State extends bear deadline

The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks extended the deadline to purchase mountain lion and fall black bear hunting licenses to Saturday.

The extension comes as a customer-service response to some computer problems experienced on Aug. 31, the day of the original deadlines.

"We want to ensure that everyone who wants to purchase a mountain lion or a black bear hunting license has the opportunity to buy the license," said Ron Aasheim, FWP administrator of the Conservation Education Division.

Aasheim reminded black bear hunters who haven't taken Montana's mandatory Bear Identification Training and Certification test that they must pass the test before purchasing a black bear license.