House Bill 468 is now law, and come 2022 there will be a new option to the spring black bear season in The Treasure State. Montana will join states like Idaho, Wisconsin, and Tennessee that allow the use of hounds in the licensed and regulated bear hunt.
Hound and hunter is a mammal-to-mammal connection that goes back to time immemorial. The bawls of trailing and baying dogs will join the sounds of the spring woods and mountains. Hounds are already legal for use in the winter pursuit of mountain lion and bobcat, by license and regulation.
Nonetheless, a change is always an opportunity for concern in the public. My prediction is 2022 will seem like a big deal in public discourse. By 2024 it won't be noticed.
Detractors may be in for a surprise when black bear numbers go up after the use of hounds.
Here's the idea: Cubs, and Sows with cubs are target for mature boars. The big males kill cubs and young males at nearly every opportunity. But hound hunters will be able to be more selective in targeting big boars, thereby taking predation pressure off sows and young. The end result is actually a higher overall bear population. It happened in Wisconsin and I predict it will happen in Montana.
Montana FWP will gather data and make reports. Until then, I am still awaiting the first report of an Iowa bruin for 2021.
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