The Last Big Push...

Good morning friends and family. It's Tuesday morning, exactly 2 weeks before the elections. Last night I received word from MOGA that Judge Sherlock in Helena did not rule in our favor regarding the court case to dismiss I-161 on the grounds of fraudulent signature gathering activities. So, it's on the ballot.

Where do we go from here? All we can do at this point is get the word out. I'm weary of writing the same old rhetoric- it's bad for the economy, bad for the FW&P, bad for sportsmen, etc. You all know this. Now we need the people of Montana to know this. What can you do? If you live in Montana, order a sign. Put it in your yard. Talk to your friends and neighbors. Write letters to the editors of our local newspapers. You can do this if you don't live in Montana. I just hope that when the dust settles, the people of Montana will see I-161 for what it really is- Kurt Kephart's vendetta against the outfitting industry.

Nothing more.

If I-161 passes, the sportsmen of Montana will see NO reciprocal benefit. It will ultimately hurt both hunters and outfitters in our great state.
Visit our Facebook page at Say No to I-161, or go to

http://www.stop161.org/

http://www.nbcmontana.com/keci/25433917/detail.html

Oh- we had a GREAT time this year in hunting camp. Met some great new guys and reconnected with some old friends. I'll post more later.
Until then,
Happy Trails,
Greg

Kephart is falling apart. Good!

Tomorrow we're off to the Danaher for a week. It'll be a great trip; all the way through the Danaher Valley to the South Fork, then back out over Lodgepole. Great Trip.

I thought I would update you on the I-161 battle. All the petitions are in now. The last day to gather signatures was June 18th, and the last real battle came on June 8th, during the primaries. Kephart stooped to his lowest point that day. He and his henchmen actually got ahold of convicts from some of our state pre-release centers and used them as signature gatherers, counting their time as "community service". The long and short of it is this- the next day the state Director of Corrections order this practice stopped, and folks at the capitol are still ferreting out all the legal implications of that stunt!!

On Wednesday of last week the Billings Gazette and The Missoulian both reported a county in central Montana confirmed one of Kephart's paid signature gatherers had falsified signatures on an I-161 petition. By the next day, 4 different counties reported the same. The Blaine County attorney was quoted in the paper saying that it appeared the guys turning in the petitions had used local phone books and randomly entered signatures... in alphabetical order, just like they were in the phone book. Now all the counties are comparing notes. You know what they say... if it walks like a duck...!

Grass Roots Effort??? What a bunch of knuckle draggers. I'm sorry if I seem to be losing my knack for tact here- we can only call these guys what they are: sad and disillusioned. They are so blinded by their personal agenda that they can't see the real damage they are doing. It appears that not only will they not make the ballot, but Kephart and his boys could face their own legal fight.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_70e30538-8003-11df-b22c-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=story

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_f1f864d2-809f-11df-9554-001cc4c002e0.html

I attached both the stories. I won't be able to follow this next week, but I can only imagine that Kephart's going to start unraveling like a ball of yarn.

When I get back, I'll post some photos from the trip.
Have a great week.
Greg

Time to catch up...

Wow. Have I really dropped the ball. It's been a long time since I have updated the blog. I had a laundry list of excuses to air out... all of them were weak. I have been really busy working with MOGA to defeat Kurt Kephart and his ill-advised initiative. If you follow this blog at all, you know what I'm referring to. If you are new, go to Face Book and look for 'Say No to I-161' or look for our web site at http://www.stop161.org/
We've been working daily to defeat this initiative, and our efforts are close to paying off. Kephart has two weeks from today to reach approximately 24,000 signatures. We hope he won't make it. For all of you who have supported us through this, I sincerely thank you. We could not have done this without all of you, around the country, supporting us.

