of the group that was perfectly broadside. I told myself I needed to calm down, as I was shaking too much. As I became steadier, I settled my pin where I wanted it and the arrow was on its way. I pinwheeled him! I watched him run off by himself while the rest of the group ran elsewhere. As I watched him run, I couldn’t see any blood in the 80 yards before disappearing into the thick willows. I began to think that I missed him, but I was certain I watched that arrow hit him perfect. I sat there for about five minutes in awe while waiting for the herd crashing to stop. As things settled down, I walked over to where he was standing, but still thinking I could have missed him. Bright red blood covered my arrow from broadhead to knock, as well as on the grass. With the angle of how I was sitting and the height of the elk, it seemed as though my arrow exit could have been a little bit high.
Meanwhile, my dad and grandpa were up top watching the whole thing through the spotting scope. Even though they couldn’t see me or my location, they assumed I had shot, because all of a sudden “elk scattered everywhere”. My dad told my grandpa that he thought he saw one either lay down or tip over in the brush. Even though they weren’t right there with me when it happened, I thought that was pretty neat that they got to watch through the spotting scope from a distance.
After I walked out to where they could see me, they could see my reactions and my dad was already unloading his pack and soon to be on his way down the mountain to help if needed. Dad didn’t get there to help until almost dark, but even with only headlamps, the blood trail was very easy to follow. Come to find out, I hit the artery that runs down the spine and got the top of one lung. The elk went into some thick willows and ended up only running about 100 yards before expiring.
Once we got to the elk, it was quite the experience gutting and quartering him in those thick willows. We originally tried to drag him out of the willows, but that option quickly went away. We got him quartered out and what we wouldn’t be able to haul in backpacks that night got hoisted into nearby tall trees. We hiked out in the dark by headlamp to the truck. By the time we got back to camp that night, it was almost midnight and we had left camp around 4 am that morning. While I was still on “cloud 9”, it had been a long day, full of experiences. We slept in the next morning to catch up on rest as well as to try to not mess up any other hunters in that same area. We retrieved the remaining bags, packed up camp and were headed home with my first trophy bull elk taken with archery equipment. This will be a memory with my dad and grandpa that I will never forget, and I will cherish forever.
At this moment, I felt like this could be my final seconds for an opportunity, so I decided it was go-time.
In many Central and Eastern European countries, the main meal served at the dinner table on Christmas Day is not turkey or ham or elk backstrap, but carp! A fish that’s readily available, relatively inexpensive and abundant in that part of the world could explain why it’s so popular, at least for one meal a year.
In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, ponds full of carp remain those two countries’ most common fish species for aquaculture.
Christmas Carp? A few days before Christmas every year per tradition, families purchase the carp alive from a local fish market. The carp are then brought home and placed in the family bathtub. Letting them swim around in clean freshwater apparently cleans out the fish and perhaps rids them of that “carp flavor”. This tradition could make those pre-Christmas showers exciting! After digging a little deeper into this Eastern European traditional phenomenon, I discovered that most families purchase dead “pre cleansed” fish from the markets as well so the bathtub trick must be for the hardcore carp lovers only.
At this year’s Carp Safari I was privileged to place several bites of the fore mentioned fish into my mouth. I also chewed up the bites and swallowed completely minus a few bones—not too bad actually.
EJ Young, a returning Carp Safari Connoisseur, offered me up his finest pan -fried carp backstrap and I couldn’t refuse (because I had expressed my excitement over the phone a few hours earlier). All those carp I’ve skewered with arrows over the last 30 years and I finally ate a couple bites, it really wasn’t too bad. Thanks EJ!
Similarly, to EJ’s technique, the carp on the dinner tables of Slovakia and Czech Republic are served breaded and fried along with other dishes like cabbage soups and potato salads. In Poland, carp is only one part of an extensive 12 course meal and often comes with dumplings or pierogi. In Hungary, it may often be cooked directly in a fish soup. All of that sounds delicious except for the carp part.
This Year’s Carp Safari had its ups and downs, the weather, the lake levels, the campsite availability etc... But the carp turned on the spawn on the day of the shoot and just like I predicted, less lake water with the same number of fish equals a target rich environment. We had a good number of late registrations and overall, we came close to 80 shooters.
