Land Owner Hunting Regulations for Montana - HELP

[bgood2go]

Ok.. so more my fault for asking for information - never mind - Thanks to those who provided helpful info - I am grateful....to those who only cast aspersions and made excuses -- my sympathies to the people in your life ...now you can sob and complain some more like you prefer!...I'll figure this out no matter what...another useless forum and waste of my time..I am sure I am not the first though.....I will share this with folks too.....good bye

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Ok.. so more my fault for asking for information - never mind - Thanks to those who provided helpful info - I am grateful....to those who only cast aspersions and made excuses -- my sympathies to the people in your life ...now you can sob and complain some more like you prefer!...I'll figure this out no matter what...another useless forum and waste of my time..I am sure I am not the first though.....I will share this with folks too.....good bye

You came to a DIY public land hunting forum to ask about buying land to hunt on.... most of can’t even dream of affording a property big enough to hunt.

Any resident of Montana can get a deer, elk, and bear tag every year with their sportsman’s license for +/- $100. Tags are good on private and public land. To become a resident you have to mostly live in MT... pay state taxes, plate your car, register to vote etc.

All the stuff you are asking about with land is to secure hunting privileges above and beyond what the common person. Additional tags, tags in draw only units, etc.

In general these landowner tags take opportunity away from the general pool and are looked down upon by those without means. There a bit contrary to the NA model of hunting, although they have their place.

Basically you kinda dove into a loaded subject with your first post.

Hope you enjoy Montana.

And please for the love of god don’t ask a rancher how many cows he has.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Brian, as a matter of fact the wildlife of MT and any state is owned by the public (held in trust by the state).

I understand your question about landowner opportunity for hunting without tags since that is the way it was in VA where I grew up.
It is not that way in MT or any other western state I know of. You have to have the same tag or permit as any other hunter in that unit to hunt on your property or public lands.

As a landowner you do have preference if your acreage size qualifies. That’s the way MT acknowledges the impact the public’s wildlife has on your private property. I think it’s in the neighborhood of 25% of permits or tags available for landowner preference. A qualified landowner competes with other qualified landowners for those tags if I understand it correctly.

How hard it will be to draw a tag or permit and what is available over the counter is completely dependent upon which unit you are wanting to hunt.

The only way to know for sure is to find the specific refs that apply to your intended unit. You can find it in the published refs booklet or on the MT FWP website.

 

[Werty]

..another useless forum and waste of my time..I am sure I am not the first though.....I will share this with folks too.....good bye

I'm not trying to be mean, but your apparently the common denominator in "these useless forums". Maybe it is your approach.
All the information is in the regulations. Read them again!
I keep reading the regulations and keep learning new stuff. I moved here 5 years ago. Chill out, enjoy the ride and you'll learn some stuff here.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Understand about the cynicism here guys - completely. Locals are not very inclined to give good advice to new people moving into their hunting areas. But I would bet most of you were not born and raised in Montana nor were your parents, so just like them I would like to move to this beautiful land for quality of life for me and my family. Everyone’s family was new to Montana at some point right?

Right ... it just happens that both sets of my grandparents were new to Montana as homesteaders over a hundred years ago. Having said that, some of the best Montanans and greatest sportsmen, women, hunters and citizens I know have lived in this state less than a decade. Land ownership means different things to different folks and it seems some folks from more densely populated and developed states have the attitude that twenty acres is a relatively large tract for private ownership. For perspective, I personally own three tracts of land in two counties, with two tracts regularly inhabited by wildlife. I do not qualify for any special advantage for licenses or permits since they are well under 140 acres, certainly not the 640 acre (section) size. However, I am blessed to be able to tell you I have two elk tags, a deer A tag, upland bird license, antelope permit, wolf tag, and turkey license in my tag pouch. The hunting opportunities for even those who own zero property are plentiful.

Literally thousands of nonresident hunters buy licenses, apply for and receive special hunting permits, and generally are quite able to read, understand, and comply with the hunting regulations here. Many of those hunters are successful and take home wild game, and they, as well as others less successful, typically take home great stories and wonderful memories of hunting in Montana.

Again, contact FWP and ask specific questions and you will get information you need. Don't get hung up on the ancient history of freely taking game off private property without proper authority and on the ideology that all government is bad. That is a recipe for a less than pleasant Montana hunting experience.

 

[Straight Arrow]

I am glad to speak to the FWP and ask them but if any of you have every tried getting details from the FWC(sic) or any other goverment(sic) agency you will understand why I am asking for some insider guidance from locals..right?

