BLM to analyze guided hunting expansion in Elkhorns, south county

The Bureau of Land Management will study a proposal to vastly expand a Cardwell-based outfitter’s permitted hunting area in the southern Elkhorn Mountains and around Bull Mountain after the agency’s original plan to consider the proposal without studying its impacts drew criticism from local hunters, ranchers and sportsmen’s groups.

On June 7, Montana Trophy Outfitters requested that the BLM expand the company’s special recreation permit from its current 1,296 acres to 51,742 acres, adding vast swaths of land in the southern Elkhorns, on south end of Bull Mountain, and north of Interstate 90 just east of Cardwell, to the areas of public lands on which the outfitter may guide clients. The company also requested permission to guide clients hunting bear in the spring and mountain lion in the winter, according to the BLM, which would allow the company year-round operation on the land.

The proposal was revised to a total of 45,793 acres after the Black Sage Wilderness Study Area was excluded.