What Montana Hunters Need to Know: Game Damage Hunt Registration

Hunters interested in participating in game damage hunt opportunities need to register online for the Hunt Roster beginning Monday, June 15.

HUNT ON LANDOWNER-ELIGIBLE PROPERTY

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks tells us that the roster is used by FWP to quickly respond to landowners who are eligible for game damage assistance in the prevention or reduction of property or crop damage primarily caused by deer, elk and/or antelope.

Hunters also can register to be placed on a bison game damage roster. Occasionally, a bison is found outside of the authorized hunting season and outside of the bison tolerance zone. Montana FWP is compiling a list of interested hunters to call for quick removal of the animal. These hunts could be during the warmer months of summer and will require quickly field dressing the animal with a team of people armed with the appropriate tools. Go here for more information about bison hunting.

HOW TO REGISTER

To register, hunters can log into their MyFWP account or click “look up draw results, register for lists” within the menu. Then select a preferred hunting district(s) for potential deer, elk, antelope and bison damage hunts and submit. Hunters are asked to sign up for districts where they know the landscape and can respond quickly to game damage issues typically within 24 to 48 hours.

If you need information on how to set a MyFWP account, go here.

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ONE DISTRICT ONLY

It’s important to note that hunters can pick only one hunting district per species and the choice is final. There is no guarantee that there is a damage hunt opportunity for a given species in a given hunting district. So, even being first on a list doesn’t ensure an opportunity. Party registrations are not allowed

The Hunt Roster sign-up closes Monday, July 15. A randomly generated list will be created from the online registrations and will be posted July 20.

FWP will contact hunters if they are selected for a damage hunt opportunity via phone and/or email, so hunters are asked to ensure they have accurate contact information in their licensing profile.