Montana is the fourth largest state, covering just over 94 million acres. Private landowners control about two-thirds of the land. Partnerships with those landowners are what make hunting possible in Montana.
Several years ago, the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks created an online program called the Hunter Landowner Stewardship Program.
“The purpose of this is to help hunters better understand the landowner’s perspective.” That’s the spark for the program, according to FWP’s Morgan Jacobsen.
Jacobsen says hunters go online and watch a series of videos. They then take a test.
“You take the course in segments, at your leisure and it’s not very time consuming,” Jacobsen said.
The course is available to all licensed hunters in Montana.
“We’re excited to give away some really cool stuff next spring,” Jacobsen said.
Some generous donors are allowing FWP to give away some prizes for those who complete the course this year.
“We would encourage people to go on the Fish, Wildlife and Parks website to take the course and learn from it,” Jacobsen said.
According to Jacobsen, the prizes include guided hunt trips, optics and several high-dollar gift cards.
“Folks can go to the FWP website, take the course and see a list of the prizes available.”
Jacobsen says the course is open to any licensed hunter, but the prizes are only available to hunters 18 years and older.
