HISTORY OF MONTANA ’ S
Landowner Paul Rossignol , who serves as president of Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife , clears a path for hunters to chase dogs .
Rossignol ' s family cabin is a collection of equal parts memories and hunting equipment .
HISTORY OF MONTANA ’ S
HOUNDS AND BEARS
When hound hunting for bears was banned in Montana in 1921 , it had more to do with the extirpation of species due to market hunting and grizzly bears than it did black bears .
BRIAN LYNN ( TOP ); ADOBE STOCK ( SIDEBAR )
According to the state , “ while grizzly bears increasingly vanished across the West in the 20th Century , Montana stood out as a conservation leader . The Montana Fish and Game Department implemented management measures and promoted public awareness to try and slow the decline of grizzly bear populations . Montana abolished baiting and the use of hounds to hunt bears ( 1921 ), listed bears as a managed game species ( 1923 ) and prohibited the killing of cubs or females with cubs ( 1947 ). Some of the first scientific studies surrounding grizzly bears were conducted in Montana , including a 1941 survey by Robert ‘ Bob ’ Cooney , Montana ’ s first wildlife biologist , and Ray Gibler in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex .
" The Montana Fish and Game Department continued grizzly bear surveys through the 1940s and 1950s . Major research was conducted in the 1970s with the Border Grizzly Bear Study led by Chuck Jonkel and the East Front Grizzly Bear Study led by Keith Aune . These were followed by the South Fork of the Flathead River study under Rick Mace and a study in the Mission Mountains by Chris Servheen .
" John and Frank Craighead conducted landmark studies of grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park from 1959 to 1972 . These studies and newfound public awareness helped lead to the listing of the grizzly bear as a threatened species
under the federal Endangered Species Act in the lower 48 states in 1975 . Montana remains at the forefront of grizzly bear research today .
" After decades of hard work by all Montanans , grizzly bear populations have reached and surpassed federal recovery goals in the Greater Yellowstone and Northern Continental Divide . Densities of grizzly bears are increasing . Populations are expanding into areas where they have not been for decades , including connectivity areas between recovery zones ."
Opening a hound season for black bears , as many other Western states did after the rebound of wildlife populations , opens not just recreational opportunities , but allows the selective harvest of bruins according to scientific wildlife management goals for each unit . Unlike spot and stalk hunting , hound hunting allow more time to evaluate bears and ensure it ’ s not a sow with cubs . Ethical shots are treed bears are the norm , and the dogs can always be pulled off the tree and the bear allowed to live , and to do so with a healthy respect for humans and canines .
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