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

To get HIP certified, Montana migratory bird hunters are simply asked, in general, how many ducks, geese, cranes, doves, coots and or snipe they bagged last season in Montana. The answers are entered into Montana's Automated Licensing System to help with the management of migratory birds.