Wrong. I strongly assert that if you call Montana FWP, Region 2 office in Missoula at 406-542-5500 or better yet, visit them at 3201 Spurgin Road in Missoula and tell them where your property is and in what hunting district for the specific wildlife you wish to hunt, they will provide you with a plethora of facts and information helpful for you in planning to hunt.

However, I also assert that it doesn't matter if you're from East Missoula or Miami ... if you tell them their stupid regulations don't make sense and you think they'll confuse you cuz they're gubment ... then good info for you may not come so courteously.

 

[onpoint]

I am lining up some property to buy near Missoula MT and I am looking for some quick overview / guidance on hunting on your own property. I have looked at the FWP/FWC sites but all they want to talk about is hunting on public land or "private" land that is not yours --ugh...so a few questions please -

1. What licenses and or tags do I need to hunt on my own property? For big game of course but also small game, birds etc too? So from what I can see it looks like I would need the following - 1. Base Hunting License AND 2. Conservation license AND 3. one of each of the following General Elk license, General Deer license, and so on and so on PLUS one of each of the following 4. an Elk permit, a deer permit and so on and so on again......is this correct? WOW - better 2nd mortgage my house!
2. Do I need to do the lottery for antlered (or non) Elk tags or can I get them as a resident?
3. FWP mentions something about a 160 acre minimum for preference on obtaining a deer-B permit? So does this mean you cannot apply for a deer permit unless you have more than 160 acres?.. no one else hunts their own property if under 160 acres?? That does not sounds feasible (or believable or reasonable)
4. Also for land owner preference on drawing it say you must have 640 contiguous acres of land?? Again, do they mean just for applying for preferential land owner permit drawing or for being able to get a permit/tag period? Very cryptic and unrealistic here.
5. Are all big game permits by drawing only--period? I saw some mention about residents possibly being able to purchase over the counter (deer or?)?? Again...very unclear and crytic (thats goverment for you though)
6. Do I need to be aware of buying property in a "restricted" hunting area or district? Sounds like there could be base on some wording in the rules ans and regs. Who, what, where, when, how?

I thought it was bad here in Florida for hunting and fishing but apparently Montana is WAY ahead of the extortion game.... for hunting especially...geesz...I need a lawyer to figure this out. What happened to the good ole days of just being able to take a deer or elk from your own farm / land to eat...ahh thats right..government =D

Thanks so much in advance for any help anyone can give to help me break this down and simplify.


Brian

Brian,
Here's a reply from a guy who just finished a long career at FWP(C?) - one which entailed permitting private fish ponds to wealthy new MT residents, wealthy part-time MT residents, wealthy hardly-ever-at-my-MT-trophy ranch/home, etc. etc. I also answered many a questions concerning "I want to improve MY stream on my property".
I ALWAYS answered all questions professionally, courteously, and if I did not have the best answer(s), I ALWAYS referred the asker to somebody who could help them.
Invariably, I would hear comments exactly like the one's you posted here.
What's funny - and very sad for ALL Montanan's - is that a private fishpond license costs the applicant $10, costs the sportsmen/women of MT up to over $200 to issue, and the owner of a private fish pond does NOT even have to possess a MT fishing license to fish his/her pond.
The poor wealthy landowner/fishpond owner is so mistreated by MT and it's fish & wildlife mgmt agency. Cry me a river.
Same river of tears shed for your wildlife "concerns".
Seeing a wealthy out of stater come on this site complaining about this stuff makes me tell you - stay away, screw up and complain about where you are instead of bringing your crap here.
I don't work for MFWP anymore and can freely say this stuff now to people like yourself. I can leave my public service voice behind at the gubmint office I no longer occupy. It's very refreshing.
And funny you don't wanna' hear info from the "gubmint", but are willing to get it straight from the "horse's mouth" - AN INTERNET WEBSITE. Real intelligence.

I HOPE ANY MT GUYS ON HERE WHO READ THIS, TAKE TO HEART THE INFO ABOUT THE PRIVATE FISH POND LICENSING & REALIZE THE ABSOLUTE LUNACY THAT EXISTS WITH THIS PARTICULAR MFWP PERMITTING SITUATION. TELL OTHERS ABOUT IT.

Or not.................................................................................

 

[Ben Lamb]

Just a quick note for some:

Wildlife is owned by NOBODY and held in trust for ALL.

They exist as a condition of the land.

Carry on.

 

[rustneversleeps]

how about calling Montana Fish and Game?

This

I sure hope this is not any reflection about the people who live there or else i may want to reconsider the move too

Please do

 

[antlerradar]

What's funny - and very sad for ALL Montanan's - is that a private fishpond license costs the applicant $10, costs the sportsmen/women of MT up to over $200 to issue, and the owner of a private fish pond does NOT even have to possess a MT fishing license to fish his/her pond.

