This week, Tom Kuglin of the Montana State News Bureau goes over a proposal from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks major changes to limited-entry elk permits for 14 central Montana hunting districts, including elimination of permits in some districts or opening up general license hunting on private land for bull elk.

The districts that are part of this proposal are all 200% or above population objectives with elk largely concentrated on private land.

The proposed changes would mark a significant shift in elk management for multiple districts in Region 4 and 5. In eight hunting districts, the number of limited-permits would be cut roughly in half and restricted to public lands. On private lands, hunting for bulls would switch to a general license. The remaining six district proposals are a mix of dropping permits altogether or during archery seasons or increasing the number of permits.

This podcast from the Montana State News Bureau is created in partnership across five newsrooms – the Billings Gazette, the Helena Independent Republic, the Missoulian, the Montana Standard and the Ravalli-Republic. You can support this podcast and our efforts by subscribing. Visit any of these newspapers’ websites, and click on the Become a Member button at the top of the home page. We appreciate your support of local journalism.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.