Oops: FWP Mistake in elk licenses forces tough decisions

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

People who carefully read this year's hunting regulations last spring might have found a surprising item: a chance to hunt trophy bull elk, right outside Yellowstone National Park, in December, when the odds of success often go up.

Permits like that normally are hard to get.

But this year, the 375 tags looked almost guaranteed.

But there was a problem. The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks intended to limit the permits to antlerless elk, a much less coveted item.

"We made a mistake," said Kurt Alt, regional wildlife manager for FWP in Bozeman.

The permits, which are granted in a special drawing, are valid in the southern end of the Gallatin Range, in hunting district 314, just north of the park.

The tags allow hunting of either sex elk from Nov. 20 to Dec. 14, a time when the annual migration out of the park often is in full swing, making elk abundant and the hunting easier.

The general season closes Nov. 30.

Fixing the mistake is working out to be a tough job, however.

The mistake was noticed last spring, after the regulations were printed. But somehow -- Alt said it involved the changeover to a new computerized licensing system -- the permits were issued in August and repeated the mistake.

On Sept. 26, Alt mailed letters to all permit holders, notifying them of the mistake.

He said Friday that he has received 29 written and verbal comments from permit holders.

All but one of them want FWP to let the mistake stand so they can shoot bull elk.

Some have arranged vacation time, have given up other hunting opportunities or already purchased plane tickets, they told Alt.

"This would be a very expensive cow hunt," wrote one Arizona hunter, arguing to let the mistake stand.

Fixing the mistake will cost those people money and/or cause inconvenience, Alt said.

But not fixing it could hurt other hunters in the future.

If a real winter arrives in November or December, that could mean a bunch of bull elk -- perhaps dozens -- could be killed as they leave the park. And that could mean a smaller population of bulls for hunters in future years.

Killing lots of bulls probably wouldn't hurt the overall population. Enough would remain to breed all the available females, Alt said.

But the mistake, which consists of substituting the words "either sex" for "antlerless" in the regulations and on the permits, affects an area already under intense scrutiny and debate because of declining herd size and low calf numbers.

Most of that argument focuses around growing wolf numbers in the area.

"It couldn't have happened in a worse place or a worse time, socially," Alt said.

In adjoining districts, FWP has cut the number of permits, in accordance with declining elk numbers.

The FWP Commission heard the case Thursday and will decide next Friday whether to fix the mistake, as Alt recommends, let it stand, or come up with some type of compromise.

Somebody is going to be angry no matter what the commission decides, Alt predicted.

"It's just a hard thing to deal with," he said.

Commission chairman Dan Walker could not be reached Friday.

Still, the mistake in the regulations went unnoticed by lots of people.

Last year, a total of 346 people applied for the permits as their first choice in the annual drawing. This year, the number grew to 399. All but 24 of them drew permits. What those permits will allow remains to be seen.

Scott McMillion is at scottm@dailychronicle.com.

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