Bison Hunt Application Due Soon

The deadline to submit an application for Montana’s upcoming 90-day bison hunt is Friday, Sept. 30.

Montana’s Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission recently approved the sale of 25 either-sex bison licenses for use between Nov. 15 and Jan. 15, 2006; and 25 either-sex licenses for use between Jan. 16, 2006 and Feb. 15, 2006. In accordance with a new state law, a total of 16 of the licenses will be allotted to Montana’s Indian Tribes. A total of 10 licenses will be awarded to the hunters drawn for last season’s proposed hunt.

Commissioners worked to ensure fair-chase circumstances for the bison hunt, and established a full 90-day hunting season with a larger area for bison to inhabit. In the past, bison were not tolerated outside of Yellowstone National Park under any circumstances.   Now, bison can roam on more than 460,000 acres, or nearly 720 square miles of wildlife habitat near West Yellowstone and Gardiner. The Yellowstone National Park bison population has grown to 4,900 animals, the highest recorded in recent years.

Bison hunting regulations and license applications are available on FWP’s website at fwp.mt.gov , and from most FWP offices and license providers. The application fee is $3. A bison license will cost   $75 for residents and $750 for nonresidents. Applications are due by Sept. 30.

  Bison hunters will be required to attend special orientation sessions where all aspects of hunting bison will be discussed. While the hunt is Montana’s first in 15 years, public bison hunts are established in several western states, including Alaska, Arizona, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.  

Bison hunting licenses will be valid on public lands defined as bison areas outside the northern and western boundaries of Yellowstone National Park, and on private lands with landowner permission.

Bison are managed under the Interagency Bison Management Plan, a cooperative state and federal effort that took more than 10 years to develop and garnered approximately 67,000 public comments. The plan seeks to gradually establish bison as a free-ranging population in Montana without jeopardizing the herd or delivering unacceptable impacts to private property, including the transmission of brucellosis to Montana cattle.

Brucellosis is a disease carried by some Yellowstone bison that can cause cows to abort, or result in premature and weakened calves, which in turn can increase operating costs and affect the ability of all Montana cattle ranchers to transport and sell their products.
 

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