Hunts, Haunts, and Habitat

Are you ready for the hunt? Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ Hunt Planner combines updated maps with hunting regulations and statistics. You can begin planning your hunt using either a regional map by species or go right to the hunting district information you are interested in. Launching the map lets you view hunting regulations, harvest statistics, land ownership, and GIS data among other useful information. Get ready for your hunt using these and other resources by going to fwp.mt.gov/hunting/ and clicking on Hunt Planner.

Ghosts and Vigilantes
Bannack Sate Park, located 20 miles west of Dillon and Montana's first territorial capital, is one of the best-preserved ghost towns in the West. Founded in 1862 with the discovery of gold, the town’s population swelled to over 3,000 by 1863. But the gold boom ended almost as quickly as it started. Fewer than 250 people resided there by 1880.

Today, some visitors to the old Meade Hotel say they’ve felt the presence of a teenage girl named Dorothy Dunn, and some say they’ve seen her ghost wearing a blue dress walking the halls upstairs in the old historic hotel. Visitors also say they've felt or seen the spirits of murderous thieves who were hanged on the outskirts of town in 1863 by a gang of vigilantes. Visit Bannack on October 26 and 27 for the annual Ghost Walk and learn more about the town’s colorful history and the spirits who roam there. Reservations for the Ghost Walk are required. For more information call 406-834-3413 or visit fwp.mt.gov/parks/.

Cutthroat Conservation
Westslope and Yellowstone cutthroat trout got a conservation boost recently that officials say will benefit Montana’s state fish for years to come. Eighteen state, federal, tribal, and private groups signed an agreement to help carry out conservation and restoration efforts throughout the cutthroat trout’s historical ranges in Montana. The agreement essentially seeks to aggressively safeguard and restore Montana’s two cutthroat trout subspecies and their habitats. Montana’s westslope cutthroat trout, typically found in western Montana streams, and the Yellowstone cutthroat trout, typically found in the Yellowstone River system in southwest and south-central Montana, together currently inhabit approximately 20,000 stream miles in Montana. The fish, named for the distinctive red slash on its lower jaw, once inhabited more than 50,000 stream miles. For more information about cutthroat trout and the conservation agreement, go to fwp.mt.gov.

Now You Know
Q: What do you call a group of: 1) ferrets; 2) eagles; 3) frogs; 4) snakes; and 5) crows?
A: 1) a business of ferrets; 2) a convocation of eagles; 3) an army of frogs; 4) a nest of snakes; and 5) a murder of crows.

Mel Frost is the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks region 3 information and education manager.