Non-sportsmen leaving a mess

Opening weekend is a time for hunters and hunting families to go out and enjoy ethical sportsmanship. This year, many hunters were not ethically enjoying their privileges.

According to a press release from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, this year’s harvest rate was double the rate from last year’s opening weekend.

However, many big game in the Libby and Troy area were never checked, as many dead animals are currently being found with their meat still on them, tossed out on the sides of roads by area hunters.

“The thing that’s really disturbing for me is that we do have a lot of good, ethical, legal sportsmen, and they are my eyes and ears right now and they are just as outraged,” Game Warden Tamie Laverdure said.

Laverdure has worked as game warden in the Libby and Troy areas for about four and a half years. Part of her job is enforcing hunting rules and regulations, which requires her to respond to reports of illegal activity like the dumping of animal carcasses.

It’s usual for her to find a few over the hunting season, but after opening weekend this year, the number of illegal dumpings and littering shocked her.

Usually, she said, most of the carcasses she finds are from people who accidently shot an animal they weren’t supposed to and panicked.

This year, they’re finding that most of the carcasses were blatant acts of disrespect and disregard for other hunters.

Many entire carcasses were scattered along the sides of roads including a white-tailed deer, with just the head cut off, a mule deer that a witness said was shot in the gut and left to rot by someone with a Montana licence plate, a bear that was skinned with the arms and head cut off and thrown out in a bedsheet and a deer that was dumped in someone’s driveway.

On top of that, most of the carcasses were near town or near houses and Laverdure expects to find more in the coming days.

“These people that are doing it illegally and not doing it right, they’re not sportsmen,” Laverdure said. “Good, ethical sportsmen do it right. People make mistakes, and many of them come forward and admit to making a mistake, but this is blatant.”

The abandoned animals pose major ethical issues. The carcasses attract predators, endangering residents in the area, and many of the animals they found were not correctly harvested with much of the meat wasted.

“I don’t understand the blatant waste and the disrespect,” Laverdure said. “Hunting is a privilege. We are so lucky here and so blessed here to have the opportunities that we have.”

If hunters are caught illegally dumping carcasses, they can lose their hunting privileges and be fined. According to Laverdure, fines range anywhere from $135 to $2,000 and, if it’s a trophy, the costs can go even higher.

Tonya Chilton-Radandt, wildlife biologist for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, is extremely disappointed with the illegal dumpings.

Part of Chilton-Radandt’s job is to study which animals can take the impact of a hunt. This year, for the first time in six years, people can hunt white-tailed does.

Using historic and population data taken by surveys of does in the area, Chilton-Radandt sent a justifying request for a doe-hunting season to the Montana Fish and Game Commission.

“It is a concerning situation,” Chilton-Radandt said. “If we lose the continuing support of the public, then the [Montana Fish and Game Commission] can say that there’s no more hunting white-tailed does next year.”

Laverdure and Chilton-Radandt encourage hunters to come forward if they made a mistake and to ask questions if they’re not certain what the laws are and how to properly harvest animals. Laverdure can be reached at 291-1954 and Chilton-Radandt can be reached at 291-0568 or 293-4161, ext. 209.

As of Thursday, there are six investigations running, and a $1,000 reward is posted for anyone who has information on these cases.

Bethany Rolfson can be reached at 293-4124 or by email at reporter@thewesternnews.com.