Montana Landowners have until May 1 to apply for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ Elk Hunting Access Agreement (EHA) Program. This program was established by the 2001 Legislature and provides landowners with an elk license, including elk B, or an either-sex permit, or a combination of both. In exchange, landowners must allow free public hunting access for elk management purposes on their land or privately leased land.
The landowner can designate these licenses/permits to either an immediate family member or an authorized full-time employee, and the license/permit will be valid only on the landowner’s property or private land leased by the landowner for agricultural purposes.
Landowners can select up to one-third of the required public hunters, while the other two-thirds are randomly selected by FWP. If a landowner elects to select up to one-third of the public hunters eligible to hunt lands enrolled, FWP will email a list of potential public hunters to the landowner. The landowner must make their selections known to FWP no later than three weeks before the agreement’s start date. If a landowner fails to make their public hunter selections in the required timeframe, their public hunter selections will be forfeited, and FWP will fill the spots with FWP-selected public hunters.
If a landowner wishes to offer additional public hunting access beyond the required minimum of three, they can do so.
In the 2023 legislative session, House Bill 596 resulted in some new changes for the program. Landowners must now own at least 640 acres of occupied elk habitat. However, smaller acreages are eligible if the department determines site conditions exist to accommodate successful public hunting. Landowners can also enroll private land they lease from another landowner for agricultural purposes. Lastly, for every permit/license issued to a landowner or designee, at least one of the department-selected public hunters must hold the equivalent license, permit, or combination of the two that is issued to the landowner or the landowner’s designee.
The 2023 EHA report will be posted on the FWP website in accordance with the June Fish and Wildlife Commission timelines. EHA application proposals for the 2024 season will be posted on the FWP website no later than two weeks prior to the June 20 commission meeting. Public comment will be taken at that meeting.
Once the commission has decided on the issuance of permits/licenses under this program, the public will have an opportunity to sign up online for EHA opportunities only through myFWP from July 1st to July 15th. After the sign-up period closes, FWP will randomize the public hunter list, confirm the public hunters possess the required permits/licenses (if applicable), and then start notifying eligible public hunters of the opportunities via email only. Public hunters must respond and accept the opportunity within 72 hours from the time the original email invitation was received.
For more information or to apply for the program, visit fwp.mt.gov/hunt/landownerprograms/public-elk-access-agreements.