Now, some other news. We finally got track season over with. Paige and Alan both did great. Alan did very well in junior high- competing for Seeley Lake Middle School. He qualified for the Meet of Champions in both the long jump and the 800 meter run. Unfortunately, both his events got rained out during the meet. So, he will come back better than ever next year. He starts football camp in three weeks, and he's pumped for that! He's growing like a weed, and he's just like a 13 year old boy- imagine that. He'll spend a lot of time with us in the hills this summer. I'm really looking forward to that.

Paige did phenomenal this year. She took first place at divisionals in Helena in the 1600 and the 3200, then it was off to State. At the state meet, she wound up placing 6th in the 3200, so she made all-conference, all-state, and medaled. Not bad for a freshman. She was honored last week with the MVP for the Hellgate women's team. Now, she's already looking forward to cross country in the fall.

Julie went to California to run the Big Sur Marathon. She did great, as usual. She got 2nd in her age group, and (I think) top 10 overall women. I get mixed up on the stats for all the running these girls do... Anyway, we're very proud of her, and she keeps on running too.

The summer season is about to kick off. Next week we host the MOGA/USFS pack trip, then it's Chris Bohenek Clinic time, then it's off to the Bob Marshall. I had a bunch to say about politics, iniatives, wolves, and other things, but I had a lot more fun talking about my family so I'm going to leave it at that. I hope everyone is doing great out there, and I'll see you soon.
Greg

Spring has Sprung... I think!

Howdy Upsata Folks!

OK- I'm over it. The Mighty Mule Draggers went down fighting in the playoffs, and I pouted for a while, but now spring league is off and running, we're all back together now, and we're plotting our revenge for next winter. We hold the Cup in 2011! Mule Dragger hockey rules!



The outfitting season is really shaping up. We have the busiest summer we've ever booked. The pack trips will be going almost every week from late June until late August, and we have a full slate of drop floats. Gunnar is heading back up here soon, so we'll have a strong start to our crew. And, as always, we'll be breaking in some new guys. Hopefully we can get a trip or two out of Al Maul, Brandon Ice, Nick Bennett... you know, the old gang. It's just hard to keep crew together in this game. It's going to be a great year.



Hunting season is booked for the first two hunts, and it looks like the state is going to have some tags left over again. The state's outfitters didn't reach their non-resident target sales this year (again) so they will probably stay on sale for a few more months. We look forward to capitolizing on that. We also welcome Mr. Daniel Dixon to the crew. He'll be manning the frying pans and dutch ovens in hunting camp this year. I met Dan last year on a late hunt while working for Brett Todd of KLazy3 Outfitters. Dan agreed to help us for the early hunts, then roll over and finish the season for Brett. It should be a win-win for everybody, and he does a great job. I'm looking forward to it.



Our MOGA team is still out there battling Kurt Kephart on the I-161 front- that fight is not over with, but we hope to win in the long run. Ands, our nation now has a health care plan also. Anyone care to weigh in on that? Julie and I still aren't quite sure where to stand on this. What I do know is we cannot afford health insurance, so we do need some help. I just don't know where to hang my hat on this one. I can't yet see how this hurts Julie and I at this point. Again, I encourage your thoughts.



So, with that- a few last thoughts: Alan made it to state in wrestling. He didn't win there, but he came a long way this year and I'm really proud of him. Paige is ready to tear up Montana on the track. I really can't believe the times she is posting, and the season hasn't even started. If you get a chance to see her run, don't miss it. Watch the paper for her!



Until we meet again,

Happy Trails,

Greg

Still Workin' on I-161...

Howdy Folks-
Just in case you're wondering, the photo at right has nothing to do with today's blog. It's just a great shot of some really great pack trip guests on a trip with us. And...
Yes, I'm doggin' the blog. I need to spend more time typing. But, I've been traveling all over western Montana doing a variety of things. First it was my horses and mules... they didn't want to stay in the pasture they were in. So they've been roaming all over the mountains south of Helmville. We now seem to have that under control. (That's good!)

Alan has had a good wrestling season so far, and we've been all the way to Polson and Florence, and a few stops in between, plus two practices in Seeley Lake and two in Missoula every week. It's taken a LOT of time, and we are off to Hamilton this week.
And, I've been traveling around helping with the anti I-161 campaign.

