Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/733
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Item Blackfoot traditional knowledge, bison drive lines, and geospatial analysis(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2024) Edmo, Kendall Rae; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: David B. McWethy; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.Bison drive lines provide material evidence of ancestral Blackfoot practices. The spatial dimensions of drive lines highlight a sophisticated understanding of bison-environment interactions and the strategic use of geographic landforms and environmental features to maintain a critical lifeway. Here we examine broad-scale landscape use patterns among prehistoric Blackfoot bison hunters on the Northwestern Plains through an analysis of a network of drive lines in traditional Blackfoot territory (US) using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and previous archaeological and anthropological research. The findings of this study show that ancestral Blackfoot designed bison drive lines to be positioned in proximity to key landscape resources including water, forested areas, and wetlands and kettle lakes. This study builds on previous research that applies an Indigenous archaeological framework that incorporates ethnohistoric narratives and traditional knowledge to provide important context for understanding the relationship between ancestral Blackfoot, bison, and the cultural landscape. Examining the relationship between drive lines and landscape features helps advance our understanding of the Blackfoot knowledge system that has adapted and endured for millennia.Item A survey of Montana hunter/rancher problems and solutions(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1996) Swensson, Erik JonItem Impacts of recreational shooting on prairie dog colonies(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1996) Vosburgh, Timothy CharlesThe BLM has encouraged recreational shooting as a means of controlling prairie dog populations and as a recreational use of public lands. I investigated the impacts of recreational shooting on prairie dog population dynamics, activity patterns, and vegetation conditions in prairie dog towns. I monitored shooting pressure on BLM hunted colonies, measured the strength of association between shooting effort and changes in population size/structure and activity patterns, and compared vegetation between hunted and unhunted colonies. Marked subsamples were used to estimate prairie dog densities during the spring and fall on 10 hunted colonies in 1994 and 9 hunted and 8 non-hunted (control) colonies in 1995. Mean number of prairie dogs killed on colonies open to hunting was 27% in 1994 and 53 in 1995. In 1995, prairie dog density declined 33% on hunted colonies and 15% on non-hunted colonies. The percentage of marked prairie dogs recaptured during the fall was higher on non-hunted colonies (53%) than on hunted colonies (41%). I also found a positive correlation between shooting pressure and change in density on hunted colonies. Although age structure did not change from spring to fall, recreational shooting may have resulted in higher female mortality during 1995. Prairie dogs spent more time in alert postures and less time foraging on hunted than on unhunted towns. Prairie dogs could also be approached more closely on non-hunted colonies than on hunted colonies. Of the 4 approaches I used to monitor prairie dogs: (mark-recapture, burrow counts, vegetation analysis, and counting prairie dogs), above ground counts were the best approach for assessing prairie dog populations.Item Waterfowl and hunter use of Freezout Lake game management area, Teton County, Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1979) Lorang, Kenneth DavidItem Enhancing first aid training in hunter education(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Nursing, 2014) Bennett, Arlon Harris; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Teresa SerightTrained but non-expert individuals generally perform first aid. The goals of first aid include the preservation of human life, prevention of additional harm, and the beginning of the recovery process. First aid is used to treat injured persons until definitive care can be reached. First aid can also be used to manage injury eliminating further treatment. First aid is simple procedures that often have life-saving results. Teaching core concepts have a direct impact on the effectiveness of first aid when employed in life situations. The purpose of this project is to examine the need for enhancing first aid within hunter education. A setting within the hunter education arena in Montana was examined. The hunter education program has an excellent record for reducing fatal injuries among hunters, both within Montana and nationwide. Hunter education does not eliminate all injuries however. The nature of hunting, with high-powered weapons and remote locations, leads to injuries that have significant threat to the injured. Hunter education follows a national baseline model. It is effective at teaching the essentials of hunter safety, but factors limit the ability of the curriculum from expanding and subsequently teaching a more comprehensive and effective first aid module within the scope of the class. The project plan is to collect and evaluate information, then to propose an evidenced based teaching packet for first aid education that nurses can teach. It can be implemented during the hunter education course. A limited literature review was conducted which assisted in defining the depth of the perceived problem. Hunter education graduates are charged with conducting themselves in a safe manner as well as educating others. The method and the content that these students are taught, has a significant impact on their future success. Variables such as the length of class, teaching method, and the specific first aid procedures that are being taught were evaluated and found to be beneficial. Evaluating methods of teaching students was important to be able to identify an effective teaching method. This information will be incorporated into the development of the teaching packet.Item Gradients of predation risk affect distribution and migration of a large herbivore(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2007) Grigg, Jamin Lyle; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Robert A. GarrottFew studies have placed wildlife behavioral responses to human disturbance and hunting pressure within the larger ecological context of predator-prey theory. Given that large herbivores respond behaviorally to the presence of wolves and other predators, we should expect similar adaptive behavioral responses when large herbivores are presented with risk in the form of human disturbance and hunting pressure. One index of human access, disturbance, and thus potential predation risk to large herbivores from hunters are road and trail networks bisecting large herbivore ranges. I evaluated the effects of human disturbance and predation pressure