Spring hunting seasons open soon

In Montana, every season is unique. Each one ushers in different responsibilities and opportunities for residents across the state; including a rotating schedule of possible hunting experiences. April showers may bring flowers next month, but this month is also the time for hunters to venture into the wild in pursuit of black bears and turkeys.

Lincoln County is part of the general hunting area for turkeys, which means the spring season runs from April 11 until May 17. Black bear season starts on April 15 and continues until May 31 in Lincoln County and all of the adjoining bear management units.

After a mild winter, local taxidermist and avid hunter Gerry Mercer is expecting a quality bear season.

“Personally I love spring bear season. After being cooped up all winter, it’s nice to get out and get on a hunt,” he said.

Mercer said the light snow coverage should provide bears with easy access to plenty of grass.

“When you’re hunting bears, you hunt what they eat. In the fall that means looking for huckleberry patches and in the spring it’s patches of grass and clover,” he said.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks wildlife biologist Tonya Chilton-Radandt also expects the moderate winter will provide for excellent bear and turkey hunting.

“As one would predict, bear and turkey numbers should both be pretty good again this year,” she said.

Chilton-Radandt said the large males are the first bears to venture out from their dens in search of food.

“The second week in March is when males come out to sniff around, vacillating between spending time in their dens and wandering about,” she said. During her recent trips into the forest, she’s come across bear tracks in the lower elevations.

The last to emerge from their dens are the female black bears with cubs, which is part of the reason Montana opens their bear season earlier than most states in order to avoid such mortalities.

Chilton-Radandt said access should also be great for spring hunters, which will only improve as the season wears on.

With the second highest density of black bears in the state found in the Yaak and Cabinet Mountains, the area continues to be a destination location for hunters.

“I feel good that we can continue to harvest at this rate and it will be a sustainable level for this area,” Chilton-Radandt said. “It’s also high quality, these are pretty good sized critters that are being harvested.”

On average 1,000 black bears are harvested statewide, with roughly half of them taken in Region 1 bear management units.  

Mercer said his taxidermy business relies on black bears.

“It’s a big part of my business. I do lots of rugs and life-size mounts. I just finished one from last spring; it’s beautiful,” he said.

A hunter may only purchase one black bear permit per year and must pass the Fish, Wildlife & Parks test to confirm their ability to recognize differences between black bears and grizzly bears. Hunters are required to present the certificate in order to purchase a black bear tag.

Within five days of harvesting a black bear a hunter who has successfully harvested a bear must present the complete hide with proof of sex and skull still attached for the purpose of inspection, tagging and possible removal of a tooth.

The number of turkeys has been on the uptick in Region 1 over the last few years, to the point of being an annoyance for some people. Chilton-Radandt said the most drastic increases have occurred on private land where some people supplement the diet of turkeys.

She said aside from that, turkey numbers are looking good in the Libby area as well as in Eureka. “I’ve been keeping track of turkey populations outside of private lands and am willing to share that information with any hunters,” she said.

In order to control the turkey population, Fish, Wildlife & Parks has increased the number of tags over the last couple of years from one to two per person with various restrictions that should be referred to in the 2015 Spring Turkey Montana hunting regulations.

Mercer doesn’t do bird mounts at his shop, but he enjoys the thrill of a good turkey hunt.

“It’s always a good rush to be all camo’d up and call a big tom down from a tree and have him talking back to you,” he said. “It should be a fairly good year with plenty of opportunities for hunters. That is unless it changes on us like it did last year.”