On March 10th, Mac Minard, Darren Dunham and I met with some good folks from the 5 Valleys Chapter of the Safari Club International. We talked about I-161 for over an hour, and it was a very good discussion. The SCI members present were all aware of 161, and had some great questions and comments for us. I think the meeting went well, and most importantly, they all know a lot more about the bill and whether or not those individuals choose to support the bill, they can now make a better informed decision. We all worked in shifts over the weekend to man the MOGA booth at the Great Rockies Sport Show in Kalispell. Again, same old thing- just getting the message out to the masses: I-161 is bad for hunters, bad for the state's economy, bad for the FWP, and just bad for Montana.

So, if you see anybody out there gathering signatures for I-161, please don't sign the petition, and you might take a minute to just ask this simple question: "If I sign that petition, what good does it do me as a Montana sportsman?"

That seems to be the golden question- Jim Posewitz couldn't answer that. Kurt Kephart either can't or won't answer that. Nobody in the 161 camp can answer that. An initiative without a positive outcome for the citizens of Montana has no place on the ballot in this state.
Go to the website www.stop161.org for all the latest news, articles, etc. about this critical issue.

So, with that thought- I'm off for the evening. Be sure to fill out your March Madness brackets.
Greg

Big Hitters are Opposing I-161!

It's play off time in the Glacier Hockey Leage, and the mighty Mule Draggers are in the second round. Next game is Sunday, March 7th, at 4:30 pm at the Missoula County Fairgrounds.

Sorry to be late on catching up. Julie and I have been running all over the place chasing kids, chasing horses, chasing work, hockey, wrestling, running, etc. Paige went to the Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho. She ran really well against some of the top high school runners in the state. We're really excited about how well she is doing. Alan is wrestling again this spring. He's doing good also. It's just a tough sport, and take s a long time to learn. Julie and Paige ran the half-marathon in Seeley Lake last weekend. Paige set a new record for her age group, so the race was again... a great success for her!

The upcoming season is shaping up to be a real busy one. We have a lot of pack trips booked, and our first two hunts are booked up also. We just need to get the last hunt filled and fill up a few pack trips with some more people, and we're off and running. But, we need more crew. That's always the challenge.

Now for a quick update on the I-161 battle. Some really big organizations have signed on in opposition to I-161. The National Rifle Association, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the Safari Club International have all issued press releases in opposition to the Kephart Initiative, known as I-161. Kephart took a big hit in mid February- a public debate was scheduled in Bozeman between outfitter and MOGA board member Rob Arnaud and outdoor writer and conservation academic Jim Posewitz, author of "Beyond Fair Chase". I want to point out I think it's unfortunate that Kirk Kephart can write this initiative, but can't defend it well enough to stand in public and defend it's supposed merit in a public debate, but... when Jim Posewitz was directly asked "What will this do for the "Joe Six-Pack sportsmen of Montana?" Posewitz replied "We don't know." I read a blog post on the Billings Gazette (I think it was Billings, but there's a million of them out there) that said "...65 jaws hit the floor." There was no positive answer.

Doesn't that sound just like the blog I posted back on February 8th after my conversation with Kephart himself?

Posewitz was supposed to be their Champion- the man that would show the Montana sportsman what I-161 was all about. Unfortunately for the Kephart crowd, I think Jim did just that. This initiative has no merit, no value, no real positive outcome for Montana. It will damage small business, it will hurt the Montana tourism economy, it will endanger funding for the states Block Management program, and it will have the 'trickle-down' effect of additional private land leasing. He has pitted hunter against hunter in a time when we should all stand together to secure the future of our outdoor heritage. None of this is good for Montana. So, go to http://www.stop161.org/ and read up. It will take a while- get a cup of coffee and browse. There is an amazing amount of information on the web site, and it continues to grow. There is also a link on there that allows you to make a small cash donation to help the effort. The battle to stop this initiative has been costly, and these guys will likely come back at us in two years in the state legislature. So, the fight is still out there.