We had several boat shooting teams rally back and forth to the weigh in multiple times to lessen the weight in their vessels. Surprisingly, the winning team stuffed 212 slime missiles on their boat and no doubt that boat will never be the same. A few youth shooters were getting after it too. The shooting from the shore near the boat ramp was great as the reservoir level rose slightly all weekend.
Biggest Fish Youth Mitchell LaPage
Here are a few statistics from Saturday’s weigh in:
1137 carp counted
212 most team fish arrowed 56 most a rrowed by individual shooter
12lb 4oz biggest fish weighed
2lb 2oz smallest fish weighed
23 most fish arrowed by a youth
10lb 2oz biggest fish arrowed by a youth
3lb 1oz smallest fish arrowed by a youth
Awards went to:
2022 Carp King Landon Vincent
2022 Carp Princess “A” Allegrucci
Biggest Fish- Shane Lembcke
Smallest Fish- Jay Searles
Most Fish by Individual-Mike Prescott
Most Fish by a Team- Team Searles
Most Fish by a Youth- Sawyer Licht
Biggest Fish Youth- Mitchell LaPage
Smallest Fish Youth-Mitchell LaPage
At the end of the weigh many fish were deposited into the big dumpster!
I want to thank a few sponsors that stepped up big time and donated awesome prizes and giveaways.
Muzzy, AMS Bowfishing, MegaMouth Bowfishing. Please look into their products when looking to upgrade your gear, those donations were very generous considering the Carp Safari is such a small event.
*We want to continue to keep the Carp Safari a family friendly fun shoot, a great way to see all of you and rid Canyon Ferry of a couple thousand invasive species. An open water fishing derby permit is obtained each year and our conduct is reviewed upon receiving the permit. In order to continue the event every year we must dispose of all fish in dumpsters or in deep water. I received some negative feedback from the Bureau of Reclamation and although scavengers do an amazing job gobbling up all of those dead fish, FWP regulations require any fish or entrails be disposed of either of those two ways.
Thank you to all of you who braved the weather and low water to do a little bow fishing with the MBA!
And a big thank you goes out to all the
Everything seems to be chaotic these days The floods, the Covid, out-of-staters all stayed But one thing we count on and one thing we know When lake levels are down, carp got nowhere to go
Like I said before I ain’t no mathematician We can summon lake levels up but we ain’t no magician If lake levels are low and forecast is for rain You gonna stay at home sit inside, no that’s lame!
We’re gonna pack up the tent, the camper, the van We’re gonna pack up the coolers with cold drinks and some spam We’re gonna sharpen our broadheads and screw on our reels We’re gonna head to the Carp Safari, yeah that’s the deal!
I continue to notice a lot of concern over animal welfare here in the Bitterroot. One crisis after another arises concerning dogs, cats, wolves, gophers, hummingbirds, beavers, horses, deer, bear, elk and cattle issues being handled accordingly with justified media concern and coverage. As our Ravalli County population and traffic grows, animal rights activists are infiltrating our communities more than ever.
I was recently confronted by an authentic animal rights activist. The genderspecific ladyperson tried to convince me to quit eating meat, only use margarine or vegetable oil, wear canvas sneakers, rubber Crocs and suspenders rather than leather belts or boots. With ketchup on my mouth, I was in no mood to be converted. I promised her I would quit eating animal crackers as snacks and maybe cut the Woolrich labels off a few of my shirts but that’s about as far as I’ll go toward being an animal rights person. I have a buddy who wears a heavy wool winter coat that probably wiped out an entire flock of sheep. Another friend has a beautiful moleskin shirt that probably cost the lives of a large herd of moles.
I got thinking about animal rights activists; how mixed up and confused they are. Well, I’m here to announce that my confusion is over. I now see clearly that the real challenge of our society is not animal rights, but vegetable rights. I’m proud to say I’m now a self-declared Vegetable Rights Activist. As a matter of fact, I’m so thrilled finding this new cause, I’ve started a brand-new organization called Green Peas. I invite all you carnivores to join.
I daily ask forgiveness for all the fiber that has thoughtlessly passed through my system. This is by no means a confessional. The first task of any movement is conscious awareness. Consider, if you will, the plight of all poor vegetables that have never harmed a soul. We’re literally pulling up carrots, turnips, beets and radishes by their hair. We eat many of them raw. They are living organisms. How do we know a carrot isn’t screaming as we devour it inch by inch?
