spectr17
11-15-2004, 07:28 PM
November 11, 2004
Montana outdoors: Illegal radio use rampant in state
Mark Henckel/Billings Gazette
To start with, the hunters from Minnesota were using hand-held radios to help each other pursue wild game. But that's not where it stopped.
As Miles City warden captain Mike Moore and Baker game warden Nate Reiner were listening in on their own hand-held radios, the conversation between the hunters went on.
"Most of it was spotting," Moore said. "Some guys were pushing animals to other guys. This group was doing all of that.
"But they were also talking about what do we have for tags left - they were party hunting," he added. "One guy would say we have X amount of doe tags and two buck tags left. Guys were calling in, what do we have for tags again? One guy must have been the tag-keeper.
"We didn't catch those guys that day," Moore said. "But we had Nate go down there again the next day and he finally tracked those guys down. We wound up with one guy killing a buck without a license, another killing an over-limit of mule deer does and talking about swapping tags back and forth and, of course, the radio use, too."
Not isolated incident
While this case featured a few extra twists and turns, the illegal radio use to purse game was far from an isolated incident. Despite the fact that the law has been on the Montana books since 1995, hunters continue to use hand-held radios illegally to aid each other in hunting.
"We were working the Ekalaka country and it was rampant down there," Moore said. "You could hardly keep track of the conversations. There was a lot of it going on."
Moore said he guessed that people abusing the hand-held radio ban fall into different categories.
"What I figure is that this really breaks down into three groups," he said. "Some people are truly uninformed. They're not reading our regulations, and maybe their state doesn't have a prohibition on it.
"The second scenario is that people are aware. They're carrying them in their packs for emergency situations which is perfectly lawful," Moore continued. "Either temptation or something overcomes them and they can't help but tell their buddy they've got a big buck coming their way."
Finally, he said, "The third category is people who know it's unlawful but they're going to do it anyway until we catch them. We need to do a better job of working with groups one and two, and I don't think we're going to change number three."
Statewide problem
Jim Kropp, chief of law enforcement for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in Helena, said that even though the law has been in place for nine years, too many hunters simply aren't following it.
"It's a problem that continues to grow," Kropp said. "It's all over Montana.
"We did a lot of public education the first couple of years the law was in place. Gradually, we started to pick up the enforcement on it," he said. "These radios are a really good tool if they're used for legitimiate purposes - safety or basic communication. You can tell someone to come over and help you drag when you get an animal down. To prevent getting lost, they're great for that.
"But when people use them to actually pursue game, that's when problems occur," Kropp said.
Enforcement of the radio ban is done by wardens listening in on their own hand-held radios, Moore said. They have the ability to scan the available channels. Wardens know that under the absolute best conditions, the radios have a range of five to six miles.
Wardens also get help from other hunters who listen in on the illegal activity. After all, most sportsmen backed this ban when it was put in place.
"When the commission passed this, it was part of a package of outlawing motion-detecting tracking devices and flying on the same day over an area you planned to hunt," Moore said. "They all had to do with fair chase and the sportsmen came out and said they didn't feel this was fair chase. The commission listened to them.
"We've made some cases where other hunters had radios, using them for lawful purposes, and heard these other guys going like crazy with illegal radio traffic," he said. "Those hunters have passed that information on to us, and we've made good on some of those cases."
In fact, Montana wardens made 43 cases on the law in 2002, 51 in 2003 and 28 last year.
Both Moore and Kropp are hoping that more hunters get to know about the hand-held radio ban. Or, if they know about it already, they spread the word to hunters who don't.
"It's simply a fair chase rule," Kropp said. "In today's world, hunters have the ability to overwhelm wildlife with technology and that's what we're trying to avoid."
Mark Henckel is the outdoor editor of The Billings Gazette. His columns appear Thursdays and Sundays. He can be contacted at henckel@billingsgazette.com or at 657-1395.
Montana outdoors: Illegal radio use rampant in state
Mark Henckel/Billings Gazette
To start with, the hunters from Minnesota were using hand-held radios to help each other pursue wild game. But that's not where it stopped.
As Miles City warden captain Mike Moore and Baker game warden Nate Reiner were listening in on their own hand-held radios, the conversation between the hunters went on.
"Most of it was spotting," Moore said. "Some guys were pushing animals to other guys. This group was doing all of that.
"But they were also talking about what do we have for tags left - they were party hunting," he added. "One guy would say we have X amount of doe tags and two buck tags left. Guys were calling in, what do we have for tags again? One guy must have been the tag-keeper.
"We didn't catch those guys that day," Moore said. "But we had Nate go down there again the next day and he finally tracked those guys down. We wound up with one guy killing a buck without a license, another killing an over-limit of mule deer does and talking about swapping tags back and forth and, of course, the radio use, too."
Not isolated incident
While this case featured a few extra twists and turns, the illegal radio use to purse game was far from an isolated incident. Despite the fact that the law has been on the Montana books since 1995, hunters continue to use hand-held radios illegally to aid each other in hunting.
"We were working the Ekalaka country and it was rampant down there," Moore said. "You could hardly keep track of the conversations. There was a lot of it going on."
Moore said he guessed that people abusing the hand-held radio ban fall into different categories.
"What I figure is that this really breaks down into three groups," he said. "Some people are truly uninformed. They're not reading our regulations, and maybe their state doesn't have a prohibition on it.
"The second scenario is that people are aware. They're carrying them in their packs for emergency situations which is perfectly lawful," Moore continued. "Either temptation or something overcomes them and they can't help but tell their buddy they've got a big buck coming their way."
Finally, he said, "The third category is people who know it's unlawful but they're going to do it anyway until we catch them. We need to do a better job of working with groups one and two, and I don't think we're going to change number three."
Statewide problem
Jim Kropp, chief of law enforcement for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in Helena, said that even though the law has been in place for nine years, too many hunters simply aren't following it.
"It's a problem that continues to grow," Kropp said. "It's all over Montana.
"We did a lot of public education the first couple of years the law was in place. Gradually, we started to pick up the enforcement on it," he said. "These radios are a really good tool if they're used for legitimiate purposes - safety or basic communication. You can tell someone to come over and help you drag when you get an animal down. To prevent getting lost, they're great for that.
"But when people use them to actually pursue game, that's when problems occur," Kropp said.
Enforcement of the radio ban is done by wardens listening in on their own hand-held radios, Moore said. They have the ability to scan the available channels. Wardens know that under the absolute best conditions, the radios have a range of five to six miles.
Wardens also get help from other hunters who listen in on the illegal activity. After all, most sportsmen backed this ban when it was put in place.
"When the commission passed this, it was part of a package of outlawing motion-detecting tracking devices and flying on the same day over an area you planned to hunt," Moore said. "They all had to do with fair chase and the sportsmen came out and said they didn't feel this was fair chase. The commission listened to them.
"We've made some cases where other hunters had radios, using them for lawful purposes, and heard these other guys going like crazy with illegal radio traffic," he said. "Those hunters have passed that information on to us, and we've made good on some of those cases."
In fact, Montana wardens made 43 cases on the law in 2002, 51 in 2003 and 28 last year.
Both Moore and Kropp are hoping that more hunters get to know about the hand-held radio ban. Or, if they know about it already, they spread the word to hunters who don't.
"It's simply a fair chase rule," Kropp said. "In today's world, hunters have the ability to overwhelm wildlife with technology and that's what we're trying to avoid."
Mark Henckel is the outdoor editor of The Billings Gazette. His columns appear Thursdays and Sundays. He can be contacted at henckel@billingsgazette.com or at 657-1395.