As always, we appreciate your support and friendship. Remember...
This place in going to change your life!


Greg

A Great Day in the Valley

Had a great day today. It's a nice change to get out and do something fun with your kids instead of worrying about things. No Internet forums, no blogs, no letter writing, meetings or hard feelings!
Jack Rich, my good friend and mentor of the famous Rich Ranch http://www.richranch.com/ invited Alan and I to come along on one of their snowmobile tours. It was absolutely awesome. We traveled up the Swan and went past Morrell Falls to some slides way up in the hills... and had a barbecue. Now folks, that's livin'.

Anyway, I'm home now, and blissfully tired. Julie and Paige are returning from Spokane, WA. They went over to watch the national cross country championships. They're returning tonight so they can do a road race tomorrow. My girls love to run. Next week we're taking Paige down to Pocatello, Idaho so she can run in the famous Simplot Games held each year at Idaho State University.

Hope you all have a great weekend, and we'll talk to you soon. Go out and do something fun with someone you love. It'll change your life.
Greg

Good Morning, Montana!

Well, I think people are starting to realize that I -161 is out there, it's real, and it threatens a lot that we hold near and dear in Montana. I'm going to step back this morning and let an old friend/guest of our take the floor. She and her family have come to Montana many times to be with us. They are no longer clients- they are friends and family. She said it better than I can this morning. So, with that, have a great day, do what you do best, and we'll see you soon.
Greg

Beware of the Kurt Kephart Rhetoric:

As an out-of- stater I'd like to weigh in on this I-161 debacle.
I've been reading the arguements from both sides of the aisle; for and against.
Those against I-161 own the common sense and intelligent side of the issue.
The www.stop161.org put it all into perspective for me.
I'm for the outfitters!

Kephart's propaganda is loaded with statements such as "...the outfitting industry's selfish interests."..."...rob many Montana families of their cherished family values..."
In other articles he refers to those able to afford out of state licenses as "wealthy non residents". Yes, lets insert class envy shall we? Wealthy? The lion share of the people who buy these tags aren't wealthy but hard working individuals who save all year so they can go on a hunt.
Let's demonize both the out-of- stater as "wealthy" and the outfitters as "greedy"
In Kephart's world 'It just isn't fair' so he draws from the old 'bleeding heart' playbook.

Most of these outfitters are small business owners. Their life's blood depends on sponsored licenses.
Imagine what I-161 will do to their businesses? Proposing to kill the Outfitter Sponsored Licenses and jacking up the price of the B-10 and B-11 license is asinine. It's the same insanity that supports raising taxes to generate growth and revenue.
I have vactioned for years in Montana with my friends who are outfitters. These are hard working people who love and respect the land they draw their living from. They pay their taxes and contribute to their community.

I say put Kephart against an outfitter in a public debate and let the people see for themselves. I don't believe he can make it past 10 minutes. His thought is all emotion based, not fact based.

This is a classic case of someone wanting to pass 'feel good' legislation that will have 0 benefit on the state of Montana. Idaho mistakenly passed this same legislation and it's failed miserably resulting in over $1M in shortfalls. Imagine the impact this is having on their wildlife management and conservation.

Don't do it Montana.
How do you take down traditions, values and prosperity? ...one bite at a time and this I-161 is a mouthful.

LS
San Jose, CA

It's time to ramp up the volume! The gloves are off!

As I told you last night, I just returned from Great Falls. I went to the Great Rockies Sport Show to help man the MOGA booth. Our purpose there was to oppose I-161. Well, folks... we need to get our message out. I'm going to share some of my observations with you as a small business owner and a family man. I have a vested interest in this fight, and I cannot afford to lose this battle.

