Hello!

It is winter again in Montana with more areas having good snow conditions, which translates into better cat hunting for houndsmen! It also means that Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is working on the tentative regulations for the next two years for mountain lion hunting. Of note to all hunters, is one tentative rule being put out to the public for comment is to move the season-setting schedule for antelope, deer, and elk to a biennial season-setting process the same as we now have for moose, sheep, goat, black bear and lions.

There are issues that all houndsmen need to be aware of presented as tentative rule and going out for public comment. These regulations are for the next 2 years! Remember there will be meetings in the individual Regions in January which everyone should watch for and attend to make your comments heard. No schedule for these meetings is available yet. Read your newspapers, check the FWP website, or call your Regional office to find out when your meeting is and attend! You need to also write letters to the FWP Commission stating your views as well.

The preferred tentative rule by the Department concerning mountain lion hunting presented at the December 8 FWP Commission meeting by Commissioner Victor Workman is:

• 1. Either Sex Permits for ALL mountain lion hunting in Region One and Region Two; making no changes in Region Three through Seven. These permits would be applied for and issued by Hunting District, not Region wide permits. Discussion was held about how many permits to issue. There is no decision on this as yet. Talk was for 149 permits in Region One and 98 permits in Region Two. Questions were asked why 98 either sex permits in Region Two when there currently are only 70 lion on the quota and the sub-quotas have 47 males. The answer in part is that traditionally only 70% of permits issued are actually harvested and that would put the harvest near the quota.
• 2. A middle ground possible scenario is to go to permits of 25% of the quota in Region One and one lion permit per hunting district in Region Two. The remainder of the quota would stay with the current season and closure. Not too many in the department were for this option.
• 3. The third alternative would be to leave lion hunting seasons with our current quota system.

There is also a tentative to keep the 24-hour closure notification, but add the option to institute an emergency 12 hour notification of closure of a Hunting District when the quota is reached quickly. This would help reduce the over harvest in some areas.

There was discussion about sex and age of the harvest in Region One and the possibility of instituting Male and/or Female sub-quotas. Discussion was also held on a three year waiting period after harvesting a lion to get another license. Since FWP would need legislative approval to do this, it was dropped for the time being.

There are several issues that Montana State Houndsmen Association, Northwest Houndsmen Association, and individuals want discussed. In 2005, there have been 6,993 mountain lion licenses issued. Of this number, somewhere between 1,300 and 1,500 were purchased by houndsmen and a total of 6,680 were purchased by Montana residents. This means that only about 20% of the licenses are held by houndsmen. With permits, houndsmen would be very lucky to receive more than 20%. That means MAYBE 300 houndsmen would get a permit IF every houndsman applied! Since this issue is only for Region One and Two this year, the possibility is for far fewer houndsmen to receive the permits. NWHA tells us that they have somewhere around 150 members. Would you be happy with only 30 of those houndsmen receiving a permit? I sincerely doubt you and your hounds would be happy next winter.

Think about how many years you have been putting in for a moose, sheep or goat permit. I know I've been applying for a moose permit for about 25 years. I did make a mistake on my application one year, but otherwise I am still waiting! If you have good hounds, I'm sure you would like to harvest a nice trophy tom over them!

Commissioner Tim Mulligan did state that if permits are instituted in Region One and/or Region Two, to be prepared, statewide permits would more than likely follow. If you look at history, whatever happens in Region One lion regulations is soon the rule statewide. Mr. Mulligan certainly stated a true issue to think about. FWP has always stood behind enhancing "hunter opportunity." Lion permits will not afford more hunter opportunity. It will only mean a longer hunting season for a select few and will reduce the "opportunity" for many to be in the woods. We need to maintain "hunter opportunity" for ourselves as well as those youth coming up behind us in the years to come. All Houndsmen need to realize that you don't need a mountain lion license to chase, YOU need to be buying the $5.00 Resident Hound training licenses so that if FWP goes back to the legislature saying "get rid of them, no one is buying them and the cost of keeping these training licenses outweigh what little use the citizens of Montana are getting out of them" we will have a leg to stand on in keeping these training licenses. This is legislative! The commission CANNOT take it away without going back to the legislature. If we are buying the training licenses and can show numbers, we will have more power with the legislature in keeping it. Five Dollars is an amazing deal to ensure keeping your hounds in the woods. I doubt very many of the Houndsmen are buying the training licenses. I keep hearing that "I don't need one, I've got a lion license" or "it's only for guides who don't buy a lion license." Houndsmen representatives spent days and weeks working with the legislature to enact the training license law to protect our sport for Montana hound hunters. Don't ignore adding it to your licenses: you are able to purchase it right up to the end of lion season. You can purchase this training license at any FWP license outlet or online if you choose.

Another issue is: how will the permits be issued. The current FWP wording in the lion regulations for the permits now in law is "Hunters are permitted to hunt only in the portion of the hunting district for which the permit is valid." You can understand how much this will limit our freedom.

These proposals could have long term implications for lion hunting in Montana. I'm sure there are issues that some have already thought of and others that will rear their ugly head years down the road. Please think these proposals over carefully and sit down and write a letter to the Commission stating your views. Get the letter to the commission by the first of February so that they will have time to review all the information prior to their Feb. 10, 2006 meeting in Helena where the final decisions will be made. Normally no public comment is accepted at the meeting where final decisions are made. It is imperative that you attend the local regional meetings and talk to your area biologist and get your beliefs heard. It is also of utmost importance that everyone write letters to the FWP Commission and tell them what you want. Phone calls reach only one commissioner and do not get added to the number of comments, as well as the possibility that you may reach a commissioner when they are extremely busy.

The Officers and Board members held a telephone conference meeting on December 21, 2005 and have formed the following position for MSHA.

MSHA is advocating the third alternative which is to leave lion hunting seasons with our current quota system. The board believes that a waiting period after harvesting a lion is a viable alternative to work toward for the next season setting process. They are aware that this may require legislative action.

They voted unanimously to hold another meeting shortly and set up a committee to work on a solution that all sportsmen and houndsmen can live with to solve the problems that everyone agrees are inherent with the current system. They are against instituting permits at this time for any part of the state. They want to make a concerted effort to have a proposal ready for FWP in the near future. If it means going to the legislature, they are accepting the duty to carry forward. The Board wants to formulate a basic plan and then invite others to discuss and come up with a final solution that Fish, Wildlife and Parks Department personnel, the Commissioners, sportsmen and houndsmen can live with.

The Board would like to hear from you with suggestions for solutions to the current lion hunting issues. Please try and call these guys in the early evenings to catch them when they are home and/or before they go to bed. Now is the time to let your officers know where you stand while they are in the process of deciding the most important issues to address first. You may have to leave a message for them, but if you don't call them, they won't know what you would like to have happen.

These issues have been issues for ten years and it is time to formulate a solution that will be acceptable, will help to conserve and regulate the mountain lion population, keep mountain lion hunting alive in Montana, promote hunter opportunity, as well as retain our Resident Hound Training Season and license.

The Board wants to have a framework for working toward solutions in place before the February 10, 2006 FWP Commission meeting. This means that they will have to work hard during the next five weeks to put it together.

Again, it is imperative for everyone to attend your area public meeting where the tentatives will be discussed and speak your position. The Board has told you here what they are standing behind and will continue to do so. Please make sure that you do your part by getting your comments heard in your area meeting and sitting down and putting it in writing to the FWP Commission.