Sorted by date Results 1 - 16 of 16
This year, FWP will continue chronic wasting disease (CWD) surveillance and monitoring in specific areas known as Priority Sampling Areas across southwestern, central, and central-eastern Montana. Carcass disposal requirements: Carcass parts, such as brain, eyes, spleen, lymph glands, and spinal cord material, should be left at the kill site when possible. If the animal is transported for taxidermy or meat processing, the brain and spinal tissue must be bagged and disposed of in a Class II lan...
Don’t wait until it is too late. Hunters who haven’t already asked permission from private landowners to hunt need to do so as soon as possible. Montana law requires hunters to obtain permission for all hunting on private land. Whether pursuing upland game birds, coyotes, gophers or any other wildlife, hunters must have permission from the landowner before hunting on private property. This also includes entering private land to retrieve wildlife or to access public land to hunt. Landowners may grant permission in person, over the phone, in wri...
GLASGOW - As you are hunting, hiking, and exploring Montana this fall, be sure to take a break from scanning the horizon and look down at the ground once in a while. Not only will this help you avoid stepping on a cactus or a rattlesnake, but you might also see one of eastern Montana's rarely seen critters...the greater short-horned lizard, commonly known as a "horny toad." If you do, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks would like to know about it. The greater short- horned lizard, Phrynosoma...
Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks is proposing to renew a Management Agreement with the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation at Intake Fishing Access Site (FAS) in Dawson County, Montana. The agreement is for the management and operations of Intake Fishing Access Site (FAS). The Intake FAS operated on a 50-year agreement and historically included two parcels: (1) The ‘Intake Area’ north of the river and (2) ‘Joe’s Island’, south of the river. The proposed new Management Agreement would be for 50 years and include the Intake Ar...
MILES CITY – The 2024 paddlefish season for the yellow tag area of the Yellowstone and lower Missouri rivers ended June 30, short of the harvest cap of 1,000 fish. The overall harvest estimate was 782 paddlefish, and female paddlefish represented 43% of the total harvest. Harvest estimates for the past two seasons were 776 in 2023 and 769 fish in 2022, continuing the trend toward a more dispersed fishery since open river passage began with the new Intake Bypass Channel near Glendive. It was also an average year for tag sales, with a total of 2,...
Helena – General antelope season opened Saturday, Oct. 7, and runs through Sunday, Nov. 12. For information about what to expect this season, check out Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks hunting forecast. FWP provides online information about hunting access, including our popular Block Management Program, which provides hunting access to more than 7 million acres of private land. FWP’s interactive Hunt Planner is a mapping tool that allows users to look at information for various species, including hunting districts and regulations. The hunt pla...
Helena – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks along with the Montana Department of Health and Human Services are advising hunters to have their deer, elk, and moose tested for chronic wasting disease (CWD). FWP strongly recommends that hunters receive a negative CWD test result before bringing their deer, elk, or moose to a meat processor or donating it to a food bank. While it is not a requirement, FWP is asking hunters to have a negative CWD test result in hand before bringing their animal to a processor for donation. If the animal tests p...
Potential hunting regulation changes for 2022 and 2023 are available online for the public to review. The proposed changes are coming now during the normal biennial season setting year to help make Montana’s hunting regulations simpler and easier to understand. To see the potential changes and make comment visit https://fwp.mt.gov/aboutfwp/public-comment-opportunities/hunting-reg-changes. Over the last several weeks, FWP biologists have worked on these potential changes with a sharp focus on the science behind the regulations. The potential cha...
Paddlefish anglers with a yellow harvest tag that are anxious to fish on the Yellowstone River or Missouri River downstream of Fort Peck Reservoir in 2016 need to be aware of two issues. First, for anglers with a yellow paddlefish harvest tag, opening day of paddlefish season is Sunday May 15; however the first harvest day is Tuesday May 17. This oddity of opening day results from designated Catch and Release days (Sunday, Monday, and Thursday) and mandatory Catch and Harvest days (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday). Thus, in 2016, the...
Landowners have until March 15 to submit applications to Fish, Wildlife, & Parks for enrollment in a new program called Unlocking Public Lands that may qualify a landowner for up to $3,000 in annual tax credits. Through this program, a landowner who enters into a contractual agreement with FWP to allow public recreational access across private land to reach a parcel of otherwise inaccessible state or federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or United States Forest Service (USFS) land is entitled to receive a $750 annual tax credit per contract,...
Landowners have until March 15 to submit applications to Fish, Wildlife, & Parks for enrollment in a new program called Unlocking Public Lands that may qualify a landowner for up to $3,000 in annual tax credits. Through this program, a landowner who enters into a contractual agreement with FWP to allow public recreational access across private land to reach a parcel of otherwise inaccessible state or federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or United States Forest Service (USFS) land is entitled to receive a $750 annual tax credit per contract,...
Montana’s Fish & Wildlife Commission will meet Nov. 12 in Helena. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ Montana WILD Education Center, 2668 Broadwater Ave. Commissioners will take final action on 2016 fishing regulations; elk hunting shoulder seasons pilot projects beginning in late November in up to seven hunting districts; duck-hunting zone adjustments in Montana’s portion of the Central Flyway; and an addition to the Wall Creek Wildlife Management Area near Ennis. On land matters, commissioners will be asked...
Paddlefish harvest season closed at Intake fishing access site and in the Yellowstone River and the Missouri River below Fort Peck Dam effective Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at 12:00 pm. Thereafter, catch-and-release paddlefishing is allowed only at Intake fishing access site from 6 am – 9 pm, through Saturday, June 13, 2015. With Montana’s paddlefish harvest target expected to be reached, the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission agreed today to close the 2015 paddlefish harvest season on the Yellowstone River and the Missouri River below Fort Pec...
Montana’s annual youth-only deer hunt is set for Oct 16-17. The two-day special season is open to properly licensed youngsters ages 12 to 15 who’ve passed a hunter safety course. Additionally, 11-year-olds who passed hunter safety may hunt if they’ll be 12 by Jan. 16, 2015. The youth hunt is typically scheduled during the public schools’ two-day vacation in October, which is scheduled for Oct. 16-17 this year. This puts youth rifle hunters in the field during the final days of Montana’s archery season. “Archers and our young hunters nee...
Major repairs on the dam at Cow Creek Reservoir near the Bear Paw Mountains south of Chinook have been completed, and the reservoir has been refilled and stocked with more fish. The 85-acre water body is located on private property within the Sand Creek Ranch. Public fishing access to the reservoir and a section of Cow Creek above the reservoir has been renewed through a 20-year agreement between the ranch owners and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks, said FWP Havre-area biologist Cody Nagel and FWP warden Andy Fuerst....
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials said today that aquatic invasive species inspection stations and roving inspection crews are in operation at key border crossing sites, along major highways and on heavily used water bodies. By law boaters must stop at AIS watercraft inspection stations for a brief interview and inspection. Already this month, two boats stopped at inspection stations were found to be fouled by zebra mussels, and another contaminated boat was found by an alert private citizen. Boaters are urged to inspect, clean and dry...