I actually spoke with Kurt Kephart. I started to get upset to the point that I had to just walk away. Kurt Kephart looked me right in the face and said "I don't really have a problem with you guys over in the wilderness on public land..." To which I replied "Don't you understand that you are NOT going to put the big, private land outfitters out of business, but this could put me under?" His reply? "Yes, I understand this could be hard on some of you." In other words, he apparently doesn't care if I go out of business, as long as he advances his agenda.

Kurt Kephart and his followers make no effort to disguise their intentions. They fully intend to cripple the outfitting industry, and Kurt cannot and WILL NOT imply that I-161 will do anything to improve landowner/hunter relations, or increase public access on private ground. There are many industry experts that feel this could actually widen that gap. They sell the petitions with partial truths, with assumptions, with distortions of the truth that encourage people to sign a petition that they normally would not consider signing. What if Kurts' banner said:
"Let's hurt Montana small family business because we can't shoot deer on private land!"
How many people would sign that?

Before I left Kurt's booth (I actually walked right over to his table to talk to him) I challenged him to defend his position to a man standing at the table. This was a Montana citizen considering whether or not to sign the petition. I asked Kurt to "Tell this man what good it will do HIM and the state of Montana if he signs that petition." That's it right there, folks. What GOOD will come of this? Because we know that it's going to cause a lot of hurt.
I actually said to him "This is your ten seconds of fame in front of me. Convince that man right there." Well, Kurt could not or would not answer that question. He literally just sat there, and the guy walked off. We wouldn't want the truth to get in the way now, would we?
Kurt intends to hurt me and my family, and I can't just sit by and let it happen. And he doesn't have the guts to admit that in front of my face. What the hell did I ever do to him? I never hurt his family, never damaged his future, and when he lost access to a place he used to hunt on, I'm sure that in did not imperil his family, business or future. That's what he's trying to do to me.

So, where do we go from here? I am going to ask everyone that ever met our family, that ever enjoyed the Bob Marshall or the Blackfoot Valley with us, or that's just a family friend, to get involved.

• Go to the new web site http://stop161.org/index.php Read through it and act now.
• Talk to your fellow hunters and friends, and make sure they understand what's going on. There is a LOT of misinformation being spread about I-161.
• Write letters- the web site has write-in links to all the major newspapers in Montana. Comment on blog sites and forums.
• We are going to need your help financially. We've spent a lot of money already to fight this, and it will cost a lot more. If this makes the November ballot, it could cost hundreds of thousands to fight.
• If you see a petition out there, don't sign it, and encourage others not to. Talk to them about why they think they should sign in support of I-161.

At the Great Falls show, Kurt's booth had a huge banner that said (and I may be wrong on the exact wording) something about 'Preserve your Montana hunting heritage (or tradition)'. Either way, you get the point- it's an emotional ploy. Hurting the Montana outfitter, hurting small business, hurting tourism... with no guarantee, no real intention of a positive outcome, is NOT a good way to do business in Montana. I-161 is not written to do anything GOOD for Montana. It's laser focused to hurt Montana citizens because of the anger and frustration of a few.

Please get involved. Call me, write me, write to MOGA... and stay in the loop.

That's all I have for now,

Greg

Well, here we go..

I just got back from Great Falls this evening. I spent the weekend at a sport show working in a MOGA booth. I met Kurt Kephart. Now, my resolve is complete. It's hard to meet someone face to face that wants to hurt me, my family, my life.
I'm not going to spend much time tonight... tired and need to go to bed. Here is the Missoulian article. Check in tomorrow morning, and find out how you can help.
Have a great evening.
Greg

http://www.missoulian.com/news/local/article_6c4c2022-13ac-11df-a860-001cc4c002e0.html

It's Friday Afternoon!

Howdy Folks!

Welcome back. I've been off doing stuff for a few days. I was also waiting for a few things to break on the I-161 front. I did an interview with the Missoulian on Wednesday. I'll post it when it comes out. It hasn't hit the newsstand yet, but... as you probably guessed, it's about I-161.

On another topic all together, bookings are steady this year, and it looks to be a real busy summer. We have several pack trips booked, but we have a lot of openings on those existing pack trips. Jump on-line and check out the schedule. If you have a need for the hills, give us a call and I'll get you in.

