A change in Montana’s 2010 black bear hunting regulations is causing confusion among some hunters who are required to validate their license for spring black bear hunting in northwestern Montana.

New for the spring black bear hunt only is a change that requires hunters to validate their license at the time of purchase, choosing either:

• hunt the entire state—except in northwestern Montana’s Bear Management Units 100, 102, 104, 105 and 108, or
• hunt only in northwestern Montana’s BMUs 100, 102, 104, 105 and 108—and nowhere else in the state.

For those hunters who already purchased a bear license with an incorrect validation, they can exchange them through April 15 at any FWP office for a new license that is properly validated.

Hunters who purchase black bear licenses after April 15 must obtain them over the counter at an FWP office and cannot use them for five days after the purchase date. Bear hunters must also successfully complete FWP’s bear ID training prior to purchasing their first black bear license.

FWP urges black bear hunters to refresh their bear identification skills every year to be able to distinguish a black bear from a grizzly. Grizzly bears, a federally protected, threatened species, are not hunted in Montana. To locate the online FWP bear ID test, go to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Bear Identification Program .

To review the online 2010 black bear regulations, go to the FWP Web site at fwp.mt.gov and click on the Hunting page and then Regulations.