Even officials have to hunt for answers

Hunting and fishing rules can be so complicated, even game wardens pucker up when they travel to hunt or fish under another state’s regulations.

“I was a little nervous and unsure of myself on several occasions,” said Craig Walker, an Idaho Fish and Game Department conservation officer, recalling his recent pronghorn hunting trip to Montana.

“Here I am, the head of (wildlife) law enforcement for the (Panhandle) region and I’m scared to death I’m going to mess up. I re-read the regulations and I’m even calling one of my enforcement counterparts in Great Falls for some clarification.”

For example, fluorescent orange clothing must be worn for big-game hunting in Montana and Washington, while Idaho is one of the few states that has not adopted the requirement.

But even among states that require hunter orange, rules can differ significantly.

Montana’s is more liberal than some states by not requiring hunter orange for upland bird hunting. However, Washington requires bird hunters to wear orange, except when they are exclusively hunting forest grouse or migratory birds.

Montana is less liberal than Washington in clothing requirements for big-game hunting. Even muzzleloaders must wear hunter orange in Montana while Washington hunters out during muzzleloader-only seasons are free to hunt in full camouflage.

Firearms can be loaded while inside a vehicle in Idaho, a practice that’s prohibited in Montana and Washington.

Walker said he was uneasy about Montana’s rules for maintaining proof of sex and species of big-game animals after the kill.

“Their rules are very clear about leaving the head, penis, scrotum or mammaries attached to prove sex, but they’re not specific at all about how to prove species, especially when you have to remove the head, cut up the meat and put it into a cooler,” he said.

Montana officials said that if the head can’t be kept with the meat, a piece of hide normally would suffice.

But keep in mind that Washington and Montana won’t allow hunters to enter their states with the unprocessed skull or backbone of a deer, elk or moose shot in one of the 12 states or provinces where chronic wasting disease has been detected.

Inconsistencies seem to crop up even within Montana’s regulations. For example, evidence of sex and species is no longer needed for big game during transportation once the meat has been processed and wrapped.

However, if you shoot a prairie grouse or partridge, a fully feathered wing must be attached until you get home, even if it’s in another state.

In the case of a pheasant, a leg must be left attached.

Idaho and Washington are lax in regulating hunters using two-way radios, but Montana specifies that radio communication cannot be used as an aid to hunting.

“I was a few miles from my hunting partner when I spotted some antelope, so I called him on my radio and told him I was going to get right with the wind and make a hunt on them,” Walker said. “When I let my finger off the talk button I thought, ‘Whoops, I wonder if that was legal?’ ”

Yes it was, according to Jim Kropp, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks enforcement chief in Helena.

“That rule was designed to keep somebody up on a mountain top from spotting and directing other hunters to the game,” he said. “It isn’t meant to prevent hunters from communicating with their partners.”

When in doubt about any rule, a hunter should call a regional wildlife agency office for clarification, he said.

While differences may be subtle between neighboring states, hunters struggle even more with regulations when they travel out of their region.

Said Walker, “One of our officers out of Pocatello came across of a group of Ohio hunters sitting around camp on the Sunday after the season opened. When he asked why they weren’t out hunting, they said, ‘It’s Sunday.’

“At first the officer thought it was because of a religious affiliation, but then he learned that Ohio prohibits hunting on Sundays. He had to remind them that they were in Idaho.”

Party-hunting is a regional difference that gets some Eastern and Midwest hunters in trouble when they come to Western states, said Chris Wright, Idaho’s assistant wildlife enforcement chief in Boise.

“Minnesota and Wisconsin, for instance, allow hunters to help others in their group by shooting to fill their tags,” he said. “In Idaho, Montana and Washington, you have to put your own tag only on your own animal.”

As he pored through Montana’s hunting regulations during his recent trip, Walker said he began thinking about Idaho’s requirements and how they are presented to non-residents.

“I guess we just assume that a non-resident bowhunter who buys an Idaho elk tag will know that he also needs an archery permit,” Walker said. “Sometimes these things are not obvious. You really have to read the rules.”

Indeed, when asked the details about a few regulations in his state, Kropp, Montana’s top enforcement official, paused to thumb through the hunting regulations pamphlet.

“I’m hesitant to assume anything without looking at the exact wording of the rule,” he said. “And hunters should be just as cautious.”