Hunters can soon register online for Game Damage Hunt Roster

Press release

HELENA — Hunters interested in participating in game damage hunt opportunities need to register online for the Hunt Roster beginning Wednesday, June 15, through MyFWP.

The roster is used by Fish, Wildlife and Parks to quickly respond to landowners who are eligible for game damage assistance in the prevention or reduction of property or crop damage primarily caused by deer, elk and/or antelope. 

New this year, hunters can register to be placed on a bison game damage roster. The Fish and Wildlife Commission approved the addition at its February meeting and set the quota at 10 bison in Region 3. Occasionally, a bison is found outside of the authorized hunting season and outside of the bison tolerance zone. FWP is compiling a list of interested hunters to call for quick removal of the animal. These hunts could be during the warmer months of summer and will require quickly field dressing the animal with a team of people armed with the appropriate tools. For more information about bison hunting, people can visit https://fwp.mt.gov/hunt/regulations/bison online.

To register, hunters can log into their MyFWP account or click “look up draw results, register for lists” within the menu. Then select a preferred hunting district(s) for potential deer, elk, antelope, and bison damage hunts and submit. Hunters are asked to sign up for districts where they know the landscape and can respond quickly to game damage issues typically within 24 to 48 hours.

The Hunt Roster sign-up closes July 15, and a randomly generated list will be created from the online registrations and will be posted to MyFWP accounts by July 20.

FWP will contact hunters if they are selected for a damage hunt opportunity via phone and/or email, so hunters are asked to ensure they have accurate contact information in their licensing profile. FWP may also utilize other means of hunter selection in lieu of the Hunt Roster, including first-come, first-served advertised opportunities, unsuccessful special license or permit applicant lists or lists of names supplied by landowners depending upon each damage situation. For more details on the FWP game damage assistance program, people can visit https://fwp.mt.gov/conservation/landowner-programs/game-damage-program .