in the forms of motorized and total combined access networks on elk (Cervus elaphus) summer home range size, timing of fall migration, and movement rates by placing 49 GPS radio-collars on adult female elk on a winter range in the Madison Valley, MT over the course of a two-year study. I found evidence that elk responded to motorized access during the summer by increasing summer home range size.Item Evaluation of Montana's block management program(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2006) Johnson, Kelvin Ray; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Robert GarrottThe Block Management Program, initiated in 1985, was implemented to encourage private landowners to provide free public hunting access. Currently, the program has over 1,200 landowners enrolling 8.8 million acres, and provides over 400,000 hunter days of free public hunting. Surveys were sent to 423 landowners (303 returned) and 1,636 hunters (976 returned) to evaluate current perceptions of block management area (BMA) users. Observations, expectations, and satisfaction levels were determined by calculating frequencies and means using SAS 8.2, and then comparisons between permission method strategies and between geographic regions were evaluated. Landowners were satisfied with permission methods used, numbers of hunters received annually, and with hunter limit and travel restriction rules utilized, but satisfaction levels regarding relative game abundance and harvest success were higher in Eastern Montana than in Western Montana.Item Technological divergence and the portrayal of nature in outdoors programming(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2011) Harrison, Henry Huntington; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis Aig.The progression of film technology, both its production and distribution, has followed a steady path of greater diversity of distribution channels and lower minimum cost of production. This paper looks at the portrayal of Nature in outdoor programming (hunting and fishing programs) as a way of illustrating what this means for filmmakers. I survey the history of outdoor films and programming in terms of its portrayal of humans and nature following a Dominion model or a Stewardship model. I then analyze two main types of outdoor programming, hunting programs and fly fishing films, and their main channels of distribution and how they have come to diverge in their portrayal of nature. I conclude that the trend towards divergence will continue and that this means filmmakers have the opportunity and possibly the obligation to speak more directly to ever more specific demographics.Item The impact of wolves on the 'market' for elk hunting in Montana : hunter adjustment and game agency response(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2005) Batastini, John Walter; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: David E. Buschena.The gray wolf has become a symbol of controversy in the American West. Hunters, however, are one group that has diverse attitudes toward wolf recovery stemming from the conflicting impacts the presence of wolves creates. Impacts on hunters and big-game populations also affect state game agencies. As of 2005, wolves are still managed by the federal government, so the impact of wolves is exogenous to state game agencies. However, state game agencies can exert control over how wolves affect hunters by adjusting management of big-game hunting. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a method to analyze the impacts wolves have on the big-game hunting βmarketγ in the NRMRA, and to use this method to estimate the short-run impacts of wolves on elk hunting in Montana. A hunter choice model and a game agency model were used to form the basis of the empirical models. The dependent variables developed assess the impacts of wolves on the quality, quantity, and demand for limited elk hunting permits, and the quality of general license elk hunting in Montana. The wolf variables included in the models capture the initial elk distributional effects of wolves, the intensity at which wolves inhabit a hunting district, the level of wolves, and the longevity of wolves within a hunting district. The time period considered was limited by hunting and harvest data availability to 1999 to 2002. The results from the empirical estimations suggest that the state game agency and elk hunters are effectively adjusting to wolves in areas of Montana where wolves prey primarily on deer. In other portions of Montana where naturally occurring wolves prey primarily on elk, the results suggest that the state game agency and hunters are not adjusting to wolf predation as to maintain hunter harvest rates in these areas. Finally, in portions of Montana where reintroduced, high-profile wolves prey primarily on elk, the model results suggest that hunters and the state game agency is adjusting to wolf predation. However, despite the adjustment of the game agency hunter harvest is being affected in these districts.Item The impact of wolves on elk hunting in Montana(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2012) Hazen, Steven Robert; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Joseph Atwood.The controversy over gray wolves has been a continual debate throughout the American West since reintroduction in the mid 1990's. Hunter stances on this issue vary across the state since the true impact of these predators is unknown. Following wolf recovery, researchers have found game numbers decreasing in some regions while remaining steady in others. Areas with game reduction have been found to have higher populations of predators, including grizzly bear, cougars, and wolves. Recently, Montana wolves have been taken off the federal list of endangered species, allowing the state game agency to manage populations. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a method to analyze the impact of wolves on elk harvest and a proxy for hunter demand throughout three distinct regions. A system of equations derived from overall biological models was used to form the basis of the empirical models. The dependent variables that are developed assess the impact of wolves on the quantity of both elk harvest and hunter applications. The wolf variables included in the models capture the population of wolves and how their impact changes as hunting moves farther away from reintroduction areas. The time period considered is from 1999 to 2010. Data prior to 1999, when wolves were first reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park (YNP), has not been released by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP), therefore limiting this analysis. The results from the empirical estimations suggest wolves are reducing overall hunter demand in both the southwest and west central regions. In particular, the southwest region is seeing a shift in hunter applications from areas less than 25 miles to YNP to areas ranging from 25 to 50 miles. No statistically significant regional effect of wolves on hunter harvest was found in any region analyzed.