Last week Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed into law a bill that instructs FWP to establish hunting and trapping seasons designed to reduce the wolf population to a sustainable level, but not so low as to warrant relisting under the Endangered Species Act. The bill also allows more aggressive methods for killing wolves, including unlimited take for individuals, using bait and night hunting on private land.
Outfitters/out-of-state hunter benefits added to FWP bill
Despite being killed in committee, legislators added language to benefit outfitters and their out-of-state clients in the waning days of the 2021 session. The bills are headed for Gov. Greg Gianforte's desk.
The bill gives thousands of hunting licenses to out-of-state hunters who agree to use an outfitter, and will also award extra preference points for out of staters who agree to hunt with an outfitter.
GOP sweep worries conservation community
Republicans swept statewide races in Montana, results well beyond doubt early in the evening on election night. The wins ushered in a new era for Montana conservation organizations.
Too cold for big game opener
Hunter numbers were down at the Darby check station as a "winter" storm hit western Montana on opening weekend. Only 729 hunters check in this year, compared to 1,012 last year.
Another look at Montana Senate race
A pleasant surprise
I found out over the weekend that the column I wrote following my mother's death July 4, 1999, took first place in the 2020 Montana Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest. It's always nice to win an award for my writing, but it was especially so for this one.
The release of the contest results was delayed four months, and the usual in-person awards banquet was canceled and replaced with a virtual awards ceremony.
They’re coming
The Washington Post takes a look and the current Montana housing boom, an evergreen topic that that was underway since before I first moved to the state in 1992.
FWP gets 18 positives for CWD
All the deer came from areas were the wildlife disease was already known to exist. Seventeen of the deer were whitetails.
Montana Senate race a toss up
Montana State University released its Treasure State poll Wednesday, Oct. 14. The results show the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Steve Daines and challenger Steve Bullock, the current, but term limited governor, is too close to call. The Treasure State poll shows Bullock ahead 49% to 47%.
The result is within the margin of error of 3.9%.
The race has been competitive since Bullock ended his long-shot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination and entered the race. Both candidates have come out on top in recent surveys, and other than one poll that had Daines up 9 points, neither has led by more than 3 points in polls since September.
Flathead Beacon senior reporter Tristan Scott looks at the race here, and Hatch Magazine shares the perspective of Montana anglers.
The poll showed close races in the other statewide races. In the governor's contest, current U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte leads Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney by five points, 47% to 42%. In the race for the open seat for Montana’s U.S. Representative, Matt Rosendale leads Kathleen Williams by two points, 48% to 46%.
The Treasure State poll is administered by the MSU Political Science Department.
Pandemic survival skills: sourdough
The pandemic has turned me into a sourdough ... baker. I have extra time on my hands, but have been confronted by empty grocery store shelves — in the yeast section, at least. So a couple weeks ago I whipped up a batch of sourdough starter, and now I no longer needed commercial yeast. The wild stuff is starter was enough.
The internet makes starting hobbies less intimidating than the dark old days when we had to rely on things like the Encyclopedia Brittanica to figure stuff out. YouTube is a great resource fo how to stuff like this, and that's what I relied on to get my sourdough game on. So far I've cranked out four loaves of bread, and there's sourdough pizza dough proofing in the fridge. And my starter on the kitchen counter keeps belching out CO2.
Here are some links to help you brush up your pandemic sourdough survival skills:
I followed this recipe from Joshua Weissman to create my starter. He's a young foodie social media influencer. The recipe works well, using unbleached AP or bread flours mixed with equal parts rye.
I used this Weissman recipe to bake my bread. It's from an episode of Basics with Babish, a YouTube foodie channel that I think is quite good. The recipe is great, but the Weissman-Babish bromance can be a little much at times. It's all in good fun, however.
Here are some other useful sourdough resources.
Sarah C. Owens is a California-based baker and author of "Sourdough: Recipes for Rustic Fermented Breads, Sweets, Savories, and More." I haven't read her book, yet. You can find her on YouTube baking sourdough bread here.
The Wild Life offers free online sourdough courses. I haven't taken one yet, but I plan to check it out.
Patrick Ryan is an Irish baker, and O'Day was my mom's maiden name, so I'm biased. His rye sourdough recipe on YouTube is on my schedule for next week.