Out-of-Staters Hunt Free in Montana While Locals Fight for Access

As if it wasn’t difficult enough to find a decent place to hunt in Montana, the state has rolled out a red carpet for nonresident landowners. Under a new law, even those who don’t reside here year-round, if they own a piece of dirt, they can obtain free deer and elk tags. No lottery, no fee, no wrestling with FWP’s website while sipping gas station coffee at 5 a.m.

In the meantime, you and I are left playing the year-after-year tag game. Hoping to finally have our number come in so we can bag a critter and a weekend away from work before the season ends. And don’t even get me started on the dudes who drive across three counties only to find their favorite drainage running full of rigs with out-of-state tags and a pop-up camper back where the stand used to be.

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Lawmakers are selling this new giveaway as an incentive for landowners to allow access to more hunting grounds. But come on,  we’ve heard that one before. These are private properties, most of which are locked up with NO HUNTING signs. And if this bill was truly about public access, it would’ve had teeth. It’s just more goodies for people with deep pockets and faraway zip codes.

Montana has a noble history of hunting, but it feels like that heritage is slowly being auctioned off, one legislative session at a time. For those of us who live and pay our taxes here, raise our kids here, and spend our hard-earned coin to support local outfitters and gear shops, this one stings.

We are not asking for much, just a fair opportunity to keep the wild places wild and our hunting traditions to alive. But it certainly seems like that is growing more difficult each season.