Montana Hunting

Montana offers some of the best big game hunting in the Northern Hemisphere. From its Rocky Mountains to the West and its Badlands to the east, it always brings a new type of experience for hunters. It is a hunter’s paradise where you can hunt elk in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, upland birds in the foothills, moose in the low bogs of the rugged mountains, or antelope on the short-grass prairies.

When it comes to hunting opportunities and wildlife diversity, Montana has something to offer anyone from anywhere who’s ready to undertake the thrilling adventure of Montana hunting. Here are two of the best Montana hunting big game and a few tips:

Bighorn Sheep Hunting (Montana Hunting)
Montana license to draw a bighorn sheep can be tough. In the fall of 2005 only about two percent of all applicants were successful in drawing one of the four hundred seven bighorn sheep licenses. Bighorn hunting season usually opens September 15-November 27, with some exceptions. Those lucky hunters awarded for bighorn sheep hunt can be their hunt of a lifetime. Hunters harvesting a bighorn sheep must, if required by FWP (Fish, Wildlife and Parks), physically return to the kill site for inspection to show the cape intact and the complete head. The hunter with a license valid for a “legal ram” shall in no way alter the head and horns that would determine it to be a legal ram, and he must personally present complete head and cape intact within forty eight hours to any Fish, Wildlife and Parks office or designated employee in the administrative region where the bighorn ram was taken. Transportation permit is required and will be issued during this time. Bighorn ram whose horns measure greater than one-half curl must be plugged and pinned at a FWP office within ten days after the harvest. And for all bighorn sheep hunters, hunter orange is required.

Upland Game Bird Hunting (Montana Hunting)
A favorable season for Montana’s upland game bird hunters is ahead. Upland game bird species season begins mostly September 1. Upland game bird hunting opportunities in FWP Regions 1 and 3 have slightly improved from last year. FWP Region 1 upland game bird hunting around Kalispell is expected to be about average across the board. Pheasant numbers have slightly improved from last year at Ninepipe Wildlife Management Area. The Missoula Area will have about the same pheasant hunting as some hunters experienced the past years. The generally mild winter over Montana and the moist spring have resulted in a good winter survival and plenty of covering for rearing broods especially in regions such as region 4, 5, 6, and 7. The best way to an informed bird hunter is to scout your hunting area in advance during the later summer and early fall.