In 2018 Montana’s Environmental Control Council (ECC), a temporary-but-official committee of the state legislature, addressed regulations governing bird dog training in response to requests from northeast Montana residents. The concerns focused on increasing numbers of commercial trainers (widely perceived although not documented objectively) arriving in the area with large numbers of dogs—reportedly as many as 60 in one outfit—and running them in August before upland seasons opened. The committee included representatives from both houses of the legislature, the governor’s office and the public.
The ECC began by finding current regulations outdated and inadequate, an easy call since the regs included only two provisions: first, that birds could not be killed during training, and second, that no training could take place within one mile of a nesting area, defined as anywhere “targeted game birds could make a reasonable attempt to successfully produce a nest.” The first made no distinction between private and public land or between wild and planted birds. The second was even more problematic, since it was too vague to be enforceable. Furthermore, there are areas in northeast Montana in which it is virtually impossible not to be within a mile of a gamebird nesting site. The ECC also reviewed existing regulations in 10 other states and Saskatchewan. Notably, eight of the states had specific restrictions about training on public land, which Montana did not.
Public pressures to reform, voiced during testimony before the ECC, identified several concerns. The discussion focused on the month of August. (For years Montana’s grouse season has opened September 1.) At that time of year young birds remain in natal broods, which often scatter when flushed, and many can barely fly. Hunters were concerned about the young birds’ survival after repeated disturbance by dog training. Scientific data supporting this concern are limited, but one study from Manitoba (Hicks, 1992) demonstrated a negative impact on survival of chicks less than eight weeks old and increased mortality with repeated disturbance to the same brood. Montana sharptails don’t reach that age until mid-August.
Furthermore, as the state’s land-use patterns have changed rapidly, local hunters have experienced a sharp decrease in access to privately owned bird cover, creating resentment of out-of-state interests. Shifted attention to public-land hunting heightened concern about bird numbers there.
While the ECC meetings and testimony established the importance of these issues to the public, few people were satisfied with the results. The Council recommended banning the killing of wild birds during training and a requirement for a training permit, but not much else other than further study. The permit requirement was largely intended to document the number of trainers operating in the state, although there was no mechanism for determining specific locations where training was taking place.
Following new public input, the 2023 legislative session took further action to implement some of the changes recommended by the 2018 ECC. New regulations now require a permit to train on public land with a trivial cost increase to $10 for nonresidents and a training-season starting date of August 1 for residents and August 15 for nonresidents. (The original draft requested a starting date of August 22 for nonresidents.) These restrictions apply only to wild birds on public land and do not impact training with pen-raised birds on private land.
Predictably, public opinion expressed during the scoping process proved intense and contradictory. Trainers, including some non-commercial resident trainers, opposed a perceived infringement on their ability to train even though working with planted birds on private land was not affected. Many resident hunters, including those who train their own dogs, didn’t feel the new regulations were adequate to address their concerns.
The Big Sky Upland Bird Association (BSUBA, bigskyuplandbird.org), a hunter-driven, state-specific group focused on maintaining and improving habitat and hunter access, lists as one of its objectives to “limit and monitor the impact to commercial dog training on public land.” That hasn’t changed. During the 2023 public comment period, BSUBA along with five other hunter-driven state organizations and 13 individuals active in the field signed a formal letter of concern. The letter identified problems including an increased number of nonresident trainers with large numbers of dogs and increased pressure on public lands. Recommended solutions included establishing optimal season dates to protect nesting birds and broods, recognizing the distinction between private and public lands, and establishing differential opportunities for residents and nonresidents.
The discussion in this article has focused on Montana because of the recent intensity of the controversy and because I know the state best. However, other states in the West and Midwest as well as several Canadian Prairie Provinces also have specific regulations regarding bird dog training, with differing approaches to the distinction between public and private land, pen-raised and wild birds, and commercial versus non-commercial users. The differences in season opening dates for training are interesting. Of those states with specific opening dates, according to a recent summary by Pheasants Forever, six (Illinois, Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin) do not allow training until after August 1, while three (Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota) allow training in July. Different regulatory agencies appear to interpret early-season-mortality data in different ways. I acknowledge that those states are likely focused on species other than sharptails.
The most recent data showed that from July through August 2023 Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) issued 280 dog-training licenses, of which 201 went to residents and 79 to nonresidents. This information does not distinguish between commercial and private trainers.
At press time FWP had submitted two relevant proposals to its Commission, which will formalize regulations for the 2024 season. If approved, one proposal would move the starting date for nonresident dog training from August 15 to September 1. The second would change the opening date for the upland hunting season from September 1 to September 15 for nonresidents. The latter would apply to prairie species, including sharptails and Huns, but would not affect the opening day of pheasant season. Final decisions will be made this spring.
In this piece I have attempted to present objective facts and document them while keeping my personal opinions on the sideline (although they should not be hard to deduce). From this perspective, I can envision regulatory changes through which all parties would get some of what they want and no one would get everything. Bottom-line goals, however, should not be compromised: reasonable opportunities for trainers, enhanced opportunities for resident hunters on public land, and above all the health of the wild-bird resource.
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