Hunting bookings are good also. We only have one hunt left to fill, so we're real encouraged my that. Jump on our hunting page and see what those dates are.

Looks like we could be heading down to our old stomping grounds of Pocatello, Idaho. Paige could be running in the Simplot Games, the huge, nationally recognized indoor high school track meet held each year at Idaho State University. She is running really well, and we look forward to the spring track season.

That's all I have for now. It's snowing outside and I'm getting cabin fever.

Huh... isn't that a song? As always, I encourage all of you that check out the Upsata Blog to comment. Share your thoughts on all things. And check out the Upsata store on-line.

Happy Trails,

Greg

Beating the drum on I-161

Good morning. Sorry I missed you. I had to take the hard drive into Missoula yesterday for one Gig of additional RAM... what is this new language we've created? But, it's supposed to make the computer much faster. I think it is... I'm still waiting to find out.

MOGA's Executive Director, Mac Minard, was interviewed on NPR last night, along with Kurt Kephart regarding Initiative 161. I encourage you to listen to it. The actual meat of the interview only lasts a few minutes. It gives Kephart's side of the story too. Here it is:

http://www.mtpr.net/program_info/2010-02-01-132

The Great Falls Tribune had a story about it yesterday. I want to keep telling all of you out there about this because we haven't faced a bigger threat to our industry in years. This single initiative threatens the very foundation of our outfitting industry. Indulge me long enough to make a few points:

• We need to know how many clients we will have in the fall to submit our itinerary to the Forest Service. Itineraries and fees are due in April. We can't wait for the draw, and it isn't practical to pay for a 'guess' at how much business we'll do.
• Preseason deposits help keep this business chugging in the winter. They help us maintain equipment, stock, and do some marketing for the upcoming season. We rely upon that, and I-161 takes away our ability to secure clients for the upcoming season.
• The Outfitter Sponsored License is not a subsidy or a guaranteed client. It's quite the opposite. It's the most expensive license in the West, and we have to sell it to our clients to help fund the state's hunter access program. It's a market based tag, designed by law to average 5500 per year. If we oversell, the price goes up; undersell and it comes down. At the '08 and '09 price of $1500, many outfitters, including me, were forced to freeze or lower the cost of our hunts to make the overall price affordable for our clients. I hardly think that's a state subsidy!
• The idea that taking away our Outfitter Sponsored Tags will create better public access on private ground is almost laughable. On the contrary, many landowners view this as an attack on private property rights. We simply CANNOT force private landowners to allow access onto their land.

That's enough out of me for now. I need to get the rest of the morning going. As always, I encourage you to comment on this blog, or search the web for more content and comment where applicable. Don't be afraid to tell them who you are and why you care! I'm off for now- I leave you with a great photo of some lovely ladies we took to the Bob Marshall last summer. They're coming back this year with more friends- it's going to be a great trip!

Happy Trails,

Greg Gilchrist

Sunday morning in Montana

Good morning, folks.
I spent some time yesterday checking all the blogs and forums about I-161. Still a lot of mean-spirited rhetoric floating around out there. But, it seems that many Montana are also able to look at I-161 for what it is: an effort to cripple the outfitting industry at the expense of small business, tourism, and our state economy.

As I have stated before, I don't disagree with Kurt Kephart on the access issue. It is a problem in some areas, and I don't have a simple solution. But it's private land, and kicking outfitters to the curb won't solve the issue.

On another topic, the Mule Draggers play tonight at 7:00 at the Glacier Ice Rink. We dropped one last week, so we need to get back into our winning ways.
See you all at the rink!

The NRA has our back...

Good morning, all. I just got in to check the morning email, and had a great note from our President at MOGA, Russ Kipp. He sent this posting from the National Rifle Association.
http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Read.aspx?id=5349

It looks like we aren't the only ones to recognize that I-161 is bad for Montana, bad for hunters, bad for wildlife... get the picture?

