While bow hunters in the southern mountains of Montana were fighting grizzly bears this fall, archers in the Missouri Breaks were battling each other.
Apparently an increase of 66 permits was just too much for the twangers to bear.
According to a recent news release from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, both hunters and law enforcement officers reported more conflicts this year than ever before.
“Several hunters reported verbal threats made against them and assault charges are pending against one individual,” the FWP said.
Wildlife managers blame an increase in hunters and a greater concentration of elk in the river bottom this year.
As the elk population ballooned on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, the waters of Fort Peck Reservoir receded, creating more habitat along the Missouri River bottom.
“Elk sought out those places,” said Matt DeRosier of the CMR.
So did hunters.
But while there’s habitat now where there used to be none, it simply concentrated elk and hunters on the river instead of dispersing them in the Breaks.
A total of 1,715 archery permits were issued for Hunting District 620 in southern Phillips County this year compared to 1,649 in 2006.
Most of those hunters were concentrated along a narrow strip of river bottom running east from the Fred Robinson Bridge to Fourchette Bay.
It’s little wonder there’s no harmony among bowhunters, more than 1,500 nimrods all hoping to stick an arrow in an elk. And until they start walking and talking the camo-clad crowd is invisible to each other.
While rifle hunters are required to wear blaze orange, it’s perfectly legal to dress like a special forces sniper while bow hunting. Unfortunately they’re also starting to act like Rambo.
Hunters tend to shy away from other hunters who wear orange because they spot them at a distance. Archers on the other hand have no such way to avoid confrontation with other archers. They can’t see each other until it’s too late. Somebody is in somebody else’s space. Or face.
Conflict is inevitable.
And we’re going to see it. In this day of camera phones and Youtube someone is sure to capture a couple of bow hunters going at it in an outdoors version of World Extreme Cagefighting.
In the southern mountain ranges bordering Yellowstone National Park this fall four bow hunters tangled with grizzlies.
Along the Missouri river in north-central Montana, a handful of bow hunters exchanged threats and punches.
Too bad they didn’t have grizzly bears to worry about instead of each other.
Parker Heinlein is at pman@mtintouch.net