Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking comment from individuals, cities, counties, state and federal agencies and private associations on 11 applications for the Montana Off Highway Vehicle Program grant funding. About $160,000 is available in 2009 for these grants.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking public comment on 61 applications competing for about $1 million in grants for trail maintenance and development work.

Montana's some 23,000 landowners own nearly 60 million acres of private land, much of with excellent hunting. The only catch is gaining the landowner's permission to hunt. It is Montana law that hunters obtain landowner permission to hunt on all private land.

Hunters interested in obtaining access to more than eight million acres of private lands enrolled in FWP's Block Management Program may contact the regional FWP office in the area where they plan to hunt, or check the "Hunting" pages on the FWP web site at fwp.mt.gov .

Noxious weeds—like knapweed, leafy spurge and Canada thistle— are spreading across Montana. Hunters need to be aware of these silent invaders. FWP recommends that hunters and others:

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks requests that hunters report any sightings or signs of wolves. A gray wolf is, on average 2.5 feet tall; 5-6 feet long; 70-120 pounds with a broad snout, round ears and fur ranging from gray, black or tan to white.

Officials at biological checking stations gather information needed to manage the state's wildlife resources. When hunters stop at these biological check stations, they may be asked a variety of questions including how many deer, elk or antelope they saw and in which drainages or the general locations where their hunting took place.

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.

The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks toll-free hotline for reporting wildlife poaching, property damage, and violations of fish and game laws is in operation 24 hours a day.

The Montana Hunter Behavior Advisory Council reported ten years ago that motor vehicle use during hunting, including off-highway vehicles, is creating serious problems. Today the situation is magnified, as growing numbers of hunters use OHVs.

Veterans will enjoy discounts and new opportunities during Montana's 2008 hunting season.

Montana hunters planning early-season hunting trips should expect widespread public and private fire restrictions this time of year. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks reminds hunters it is a hunter's responsibility to identify and abide by all fire restrictions in effect in the area where they are hunting. Montana’s first hunting season, limited to about 5,500 archery-only antelope hunters with a special license applied for earlier this year, opened Aug. 15.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks reminds hunters that simple, common sense precautions will help to ensure that their game is properly, and safely, field-dressed and butchered this season.

Lucky hunters with extra time in their lives are already scouting for good public hunting locations and while others are planning when they will contact that landowner they know to ask for permission to hunt.

Everyone who hunts doves, ducks, geese, sandhill cranes, snipe, or coots in Montana must be "HIP" certified for the upcoming hunting seasons. HIP stands for Harvest Information Program.

The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission has adopted 2008 hunting regulations and season dates for "webless" migratory game birds.

The black bear hunting season reopens for the fall on Sept. 15 in most areas of Montana. Hunters should check the regulations for exceptions.

Licenses must be purchased by August 31 for the fall black bear season which begins Sept. 15 in most areas of Montana. Hunters should check the regulations for exceptions.

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee recommends the use of bear spray and reminds hunters and others that despite its proven effectiveness, it is not a substitute for using proper bear safety techniques in the first place. The IGBC provides these guidelines:

I’ve been studying bear-human conflict for the past 17 years, and have heard all sides of the ‘firearms versus bear spray’ debate among big game hunters. The issue is: If you're hunting and you encounter an aggressive bear—is it better to shoot it, or use bear spray to repel it?

With Montana’s upland game bird and bow hunting season underway Sept. 1 and Sept. 6, it is a good time to review the basics of hunting safely in bear country.

With elk archery season opening Sept. 6, and backcountry elk season set to open Sept. 15, no elk hunter wants to shoot the wrong elk in the right place, or the right elk in the wrong place. Some elk management units also have special regulations that state the type of bull elk that is legal to harvest. Elk hunters need to know their bulls. An antlered bull elk is any elk with an antler or antlers at least four inches in length measured from the top of the skull.

Montana elk and antelope archery hunters need to keep a sharp eye out for several regulation changes for the 2008 hunting seasons that require many archers to have permits in hunting districts that may not have required them in the past. The changes call for elk archery hunters in the Missouri River Breaks and 23 other elk-hunting districts in central and eastern Montana to have applied a permit in June.

Montana’s archery-only hunting season for deer, elk and antelope begins Sept. 6. Montana's big game regulations specify the criteria that archery equipment must meet to be legal, for instance, crossbows are prohibited during the archery-only hunting season, though they may be used during the general hunting season.

The 1,200 volunteers who teach Hunter Education would like to remind all hunters of the three basic rules of gun safety: always point any shooting device in a safe direction be sure of your target and what is beyond and treat every gun as if it were loaded Hunting is a very safe activity.   It is up to each hunter to make responsible decisions to keep it that way.

Youth Waterfowl and Pheasant Weekend                     Sept. 27-28 Montana's young hunters will have a special treat Sept. 27-28, the weekend of the youth waterfowl and pheasant special seasons. Legally licensed hunters age 12 through 15 will be able to hunt ducks, mergansers, geese, coots and ring-necked pheasants statewide on these two days.

Pheasant hunters, don't be caught without one leg and foot left naturally attached to all birds you harvest.   The leg and foot must be attached at all times, including while transporting the bird. On game birds such as grouse and partridge, one fully-feathered wing must be left naturally attached for species identification.

Is upland game bird hunting as good today as it was 20 years ago? For those interested in the game bird harvest in Montana last year compared with the long-term average, here are the stats: Statewide harvest by species     20-year average         2007 estimate Pheasant                                  123,037                 151,592 Gray Partridge                              50,037                  47,260 Sharp-tailed grouse                    53,775                  54,467 Sage grouse                               10,365                    3,116 Blue grouse                                19,873                  18,319 Ruffed grouse                             26,372                  28,853 Spruce grouse                               4,995                   4,421   Interestingly, pheasant harvests have generally increased since 1987 with implementation of the CRP program in Montana. The program funds perennial cover plantings in place of crops, providing an effective mix of grain and hiding cover for pheasants. …

Upland game bird hunting in Montana may be a mixed bag this year. Most game bird hunting begins Sept. 1. Pheasant season opens Oct. 11. "The eastern plains experienced a mild winter, while in the mountains we had a heavy snow pack. Both are good conditions for game bird survival," said Rick Northrup, FWP game bird coordinator.   Then came the end of May and a two to three week span of cool, moist weather just at the peak hatch for many upland game birds.

This is a brief synopsis of fishing conditions and reports from select waters across the state. For more detailed information, contact a fly shop, bait store, or boat marina for the particular water. For detailed information on river flows, visit: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mt/nwis/current?type=flow

In Montana, upland game birds consist of sage and sharp-tailed grouse, blue, ruffed and Franklin’s grouse, pheasants, Hungarian (grey) partridge, and wild turkeys. Most upland game bird seasons begin Sept. 1. The exception is the ring-necked pheasant opener, which is set for Oct. 11. Upland bird seasons run through Jan.1, 2009—with the exception of sage grouse season, which closes Nov. 1, and mountain grouse season, which closes Dec. 15 .

Opening day for most upland game bird hunting seasons occur on the same day every year—Sept. 1.   The statewide hunting season openings are: Sage Grouse                        Sept. 1––Nov. 1 Sharp-tailed Grouse          Sept. 1––Jan.