-Pete
Minard
I’d
been hunting in eastern Montana for a couple of weeks when we stopped
in to
hunt a Block Management Area (BMA) near Culbertson, MT.
We’d
hunted there before and usually got
into a few sharptails.
After hunting one
area of the BMA we had circled back
to
the truck and were taking a break and planning our next strategy. The
yowling of my german shorthair, Tucker,
brought me running.
He was caught in a
No 3 coyote trap.
I quickly released
him and checked him over.
No real
damage done, just a little soreness.
But I was furious. Why
was there
a trap set in a BMA?
This was an area
that I and other sportsmen are “invited” to hunt by
the State.
The landowner receives
payment from the
State for people hunting the BMA. I
assumed the trapper had no business trapping there so I took the trap
Tucker
had been caught in as well as another that was set nearby.
I
left my name and phone number and asked
the trapper to call me and we could talk about this.
When
I got to my friend’s home in Ringling, MT two days later I
phoned the area manager, Jim Saterfield, and explained what had
happened.
He was surprised that there
were traps in
the BMA.
I was then called by the
local
Game Warden, Derek Fagone.
He explained
that there were no regulations against trapping in a BMA and no
requirement to
post a notice to warn hunters that the BMA was being trapped. When
I got home a few days later the trapper
had called.
I called him back and told
him that I had since found out he was perfectly legal trapping the BMA
and that
my beef was with the State not him. I apologized to him for taking his
trap.
He said he felt bad about my
dog
getting caught and was pleased the dog wasn’t injured. I
asked him if there were regulations
regarding the size or type of traps he could use. He
said no and that he could even set snares. He
purposely uses cut-out-jaw traps which
certainly helped Tucker avoid injury and that at times he does
voluntarily post
signs warning that traps are in the area.
I thanked him for the
information, got his address and returned his
traps.
I then wrote a letter to Jim
Saterfield and Alan Charles, the person in Helena in charge of the BMA
program,
setting out what had happened.
I
requested that regulatory changes be considered to, at best, ban
trapping in
BMA’s during hunting season or at least require that a notice
be posted at the
BMA sign in box warning hunters if traps are set in the area. Hunters
could then choose to risk their dogs
getting caught in a trap or go to another BMA.
A month later the response I
got was a call from Warden Fagone to verify
my mailing address as he was sending me a citation for
disturbing/removing a
trap.
He was vigorous in pointing
out
the land owner’s and trapper’s rights to trap but
felt a hunter, indirectly
paying a land owner in a State sponsored program, had no rights. The
appearance bond was $235 with a
potential fine of $1,000 for the citation.
I was shocked at this action
given the sequence of events and the fact
that the only way they knew I had taken the trap was that I’d
called and told
them and had, on my own, returned the traps.
I contacted the county
prosecutor
and after I explained what had happened he had the case dismissed. I
did finally get a response from Alan Charles
to my that essentially said “thank you for your
input” but don’t expect any
changes.
I still contend that it would
be very easy to have a notice placed at the BMA sign in boxes warning
of
trapping activity.
I accept the risks
associated with hunting, both to myself and my dogs.
There
are rattlers, porcupines, barbed wire and other
hazards.
But I feel it reasonable to
have an expectation that a BMA does not have traps waiting for my dogs. The
BMA program isn’t “free” as Mr. Charles
letter stated.
I pay a very healthy
non-resident hunting license fee to hunt Montana and that includes an
assessment for the BMA program.
I don’t
think that it would be unreasonable to have a trapper or the land owner
place a
pre-printed notice at the BMA sign in boxes warning hunters if there is
active
trapping in the area.
The trapper
involved in this thought that would not be a problem when I asked him
about the
idea.
I’ll continue to
hunt Montana mostly because my
brother and a very good friend live there.
I am not against trapping,
I’ve trapped myself.
The BMA program is excellent
and gives us
access to a lot of good land but we should know if it is being trapped. If
you hunt Montana and feel the same way
write Alan Charles (Montana FWP; PO Box 200701; Helena, MT
59602-0701). Maybe
if they here from enough of us they’ll change the rules.
The hunting has been great
this year, especially
right here at home in Idaho.
Hope it
has been a good year for all of you as well.
But darn, only a few more days
‘til its over then the long wait for
September.
Happy Huntin’
-Pete