We cut the eyes out of potatoes. We crush nuts and eat their “meat.” We squeeze apples, oranges, cranberries and grapefruits, then drink their juice as if it were “blood,” a part of some sort of pagan morning ritual. We let grapes ferment or dry up into wrinkled, dehydrated, elderly beings. We distill corn, barley and other grains, drink their resulting products, make fools of ourselves, get headaches, run over citizens on our highways and even kill each other. I suspect it’s the vegetable kingdom’s fitting revenge for disregard of their rights.
We slice, dice, pickle, skin, fry, boil, mash and otherwise abuse defenseless vegetables in every manner imaginable. Only a pervert would take a knife to a kiwi, that cute, furry little thing that never harbored a mean thought. Bananas are disrobed and devoured inch by inch. Crimes against vegetable decency go right to the top. Government farm support programs aim for bumper crops more vicious than road-kills. Is this just an attempt to feed starving people? Let’s not fool ourselves…. It’s just another form of exploitation. As a leader of Green Peas, I’m urging all Bitterrooters to suspend tax payments until our government awakens to these heartless acts.
Home gardening and organic food industries are just two more examples of the innate brutality brought on by human beings. Some will claim they raise vegetables for table fare because they “like the taste,” or to save money. Don’t believe them…. they could eat other things like pasta, Jell-O, mushrooms or tofu. Vegetable abuse can no longer be rationalized. Green Peas will lead the way to clear
thinking consciousness. I ask you, if you had to come up with some sort of tool to eat cooked rice, wouldn’t a spoon work better than two bamboo sticks? Picking up snow is also a lot easier using a shovel rather than two broomsticks. How can we hope to raise children with decent minds when supermarket chains disgustingly display half dead veggies right before the eyes of our innocent youth? Do they think children are unaware of the violence already rendered while getting such produce to market? Some vegetables are even purposely harvested while young and tender, before maturity or even given an opportunity to reproduce. Baby carrots are skinned, then packed shoulder to shoulder inside airtight clear plastic bags. Young cucumbers are forced to become intoxicated pickles. Witness conditions in which vegetables are raised. They are deliberately crowded into rows with such uncompromising regimentation and cultivation that they are denied even the most basic opportunities for individuality or personal growth. They are drowned in water and drenched with chemicals. The ultimate form of degradation is “feeding them” animal waste, a most perverse act. If the “medium is the message,” this is the ultimate insult.
From the moment of harvest, vegetables are subjected to abuse. They are put on display at our Ravalli County Fair for people to gawk at. Macho men pose with 300 pound pumpkins. By selective breeding and careful cultivation, we are altering gene pools of the botanical world. Beautiful vegetables become obscene centerfolds in seed catalogs. Thoughtless people continue to take liberties with veggies as if they had no feelings or sensitivities whatsoever. They squeeze and fondle tomatoes. They thump and poke melons. They take one bite out of a beautiful apple, find a small worm, then quickly throw it away. I even caught a guy using a hypodermic needle to inject vodka into a picnic watermelon. He thought it was funny. Wicked people cut the hearts right out of artichokes. Don’t humans realize when they eat sunflower seeds, they are consuming the foundation of future generations of sunflowers?
Whole industries continue to support vegetable consumption businesses. Fertilizer industries, farm machine manufacturing and maintenance, canning factories, frozen food processors, silo makers, cereal companies, restaurants, supermarkets, grain mills and truckers all profit from this “dirty” business. In truth, society has shamefully come to accept the abuse of complex carbohydrates. Yes, I’ve heard the argument that veggies would only end up rotting or being consumed by insects if not harvested. “Nature’s ways are cruel.” Bullfeathers! This is just an attempt to justify the unjustifiable. To stab veggies with forks and serve them with “dressing” on plates or bowls is certainly not nature’s way. Attempts to condone or disguise needless suffering on harmless living organisms, be they human, animals, birds, fish, fruit or vegetables are wrong. I recently read that indisputable scientific research has shown us that vegetables are simply beings of a different order. Even though we can’t hear them, those carrots are screaming.
We all need to stand up for vegetable rights! Spray-paint every cotton shirt in the Bitterroot. If I haven’t opened your eyes by now, there is something dreadfully wrong with you. I’m having synthetic t-shirts and bumper stickers printed that will hopefully get our message across. Some will read, “Give a Toot for Beans,” “Weep for Wheat,” “Eating Prunes is a Sh—y Idea,” “Leaf Veggies Alone,” “Shout for Sprouts!” The “Eat a Beaver, Save A Tree” bumper stickers already reveal our problem is being recognized by other concerned citizens in the valley.
