Spring Black Bear License Deadline

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It may seem too early in the year to talk about big game hunting, but the deadline for purchasing a spring bear hunting license is only a month away. Black bear hunters who plan on taking part in the spring season need to purchase a bear license by April 14. Black bear hunting licenses purchased after April 14 cannot be used until the fall black bear hunting season. Hunters may hold only one black bear license per license year. The spring bear season opens April 15 and closes in May or June depending on the area. Check the bear hunting regulations for details. Black bear hunters are strongly encouraged to visit FWP’s new bear identification training site at the FWP web site: fwp.state.mt.us/bearid. The site is designed to ensure that black bear hunters are able to successfully distinguish black bears from grizzly bears. Grizzly bears, a federally protected threatened species, are found almost everywhere black bears are found, but grizzly bears are not legal game. Any hunter who mistakenly kills a grizzly bear may face stiff fines and imprisonment. Hunters who choose to hunt in northwestern Montana’s Bear Management Units 103, 106, and 107 this spring must validate their black bear license when they purchase it. Hunters who choose this validation may not hunt in any other bear management unit during the spring. For more information on Montana’s spring black bear hunting season, call your nearest FWP office.