Field reports: Montana the latest state to adopt more lenient hunter education rules

HUNTING – Starting this week, youth hunters can buy a $5 pass that allows them to hunt before they complete the state’s hunter education standard that has been in effect for half a century.

Montana’s Fish & Wildlife Commission approved a new rule last week that clears the way for the state’s “apprentice hunter” law to take effect.

The law, enacted earlier this year by the state Legislature, allows youth 10-17 years of age to obtain a certification to purchase some Montana hunting licenses before completing a hunter education course. Apprentice hunters, however, are required to be accompanied by an adult mentor.

Under the law, apprentice-hunter certification is for two license years. After two years, the apprentice hunter must complete a hunter safety and education course.

Mentors are also required to complete and sign a form, along with the apprentice, and if applicable, the apprentice’s parent or legal guardian.

Apprentice hunters are not eligible to obtain a special bow and arrow license without first completing a bowhunter education course, nor can they participate in Montana’s limited-quota hunting license or permit drawings.

Montana follows the lead of Idaho and Washington, which already have set up “try it, you’ll like it” programs.

Underlying reasons for states easing the entry into the ranks of hunting include the competition for youth attention in their busy organized schedules and the decline of hunting license revenues.

In Idaho, hunter education is required for anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1975, who wants to purchase an Idaho license.

The overall goal of the program is the prevention of hunting- and firearm-related accidents, but emphasis is also placed on improving knowledge about wildlife management, the heritage of hunting, and developing a sense of ethics and responsibility.

Three course options include: 

• An instructor-led course, considered the best option for youth ages 9-14, and for individuals having minimal hunting experience.

• Online course.

• Independent study workbook course. 

An Idaho Hunting Passport option is offered for one year.  The special authorization allows first-time hunters, resident or nonresident, age 8 and older, to try hunting with a licensed adult mentor without first having to complete an Idaho hunter education course. 

In Washington , hunter education is required for anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1972, before purchasing a license.

Training is available through traditional classes and online.

The 2007 Washington Legislature approved a measure that allows a one-year, once-in-a-lifetime deferral of hunter education training.

Individuals using the option must be accompanied in the field by an experienced hunter who has held a Washington hunting license for the previous three years.

A $20 application fee must be paid before purchasing the hunting licenses, and processing, which must be initiated in person or by phone through the Fish and Wildlife Department’s Olympia headquarters, takes about two weeks. Participants must subsequently complete hunter education in order to purchase future hunting licenses.