A creative solution for wildlife management
By Zach Brown
In 2018, One Montana started the Montana Master Hunter
Program on a hypothesis: That there would be a demand for advanced education
opportunities within Montana’s hunting community, and that more than a few
landowners would be excited to work with respectful, highly skilled and vetted
hunters. A year and a half later, we are excited to report that our bets were
right on; in fact, we hit the jackpot.
We have graduated 90 Master Hunters through our rigorous
program. Our class requires our students to dedicate over 50 hours toward
classroom study, lectures, readings and skills training. At the end of our
course, we require a 75 percent passing score on a 100-point written exam, and
passage of a rifle-accuracy certification led by our partners at 406 Precision.
The program requires hunters to engage at a level above and beyond any other American
hunting certification out there. Our Master Hunters truly earn their title.
Cascade rancher Scott Hibbard helped jump start this project
as a contractor to One Montana in 2015, when this program was still just an
idea in the mind of a few.
Scott spent the better part of six months on the phone and
on the road, meeting with landowners and hunters across Montana. He asked
dozens of folks what it would take to improve hunting access and wildlife in
Montana, and how we can improve relations between our state’s landowner and
hunting communities.
His answers to those questions became the curriculum
framework behind our course. Additionally, Scott’s focus on landowner
perspectives, including agricultural economics and private land stewardship,
helped us solidify the buy-in of landowner groups such as the Montana
Stockgrowers Association, the Grain Growers Association and the Western
Landowners Alliance. That focus, making sure that everything about our program
is landowner driven, has become the heart and soul of our program.
After our hunters graduate, One Montana’s staff works hard
to find them places to hunt. We reach out to thoughtful landowners who might be
looking for help managing their wildlife populations, but are hesitant to just
let any random person onto their property. In one case, we have a ranch partner
that is offering a service-for-access agreement. If a Master Hunter agrees to
spend one Saturday lopping encroaching conifers—a task that improves wildlife
habitat as well as cattle grazing conditions—they can earn a two-day cow elk
hunt. And for two full days of lopping, a Master Hunter can earn the privilege
of crossing private land to access landlocked public land for three days of
archery bull elk hunting.
In another example, a rancher is allowing our Master Hunters
to hunt white-tailed deer, an opportunity he has not allowed for many years
because the deer spend time near ranch buildings and cattle. But he sees a need
for management, and trusts that our vetted hunters will make safe, ethical
shots near his valuable property.
Ultimately, Master Hunters are actively improving hunting
access and wildlife management in Montana. Working with these hunters and the
stewardship-oriented landowners who invite them onto their land is enough to
give a person hope. These Montanans are breaking down barriers between rural
and urban communities, and building relationships that will serve Montana’s
people and wildlife for many years to come.
Master Hunters are community builders and ambassadors for
Montana’s proud hunting tradition. Does that sound like you?
Visit mtmasterhunter.com for more information.
