Outdoors

Trying Times

Published on Tue, 02/25/2020 - 4:51pm
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While some animals slumber away through February or have fun in the sun down south, other species make the most of Saint Valentine’s month.

Like great horned owls, which are in the middle of their mating season and, soon, if not already, will be sitting on eggs. No other birds in Montana court and mate during the winter.

Grand Teton goat shoot suspended after stern governor letter

Published on Tue, 02/25/2020 - 4:50pm
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CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Grand Teton National Park officials have suspended efforts to shoot mountain goats from a helicopter after criticism from Wyoming’s governor prompted Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to intervene.

Bernhardt told park officials to suspend the shooting Friday night, hours after the effort began and Gov. Mark Gordon called the helicopter shooting a “farce” in a letter to acting Grand Teton Superintendent Gopaul Noojidail.

LINKS kids get archery exposure in 4-H partnership

Published on Tue, 02/25/2020 - 4:48pm
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LINKS for Learning after-school students recently had the chance to take archery lessons at the Park County Fairgrounds, thanks to a partnership with 4-H.

Fourth- and fifth-grade students learned marksmanship, safe and responsible use of compound bows, the principles of archery and more, all due to the volunteer 4-H adult leaders Sid Amaro and Jason Frost, a LINKS news release said.

Custer Gallatin National Forest food storage requirements go back into effect March 1

Published on Tue, 02/25/2020 - 4:47pm

Food storage requirements for five of the seven ranger districts on the Custer Gallatin National Forest, including Bozeman, Hebgen Lake, Gardiner, Yellowstone and Beartooth, go back into effect March 1–Dec. 1, annually, a forest news release said.  

Food Storage Orders are in effect to reduce adverse human wildlife interactions, including bears and other wildlife species.

The Food Storage Order requires that all unattended food, garbage and attractants be stored through one of the approved methods:

• In hard-sided vehicles.

• In bear-resistant containers.

Smuggled elk poses mystery for wildlife officials

Published on Tue, 02/18/2020 - 4:57pm
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GREAT FALLS (AP) — It reads like a forensic crime drama — and in a very real sense it is. 

A Montana game warden learns of an unusual elk shot along the Rocky Mountain Front. The animal has physical peculiarities unlike anything the department has seen before. Genetic testing reveals that the young bull is of an exotic sub-species, and that it came from a herd more than 600 miles from where it was shot.

How did it get here? Who released it into the wild? What would have happened had the bull lived, intermingling for years with Montana’s native elk population?

Meeting set on mountain lion management

Published on Tue, 02/18/2020 - 4:55pm

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks will host a public meeting on Thursday, Mar. 5, to discuss mountain lion management and tentative quotas for the 2020-21 mountain lion hunting season in Region 3. 

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the annex of the United Methodist Church, 124 2nd Ave. East, in Three Forks, an FWP news release said.

Up on Suce Creek

Published on Tue, 02/04/2020 - 4:42pm
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Coming down isn’t always the hardest thing, that moment you point your skis downhill and gravity takes over, free falling on skis. It’s a great thing until you need to stop. 

Groups want federal protection for wolverines

Published on Tue, 01/28/2020 - 12:00am
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Wolverines are the largest members of the weasel family, but they look more like small bears with bushy tails. Conservation groups say the animals need to be listed as threatened

US land agency seeks to ID public parcels that lack access

Published on Tue, 01/28/2020 - 12:00am
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BILLINGS (AP) — U.S. land managers say they will release by mid-March a priority list of federal lands that need but don’t have public access. U.S. Bureau of Land Management

Dove deaths: Virus not harmful to pets, but can affect poultry, game birds

Published on Tue, 01/28/2020 - 12:00am
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Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has had reports from citizens about an unusual number of dead Eurasian collared doves in yards and around neighborhoods this winter. FWP Region 7 submitted