Went to the Maulers game last night with my daughter Paige. I left early to take her to her first high school dance. How many of you out there remember when she was just a little tyke? Now she is all grown up! Anyway, she survived, but the Maulers didn't- they got whooped last night by Helena.

I'm off for now. It's a beautiful morning, and I have great ice out there so I'm going to go for a skate, then start in on the days chores.
Happy trails. And, I'll try the photos again! Somehow I screwed that up yesterday.

Big Hearts and my thoughts...

Hey folks-

I haven't written yet because I've been looking through a VAST array of on-line forums about I-161. Wow, are opinions all over the board. If you have any questions about I-161, just ask me through this blog or give me a call.

We (the outfitting industry) have not faced this significant a challenge in a long time. Let's keep this thing off the ballot.

On a positive note, MOGA launched it's new web site for our Big Hearts Under the Big Sky program. This is a great program where we provide hunts, fishing trips, vacations, whatever to children with life threatening diseases, breast cancer patients, disabled veterans... you get the picture. Go to the web site at http://www.bigheartsmt.org/ and check it out. There are some great stories and photos. You can get involved if you want, or just watch the web site for good stories.

I don't have a lot on the agenda today. Got to go down and continue to doctor horses.

Some new ideas are on the bubble for Lake Upsata- Looks like I'm going to start doing walk-in rides here at the ranch again. If you know of anyone that wants a job doing day-rides, let me know. Also, I put a lot of new pictures on the web site- on the Hunting and Pack Trips pages. Also, check out the new on-line store. You can now order your own Mule Draggers sweat shirt. How cool is that!!

Just thought I would throw a photo of Nick on there. Or should I have put his dog? I think we liked his dog better...

Trouble brewin' out there...

Good morning. I just want to take a few minutes to talk about a public initiative that's gathering signatures right now. It's I-161, written by Kurt Kephart from Billings. It calls for the removal of the outfitter sponsored guaranteed license. This is the license that we use to book our hunting clients; this license ensures that when we take a deposit, when the client books a flight and schedules time off from work, when we schedule our crews and submit our itinerary to the Forest Service and pay the appropriate use fees ... this license guarantees that our client can come to Montana and hunt.
Let's be crystal clear right now- the hunting client does not have to buy one of these licenses. He or she can choose to put in for the draw, but there's no guarantee that they will get a license, so the vast majority of outfitted clients in Montana choose to buy the Outfitter Sponsored B-10 combination, as it's known by. This year the guaranteed B-10 is $1250, and the draw combo is $643.
Montana FWP uses the vast majority of the money from the guaranteed B-10 to fund our state Block Management program, providing access onto private land for the state's public hunters.
Kephart believes that eliminating the guaranteed license will "break the tie between the outfitter and the FWP" and somehow create public access onto private land that was once leased by an outfitter. That's kind of a stretch, don't you think?
Anyway, I want to hear from you people. I'm available to write about this, talk about this, whatever you want. I strongly encourage you to pay attention to this iniative. It is bad for outfitting, bad for Montana, and honestly, it's really bad for Julie and I. It could cause irreparable damage to our business.
Do we really want an initiative that's bad for small business and tourism in Montana?

Good morning! I'm ashamed to say I have TOTALLY dropped the ball on the blog. It's hard to keep a discussion going when I don't update it! It's been a busy fall. After our hunts ended, I went to the Scapegoat Wilderness to guide for Brett Todd and K Lazy 3 Outfitters, then back to our country to help my friends at the Rich Ranch. It was a fun fall, and we had a great time. Now, it's the winter. The dark hole... this is the time where we can't wait for spring! I have a lot of things to talk about- next season, horse clinics, wolves, I-161, hunting- all of which I can touch on in the next few days.

For now, I'll leave you with a quick photo of my favorite winter passion, the Mule Pond. This is our hockey rink behind the shop. Come on over if you want to skate.

Until we meet again,

Happy Trails.

Greg