WILD UNGULATE DAMAGE - PERCEPTIONS OF FARMERS AND RANCHERS IN MONTANA

The Montana Agricultural Statistics Service provided a useful source o f addresses for a survey of agricultural producer attitudes towards wi ld ungulates in Montana, A random sample of 1,120 farmers and ranchers indicated that white-tailed deer occurred most frequently on private land (81% of respondents) followed by mule deer (76%), pronghorn antel ope (59%), and elk (21%). The most frequently noted type of damage was wild ungulate use of forage. Damage to haystacks was the least freque ntly cited damage type. Most respondents were satisfied with numbers o f white-tailed and mule deer in 1992-1993. Forty-four percent of lando wners with elk on their property thought numbers were too high. Sixty- seven percent of respondents felt that damage from wild ungulates was seldom serious. Game damage was perceived to be more serious in southw estern Montana than in other regions of the state. Eighty-four percent of respondents reported that they allowed hunting, and 90% of these w ho allowed hunting indicated they would allow members of the public to hunt on their property. Only 8% of respondents who allowed hunting sa id they charged fees or relied on outfitters to handle hunting. Respon dents from northwestern Montana were less likely to allow hunting and less likely to charge fees than respondents from other regions of the state.