Say hunting season to most people and they will picture people in bright colors walking through the snow with high-powered rifles.
But the truth is that the 2024 Montana hunting season begins in a much warmer and quieter way. Hunting season 2024 is already underway but this time of year you won’t hear the hunters, and most likely won’t see them either.
“Archery hunters enjoy the challenge of pursuing an animal with limited equipment such as a bow and arrow. Requires you to be closer, requires you to get to know those animals a lot better and the rewards for that are great also you know when you overcome those challenges there's nothing like it,” explained Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Morgan Jacobsen.
“Shooting your bow as often as you can really makes a big difference when you're in the field,” Jacobsen continued. “One, because you're more effective as an archer but also you become comfortable and familiar with your effective range, which is really important in archery hunting -- knowing what you’re effective range and sticking to it so you can make a clean, ethical kill when you're hunting.
Time is of the essence this time of year. It’s hot and game can spoil quickly, so Jacobsen says hunters need an exit strategy to get their harvest out quickly. And don't forget, others in the woods might like that harvest too.
“The other good reason to have a plan for retrieving your harvested animal quickly,” Jacobsen advised. “We are in bear country, and grizzly bears are very much active this time of year as they enter hyperphagia in preparation for their long winter nap. So animal carcasses that are harvested by hunters are attractants and so you want to make sure you get that animal out as quickly as possible and as always make sure you are carrying bear spray when you're in grizzly bear country -- which pretty much encompasses the western two-thirds of Montana.
The general archery season opens on Sept. 7, 2024, and runs until the third weekend in October.
