"Free" hunting days (purchase, costs, legal)

[GLS]

Does Montana allow people new to the sport to hunt for a limited time without paying fees? If not, is there an NRA effort similar to that described below?


[CENTER][CENTER]Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Important Pro-Hunting Bill[/CENTER][/CENTER]

On Wednesday, September 29, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed Senate Bill 1179 into law.

SB1179, introduced by State Senator Dennis Hollingsworth (R-36), will require the Department of Fish and Game to establish two free hunting days per year where unlicensed hunters can hunt so long as they are accompanied by someone who is licensed. This legislation promises to help recruit the next generation of hunters by allowing novices to try their hand at hunting without being required to purchase a license.

[mattman3seven]

There are no novice hunters in MT....

[MTSilvertip]

Yes there are free days, sort of.

Free Hunting License

Montana resident youths, 12 to 17 years old, who have successfully completed a hunter education course, and who are purchasing their first ever Montana hunting license, are entitled to receive a Resident Youth Combination Sports License free of charge. The youth combo license, which normally costs $25, includes Montana's conservation, deer, elk, upland game bird, state lands, and fishing licenses.

Youth Trapper licenses are free, and upland bird are $3.00
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks :: Available Licenses & Permits

There are places where there is a youth hunt held for only kids that opens a couple days prior to regular seasons to optimise their opportunity as well.

I like the idea of getting more people hunting, but the same problem will crop up of access where you can hunt.
Montana has a lot of open forest and other "public" land, and the block management system that opens up private ground.

California...??

It doesn't matter how many hunters you have, if they have no place to hunt.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by MTSilvertip

California...??

It doesn't matter how many hunters you have, if they have no place to hunt.

Well, they do, but they're mostly either private clubs, restricted private property (sometimes owned BY the hunter), or a long day's drive away, sometimes with a long waiting line to get in even on public grounds. You should see the long, long line of vehicles on the road outside any public hunting area at 5am on opening day of duck season.

I'm in the middle of a good quail area myself. Sometimes get folks hunting the treeline along the next so-called road (a legal street, but no longer passable due to fallen tree branches, blown-around barbed wire, weeds, and sand dunes).

But you're right, it's nothing like the wide-open of most of Montana.

I still think the concept of encouraging new hunters is good, regardless of their age -- give new city-bred folks a taste of the hunt, under the tutelage of an experienced hunter, and maybe they'll start to become Montanans after all.