Montana....WTF

[Flyjunky]

If SB143 wasn't bad enough and now this?

http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW02...ILL_DFT_NO5=LC2770&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20211

So, they want to make LE Elk tags (ex. MO Breaks) in units that are over objective and make it a free for all? What the hell is going on with Montana? Nothing like driving the quality of your elk hunting into the ground. So, no need to wait for quality tag with limited people and a great hunt experience....just open it up and let the bullets fly. If you combine this with SB143, you can see where elk hunting is headed in Montana, and who's behind all this crap.

There is a great discussion of this over on HT which has tons of people from Montana that know way more than I do.

 

[mmw194287]

There have been all kinds of terrible ideas introduced in the Montana legislature over the years, but we were lucky to have a governor from the opposition party who could be counted on to veto the crazy stuff. Now that we're a one-party state, the dog finally caught the car...

 

[Heath Hansen]

Montana is trying to ruin any good elk hunting they have. Unbelievable.

 

[TheCougar]

Wow. I can’t believe what is happening in Montana. The bills in the legislative session are insane, unabashedly corrupt, devastating to the states wildlife management, and most disturbingly - highly likely to pass. I can’t believe that Montanans can allow their politicians to do this to their state and the non-landowner residents. At this rate, you’ll be worse than Utah in a generation.

 

[MuleyFever]

Wow. I can’t believe what is happening in Montana. The bills in the legislative session are insane, unabashedly corrupt, devastating to the states wildlife management, and most disturbingly - highly likely to pass. I can’t believe that Montanans can allow their politicians to do this to their state and the non-landowner residents. At this rate, you’ll be worse than Utah in a generation.

Hey now, we are staying at the bottom even if we have to do something even more stupid to stay here.

 

[Legend]

Freshman legislator in the house of representatives. He is just trying to make an impression with some of the old geezers. And as of last I looked the bill had not been introduced.

Doubt this goes anywhere.

 

[Selway]

Freshman legislator in the house of representatives. He is just trying to make an impression with some of the old geezers. And as of last I looked the bill had not been introduced.

Doubt this goes anywhere.

Yep. Fluff that's not worth the paper it's written on.

SB143 and HB242 are real though, and getting rammed through.

 

[Flyjunky]

Freshman legislator in the house of representatives. He is just trying to make an impression with some of the old geezers. And as of last I looked the bill had not been introduced.

Doubt this goes anywhere.

I think people were calling SB143 fluff when it was first written. After all, how could something pass that was voted on by the citizens and shut down.....squarely down party lines.

I'm not so sure. If you think about all the bills they seem to be following a pattern. Get more tags guaranteed to outfitters, then get rid of some LE tags....now outfitters will have more hunts to sell and not have to worry about those pesky tags.

Yeah, I'm sure this one won't pass, nothing to worry about

 

[brocksw]

It used to be Dems were after your guns and Repubs were after your public land.

Now the Repubs want your public land and to privatize and exploit your wildlife and shrink your opportunity.

They have the conservative voters so worked up around the 2a that they can walk right in the backdoor and steal some of the most crucial and fundamental ingredients to good hunting and fishing and then walk right back out. Sportsmen never stopped pointing their finger at the Democrats. It's a win win for republican politicians in MT.

 

[MT257]

Freshman legislator in the house of representatives. He is just trying to make an impression with some of the old geezers. And as of last I looked the bill had not been introduced.

Doubt this goes anywhere.

After sb 143 was voted to get out of committee this rep I am sure said hold my beer and watch this shit.

 

[Cheesehead]

It used to be Dems were after your guns and Repubs were after your public land.

Now the Repubs want your public land and to privatize and exploit your wildlife and shrink your opportunity.

They have the conservative voters so worked up around the 2a that they can walk right in the backdoor and steal some of the most crucial and fundamental ingredients to good hunting and fishing and then walk right back out. Sportsmen never stopped pointing their finger at the Democrats. It's a win win for republican politicians in MT.

This is spot on.

 

[dyllanmurray]

This bill has its first hearing tomorrow, February 18, 2021. The so called “civil servant” who sponsored this bill can be reached here.

Name	Party	District	Email	Phone Number
Josh Kassmier	R	27	[email protected]	(406) 781-5386

Call or email with your comments about how toned deaf and irresponsible this bill is.