I haven’t even attempted to touch on the lumber industry’s abuse of trees. I hesitate, due to the many log home businesses up and down the Bitterroot as well as feeling a little hypocritical expecting you to read my wisdom on newspaper rather than the electronic mail option. Nor have I mentioned the thoughtless tradition of sending wounded flowers to sickly loved ones.
No pun intended, but the time is ripe to act. Farmers are an increasingly smaller percentage of our Montana population. Strike now. Even though a minority, vegetable rights activists of Green Peas need to band together with media and legislature. Farmers are tied up with credit problems, irrigation issues and support programs. People continue to invest in millions of unborn vegetable seeds. Just because we’ve been doing nothing for centuries does not necessarily mean we’ve been right all along. Reason and logic must prevail. Green Peas is the answer.
I personally feel much better now that I’ve curbed my intake of vegetables and chemical additives. I have feelings for the defenseless victims of farming and gardening. Become a savior of veggies. Do you have what it takes to endorse Green Peas as a vegetable rights activist? I feel it’s a movement whose time has come! Join Green Peas and send contributions to the cause. Thank you for your support, but please get in contact with me as soon as possible, as lately I have been feeling a bit light headed and experiencing unexplained rapid weight loss.
Pat Tabor
Vice Chair
CommissionerRegion1@mtfwp.org (406) 250-2899
Whitefish, Montana
Jana Waller
Commissioner
CommissionerRegion2@mtfwp.org (920) 222-1136
Lolo, Montana
Pat Byorthn
CommissionerRegion3@mtfwp.org (406) 548-4830
Bozeman, Montana Region 4
KC Walsh
CommissionerRegion4@mtfwp.org (406) 599-9556
Martinsdale, Montana
Active as of August 2022
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Hub International
Hurst Bows
Brian Cebull
CommissionerRegion5@mtfwp.org (406) 860-7416
Billings, Montana
Lesley Robinson Commission Chair
CommissionerRegion6@mtfwp.org (406) 301-0787
Dodson, Montana
William Lane
CommissionerRegion7@mtfwp.org (406) 778-2155
Ismay, Montana
fwpwld@mt.gov
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What the MBA of fers you: Expanded hunting opportunities through working with FWP and commissioners to preserve and expand bowhunting seasons Unified voice during legislative sessions to protect seasons and access programs while opposing efforts which seek to limit the role of FWP in managing wildlife Fellowship with others who are interested in shaping the future of bowhunting Quarterly magazine keeping you informed on local, state, and national bowhunting issues, bowhunter education, events, and great hunting stories
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• The MBA is the organization the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks consults on bowhunting issues that affect Montana bowhunters.
• Montana has the best bowhunting seasons of any of the western states. We are continually working to keep these.
• The MBA is active in the Legislature to protect and fight for our hunting and bowhunting seasons and rights.
• The MBA produces a quarterly magazine informing you of local, state, and national bowhunting issues and events, and publishing great stories and pictures
• THE MBA NEEDS MEMBER NUMBERS AND YOUR YEARLY DUES TO CONTINUE TO PROTECT WHAT YOU ENJOY EVERY YEAR. ISN’T WHAT YOU ENJOY EVERY FALL WORTH $25 A YEAR TO PROTECT?
What the MBA has done for you?
• Worked to get the first archery season started in Montana. Along the way, we’ve increased the seasons to what you enjoy today.
• Worked to establish archery bear, lion and sheep seasons.
• Worked to establish archery antelope 900 tag and August 15th opener.
• Worked to establish archery only areas and hunting districts.
• Proposed a special archery wolf season and endorsed the highest quota of wolf harvest possible.
• Actively protects hunting & bowhunting seasons in the Legislature year after year.
• Defended our archery seasons against the “Crossbows & Muzzleloaders” threats throughout the years.
• Created the Modified Archer’s permit that now allows those with handicaps to use modified archery equipment to hunt; which kept any need for crossbows out of Montana and defended our archery seasons against other crossbow threats throughout the years.
• Re-established the archery season after it was left off the regulations one year.
• Actively works with FWP to protect archery seasons, our resources, and expand archery opportunity in Montana year after year.
What can you do for bowhunting in Montana?