New law clarifies game tagging rule

A bill that clarifies when hunters must tag animals they successfully take in the state was signed by Gov. Steve Bullock on March 31.

House Bill 279, introduced by Sen. Jeff Essmann, R-Billings, received overwhelming support in the legislature, passing unanimously in both the House and Senate.

The bill clarifies that a game animal must be tagged before the hunter leaves the site of the kill or before the animal is transported from the kill site. The law had required a tag to be applied immediately.

“This legislation really clears all of that up,” Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks communications and education bureau chief Ron Aasheim said.

FWP supported the change because it makes the law easier to enforce, Aasheim said.

A bad hunting experience reported by Jim and Warren Latvala during the 2014 rifle season highlighted the problem with the former law.

The two were hunting on private property outside Clyde Park in the Shields River Valley. After Jim shot a six-point bull, Warren went to get his tractor to move the elk while Jim stayed behind to begin field dressing the animal.

While Jim was preparing to field dress, an FWP warden approached and said he had watched the hunt from the nearby highway. Accompanying the warden was a videographer for a popular Montana wardens’ television show.

Jim said he showed the warden his filled out tag, but the warden confiscated the elk and issued a $135 citation because it took more than 20 minutes for Jim to notch the tag rather than immediately.

After contesting the ticket three days later, the county attorney dropped the charge. FWP returned the head of the bull but not the meat, which had been processed and distributed to a Livingston food bank.

Jim said he may sue the department for the cost of his hunt, which he estimated at $2,000, and is also seeking a public apology.

Warren said there “was no reason for it all to happen in the beginning, and it could easily have been cut short afterward.”

“The passage of HB 279 into law does ease some of my concerns though,” Warren said. “It’s a first step and shows, by their support, that FWP knew the old rule was wrong and would continue to be fought by the public.”