Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) is in the process of developing a new statewide mule deer management plan. Recently, the agency held a series of public workshops to collect concepts and opinions from interested hunters that may be incorporated into the final plan.

“In parts of the state, especially eastern Montana, there’s a lot of concern over mule deer,” said FWP Director Christy Clark. “We recognize our great state’s wildlife are the public’s resources, and we need to manage them for present and future generations.”

FWP used the workshops to grab direct feedback from hunters concerning mule deer management – for current and future planning. 

“It’s important for people to know they are being heard when they voice their frustrations with the mule deer populations and how we’ve seen significant decline,” said Quentin Kujala, FWP chief of conservation policy. “People were very willing to participate in these interactive meetings and provide invaluable feedback for us to implement in our new plan.”  

With nearly 150 people in attendance at the seven different workshops, FWP was able to discuss harvest, habitat and health management – all of which will go towards drafting the new mule deer management plan – with those invested in the resource, according to a news release.

“We gathered a lot of good input at our meeting, combined with more thoughts that have come in since,” said Liz Bradley, FWP Region 2 wildlife manager, regarding meetings held in western Montana. “Some things that rose to the top for west-central Montana was a good discussion of the pros and cons of general license opportunities versus limited permits. Folks here also had thoughts on habitat priorities and related research needs, predators, increased hunting pressure, CWD and ways to take an even harder stance against poaching in limited permit areas.”

Some ideas included mandatory harvest reporting, reducing nonresident opportunities before reducing resident opportunities, more predator management control, improved habitat outreach and education, and mandatory chronic wasting disease testing. 

“It’s important for us at FWP to hear directly from members of the hunting public at events such as this,” said Matt Ladd, Region 5 wildlife manager. “We had some productive and engaging discussions that led to creative management suggestions. Many attendees made suggestions, such as stricter permit requirements and limiting hunting during the rut, to reduce their opportunities today to ensure the longevity of this iconic Montana species into the future.”  

FWP should release the new plan by the end of 2026. 

For a complete bulleted list of topics discussed during the meetings, click here.