That sounds like something that should have been addressed by the licensing and funding advisory committee. If I had known about it we would have.

 

[onpoint]

That sounds like something that should have been addressed by the licensing and funding advisory committee. If I had known about it we would have.

There's a whole lotta' "stuff" that could/should be addressed - if only those that are supposed to be doing the "addressing" would/could "know about it(s)...........................................

The private fishpond issue is many many many years old and just can't seem to get resolved.

But what's it matter right? It's only sportsmens/womens $$$...........................................................

 

[BuzzH]

I read stories about guys like the op quite frequently. They move to Montana think they “own” the wildlife on their land. Pretty quick tipmont gets called and they find out they have been getting resident tags when they don’t have residency or they don’t have tags at all. It wouldn’t surprise me to read about a “Brian” in an article like that.

 

[antlerradar]

I read stories about guys like the op quite frequently. They move to Montana think they “own” the wildlife on their land. Pretty quick tipmont gets called and they find out they have been getting resident tags when they don’t have residency or they don’t have tags at all. It wouldn’t surprise me to read about a “Brian” in an article like that.

Yep, Get out in the middle of nowhere with out a person for miles and think they can do what ever they please.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Apologizing in advance for a somewhat political post, what Buzz points to is a concerning ever-too-often occurrence. Case in point is a former very wealthy congressional candidate and current candidate running to replace Matt Rosendale (another wealthy transplant) as State Auditor. Although I applaud and thank Troy Downing for his patriotism and for his military service, his abuse of hunting privileges and his FWP hunting regulation violations overshadow his potential for being a good Montana citizen, let alone someone who would be worthy of holding a state office on behalf of Montanans. His show of patriotism in performing a fly-over during the Bozeman Memorial Day Parade is to be applauded also ... however, for me as someone whose military career was focused on opposing Communism and particularly the USSR, for him to fly his Russian MIG "hobby jet" on that special day struck me as inappropriate. My opinion only and not necessarily that of other veterans and not meant to taint this otherwise stellar forum.

 

[TheJason]

I'll figure this out no matter what.

Good, because it’s not as difficult as you make it out to be.

another useless forum and waste of my time.

The waste of your time is crowdsourcing on the internet instead of calling FWP.

I will share this with folks too.....good bye

Peace out. Go long for the good old days when you didn’t need a tag, which was about 130 years ago in Montana.

 

[JoanneCameron]

I know that it has been a little bit less than a year, but is there an update ? I want to move in Montana and I want some information about these regulations.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I know that it has been a little bit less than a year, but is there an update ? I want to move in Montana and I want some information about these regulations.

Best bet is to read the regs and figure out how they apply to you. Then if you have questions call FWP.

Folks on here would be glad to help answer specific question.

 

[RidgeRoamingRichard]

I think we ran him off. MT has enough grumpy old men

 

[Wildabeest]

Bottom line in all of this is:

1. Owning property in MT (or any state) doesn’t make you a “resident” nor grant you resident privileges such as buying resident tags. There are specific criteria states use to determine if you are a resident - learn and understand what those are before declaring yourself a resident.
2. If you are not a resident, then owning property, for the most part, doesn’t make you any different than any other non-resident. Exceptions are that if you own a lot of property, then you MAY be eligible for some landowner preference. Learn and understand the specifics of those tag requirements.
3. Owning land MAY allow you the ability to hunt that land, but it does not alleviate the requirements to have all of the same licenses and tags as everyone else. You need to understand what unit your land is in for each species and what is required to get a license or tag for that species in that unit. The fact that you plan to hunt your own land has no relevance on your ability to get those licenses and tags, with the exception of landowner preference if you meet those requirements.
4. If your land happens to be in a community with an HOA and/or CC&R’s, you need to read those closely to determine whether those restrict hunting or shooting in the community. Those are legally binding documents that you agree to abide by when you close on the property. In my experience, HOA’s police their communities pretty vigorously regarding their Rules and Regs. If your property is 20 acres or less, there’s a darn good chance it’s governed by CC&R’s.

Again, the important point here is that owning property is essentially like hunting an parcel of private property in state, with the one exception being you don’t have to gain permission from yourself to hunt it. You still have to have all of the appropriate licenses and tags (which are specific to the unit your property sits within), and you need to make sure there are not additional restrictions on shooting or hunting imposed by local gov’t or CC&R’s. Local gov’t often has laws around shooting within so many feet of an occupied structure, etc.

 

[TheJason]

I'm not sure if it's still the case, but at one point an absentee landowner who enrolled their land in Block Management could opt to receive a guaranteed NR deer/elk combo in lieu of their traditional use payment per the BMA program.