 

[Bull_n_heat]

If anyone wants to steal, plagiarize, cannibalize, or otherwise mimic what I have here. Surely there is a wordsmith out there that can polish this a little better than I can, but a place to start:

Good afternoon Representative Kassmier-

I am writing to urge you to withdraw the bill *HB242*. This bill runs counter to the management paradigm that many limited quota hunting units have been managed under for a number of years, and it compromises thousands of dollars in investments that hunters (Residents and Non-residents alike) have made towards drawing tags in these units. In addition to that, it dilutes management authority and credibility of the State for science-based wildlife management.

People choose to recreate and hunt in Montana because of the quality opportunities that the state provides. In addition to the investment they have made in the state agencies that manage wildlife, they bring countless dollars to the state when they come and hunt or fish, sometimes multiple trips in a year. What's more, good experiences multiply influence very quickly in this day in age - for every successful person that has a great hunt there's a good chance that more than one person is inspired to do the same. You can see it already in demand for licenses in the state in the last 10 decades. This is a testament to the quality of experience that Montana provides. Unfortunately, low quality experiences can do the opposite. This bill, on its surface, appears to have the potential to greatly reduce hunting experience quality in the state.

I again humbly ask you to reconsider this bill.

Thank you for your time,


NOTE: I edited from a previous version that this is HB242 (not the similarly egregious SB143)

 

[wind gypsy]

If anyone wants to steal, plagiarize, cannibalize, or otherwise mimic what I have here. Surely there is a wordsmith out there that can polish this a little better than I can, but a place to start:

Good afternoon Representative Kassmier-

I am writing to urge you to withdraw the bill SB143. This bill runs counter to the management paradigm that many limited quota hunting units have been managed under for a number of years, and it compromises thousands of dollars in investments that hunters (Residents and Non-residents alike) have made towards drawing tags in these units. In addition to that, it dilutes management authority and credibility of the State for science-based wildlife management.

People choose to recreate and hunt in Montana because of the quality opportunities that the state provides. In addition to the investment they have made in the state agencies that manage wildlife, they bring countless dollars to the state when they come and hunt or fish, sometimes multiple trips in a year. What's more, good experiences multiply influence very quickly in this day in age - for every successful person that has a great hunt there's a good chance that more than one person is inspired to do the same. You can see it already in demand for licenses in the state in the last 10 decades. This is a testament to the quality of experience that Montana provides. Unfortunately, low quality experiences can do the opposite. This bill, on its surface, appears to have the potential to greatly reduce hunting experience quality in the state.

I again humbly ask you to reconsider this bill.

Thank you for your time,

Did you mean HB 417 rather than SB 143?

 

[Bull_n_heat]

Did you mean HB 417 rather than SB 143?

Crap sandwich - I do. I guess that would be a good spot to make an edit. I will do so...

 

[Andrew11]

Yep. Nothing like trying to push through a couple garbage bills.

 

[brocksw]

To add to the shiticane that is the MT legislature this year....they're also trying to oust Andrew Mckeon from the Fish and Wildlife commission. The senate fish and wildlife committee just voted 7-4 to reject him today as a do not pass. Not shocking at this point but the vote was split on party lines.

I think it was Tuesday they heard testimony, not sure on the exact number but a bunch of people from all across MT testified in support of him, not a single person testified in opposition. The senate seems likely to follow that committee vote and completely disregard the people of MT who overwhelmingly support Mckeon.

Then to top it off they introduced a bill to require that 4 out of the 7 commissioners have to be landowners(ranchers).

This is a straight up hostile take over of all things hunting in MT.

 

[Fred Royce]

To add to the shiticane that is the MT legislature this year....they're also trying to oust Andrew Mckeon from the Fish and Wildlife commission. The senate fish and wildlife committee just voted 7-4 to reject him today as a do not pass. Not shocking at this point but the vote was split on party lines.

I think it was Tuesday they heard testimony, not sure on the exact number but a bunch of people from all across MT testified in support of him, not a single person testified in opposition. The senate seems likely to follow that committee vote and completely disregard the people of MT who overwhelmingly support Mckeon.

Then to top it off they introduced a bill to require that 4 out of the 7 commissioners have to be landowners(ranchers).

This is a straight up hostile take over of all things hunting in MT.

The "landowners" are going to be people like billionaire Gianforte and the people that are buying the CA ranch for $126 million. They ain't gonna be the rancher up in Depuyer that's been on the ground for three generations.
Somehow, the people in Montana decided that they wanted rich east coasters to run the state.

 

[Okhotnik]

Where's BHA on this?lol

 

[mmw194287]

Where's BHA on this?lol

You can criticize them for any number of things, but they were all over this disaster of a legislative session while other big-name groups based in Montana were absolutely silent.