My Billings Gazette

Kaching!

You finally scored that hard-to-get bull tag in the Missouri Breaks, now the planning starts. You should also plan to get in shape, if you're not already buff.

Thankfully, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is offering some tips for hunters looking to tone up for the fall season. The nonprofit turned to Cameron Hanes, a fitness and bowhunting authority, for a few tips.

“You don’t have to be a world-class athlete to build up amazing endurance, but you do have to get started with some sort of workout regimen. Every day you spend in inactivity, you get weaker. Every day that elk move through high country, they get stronger. And the longer you wait to exercise, the wider the gap grows,” Hanes said.

Here are five ways Hanes suggested to get in shape:

1. Try a “commercial workout” when you’re sitting around watching TV. Do push-ups and sit-ups during the commercials. Over the summer months, this exercise can make a big difference.

2. If you’ve been doing nothing recently, there’s no point in running. Going overboard right out of the gate will only make you too sore, cause you to hurt yourself or burnout quickly. Go for a brisk walk instead. Walk for 10 minutes and slowly jog for five. Do this back-to-back for 30 minutes, four times a week, for a couple of weeks. Slowly begin to lengthen the overall workout, then start increasing the jogging time.

3. You don't need to spend tons of time working out. If you’re at your ideal weight, you need just 30 minutes a day of exercise. If weight loss is a concern, experts say it takes an hour of exercise each day to lose weight without going on a diet. Thirty minutes will do for weight loss if you diet and exercise.

4. Hard workouts are not always better. Some of the world’s greatest athletes exercise at “conversation pace,” meaning their pace is easy enough to have a conversation while running. As you get into shape, try long (45 minutes or more) comfortable workouts three or four days a week. Then, one day a week, do a harder fast-paced workout.

5. Mix it up. Add some variety to your walking and jogging with cross-training and lifting weights — but keep in mind that almost everything you do in elk hunting begins and ends with your legs. Throw on your pack and climb hills or bleachers. Get on a bike. In the weight room, emphasize squats and lunges. Lots of reps are more important than heavy weights, because for elk hunting you need lean muscle, not size.

When hunting season arrives, remember to pace yourself. The endurance you’ve built over the summer will allow you hunt longer, not necessarily faster or harder. Many hunters tend to overexert at first and hit the wall quickly. Slow, steady hunting for longer periods gives you your best chance to take an elk.

In case you didn't hear, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission set a quota of 75 wolf permits for state hunters on Wednesday.

The agency expects most of those permits to be sought by elk and deer hunters who will shoot a wolf if they see them, rather than people specifically targeting the big canines, but I wouldn't bet on it. I think there are many folks who would like to specifically pursue a gray wolf as a trophy. No word on whether it would be added to the SuperTag line up, which allows the winner to hunt the species anywhere in the state, but I doubt it.

With the wolves' delisting appealed by environmental groups recently, there is sure to be a suit against FWP over the hunting permits. So I don't think there will be any wolf hunts this season, or possibly even next year, as the issue winds its way through the court system.

Environmentalists argue that the wolves have not reached a number substantial enough to allow hunting, plus the populations tend to be genetically isolated. Management agencies counter that the wolves have met the pre-assigned quotas and should be managed like other wildlife, such as mountain lions, which are hunted.

These photos along with several others were e-mailed to me recently. The e-mail said the bear was shot in the Siuslaw Unit west of the small town of Crow.

According to one post I found on the Internet, the bear was taken May 9 by hunter Jake Tidball. As one blog poster noted, if this was how big the bear was in spring, how big would it have been by fall?

I've left a message for Oregon Fish and Game to try and track down more info. I'll let you know if I hear more, especially if it's a new state record.

As I was searching the Internet, I found this old story published in The New York Times on another big bear taken in Oregon years ago. It's worth a read.

Posted Wednesday, May 20:

UPDATE:  On the evening of Tuesday, May 19, more than 100 Yellowstone Rifle Club members met and after discussing the issue, voted 70-29 to approve the bylaw changes and create the classes of membership.  YRC members who are also members of the NRA will pay $70 per year and be allowed to vote in club matters.  YRC members who are not NRA members will pay $100 per year and not be allowed to vote in club matters.

Posted Sunday, May 17:

Being an outdoor recreationist these days is a bit like staring down into a bowl of alphabet soup.  There are so many letters down there swimming around and all of them are pretty tasty, yet you absolutely can't grab them all with just one spoonful.  You have to pick and choose.

That's the way it is in outdoor recreation right now and why my column today on the Yellowstone Rifle Club's proposed bylaws is so troublesome.  The new bylaws would charge non-National Rifle Association members $30 extra in annual dues and deny them a chance to vote in club matters.

Right now, if you live in the Billings area and enjoy outdoor recreation, here's just a partial list of the organizations you can join:*  YRC, BTC, BRGC, BCSSC, BRTA, YB, RMEF, TU, DU, WF, WU, MP, NWTF, MDF, FNAWS, SCI, MWA, PF, LRGC,  TSATVA, MESG, MWF, NWF, YVAS, NC, BPS and the NRA.  I'm sure I'm missing many of them.

But the truth of the matter is that times have changed.  It used to be that there were few options -- the local rod and gun club, perhaps a rifle club or archery club and darn few national organizations like the NRA.

Now, there are groups supporting a wide array of things ranging from elk to wild sheep to trout to ducks to preserving the land, protecting recreational use and preserving the wild things that live on the land.  It would be virtually impossible to join all the groups and attend all the banquets and be generous with time and money in all regards -- no matter how much we believe in them.  The money stretches only so far.  Time has its limits.

So individuals have to pick and choose.  And sometimes the choosing is tough.  Do you support the NRA and not support SCI?   Do you support the elk but not the sheep or mule deer or turkeys?    Which rod and gun? Which rifle club? Archery? ATV? Kids fishing days?

There are simply a lot more organizational choices today than there used to be.  And all of them are doing good work in their particular areas. But you simply can't join them all -- mark 

* YRC - Yellowstone Rifle Club, BTC - Billings Trap Club, BRGC - Billings Rod and Gun Club, BCSSC- Blue Creek Shooting Sports Complex, BRTA - Beartooth Recreational Trails Association, YB - Yellowstone Bowmen, RMEF - Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, TU - Trout Unlimited, DU - Ducks Unlimited, WF - Walleyes Forever, WU - Walleyes Unlimited, MP - Montana PikeMasters, NWTF - National Wild Turkey Federation, MDF - Mule Deer Foundation, FNAWS - Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, SCI - Safari Club International, MWA - Montana Wilderness Association, PF - Pheasants Forever, LRGC - Laurel Rod and Gun Club, TSATVA - Treasure State ATV Association,  MESG - Midland Empire Snow Goers, MWF - Montana Wildlife Federation, NWF - National Wildlife Federation,  YVAS - Yellowstone Valley Audubon Society, NC - Nature Conservancy, BPS - Beartooth Paddlers Society, NRA - National Rifle Association. 

It was a busy week in the press release business for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks information officers, trying to keep up with wolf attacks on livestock.  There were five press releases in all, finishing with a double on Friday.  (Sort of makes you wonder whether FWP took Wednesday off – no wolf press releases that day.)

FWP has been cranking out a steady stream of these press reports.  They come from here, there and everywhere across the western half of the state.  Here’s this week’s sampler of locations:

Friday, March 27:  A wolf or wolves yesterday killed a calf on private property west of Augusta near Smith Creek, state wildlife officials reported.  The wolf or wolves involved in the incident are unknown. The Monitor Mountain pack’s radio collar was not heard and the new Benchmark pack that has a territory near the site does not have a collar yet.

Friday, March 27: A wolf or wolves killed two domestic calves and probably killed another domestic calf on private land near Grant southwest of Dillon. USDA Wildlife Services confirmed the depredations on March 17 and March 22.  This is the second incident in the area since February. One domestic calf was confirmed injured by wolves in Feb. 13.  It is not currently known which wolf or wolves were involved.

Thursday, March 26: Wolves killed a calf on private property near Philipsburg this week.  USDA Wildlife Services confirmed the incident on March 24.  Due to a history of repeated livestock depredations in this area, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) authorized the lethal removal of three wolves that are believed to be responsible for the depredations.  The wolves involved in the incident were likely remaining members of the Skalkaho and Sapphire packs.

Tuesday, March 24: Wolves killed a calf Monday in the East Boulder River drainage south of Big Timber, federal Wildlife Services officials have confirmed. The landowner and Wildlife Services were given authority to remove one wolf if it appears again on private property.  The nearest known pack of wolves is the Baker Mountain pack, which was monitored in a nearby drainage Saturday by biologists on a routine tracking flight.

Monday, March 23: Wolves killed a calf on private property north of Avon last week.  USDA Wildlife Services confirmed the incident on March 19. Tracks of four wolves were present at the depredation site, and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) believes the wolves are not part of a named pack. Wildlife Services is attempting to collar and release a wolf on site to better determine what wolves are in the area.

These reports used to create quite a furor when they broke into the news.  Now, it’s pretty much a ho-hum deal unless the wolf report comes from your neighborhood.  With the number of these reports – and the frequency – it makes a person wonder what all the fuss is about among people who worry about having wolves in the future.  It appears they’re all over the place.  And there’s no doubt that they’re finding things to eat. -- mark

The Montana Senate voted 27-23 on third reading today to approve Sen. Debby Barrett's Senate Bill 217 and pass it on to the House.  The several-times-amended bill would reimburse livestock owners for brucellosis testing in areas where elk populations are over their herd objectives.  FWP would pay the bill for the testing.

This feel-good-bill for livestock owners is actually a feel-bad-bill for all hunters, fishermen and anyone else interested in fish and wildlife.   FWP is funded with hunting and fishing license dollars.  If any of those dollars are used for non-fish and non-wildlife or non-sportsmen uses,  FWP will lose $18.7 million per year in federal funding according to the bill's fiscal note.  It will also spend $1.4 million in hunting and fishing license dollars in 2010 alone.

That will result in the removal of 128 full-time-equivalent jobs in FWP and cut about 25 percent from the department's total budget.  The amount it takes from operations and maintenance may be more that 25 percent by the time it all shakes out.

Hopefully, the House will realize that when it deliberates on the bill.  The Montana Legislature has a reputation of giving knee-jerk approval to any bill helping farmers or ranchers.  But this time, they need to take a look at all the other people who are going to be affected by this.

If the livestock owners need the help, it would have been far better to have all Montanans help them -- not just one group and not at a price this high.  -- mark

Driving past on I-90, it's hard not to notice that things are busy around the new Cabela's outlet in Billings.  A 200-person staff has been hired.  And, the official opening has been set for 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 14.

The Billings Cabela's is going to have 80,000 square feet of floor space and include the company's standard two-story-high indoor mountain, complete with a running waterfall, pond, wild game mount display and a 7,000-gallon aquarium stocked with fish.

Perhaps the most interesting fact to come out of one of the company's press packets, however, is that the company's research claims that the average customer's stay at a Cabela's store rund 3.5 hours.   Also interesting is that the company figures that half of its store customers come from more than 50 miles away. -- mark