Montana’s system for allocating nonresident big game hunting licenses needed major changes, outfitters and advocates contended as the session got underway. An uptick in applications for the lottery system created a great deal of uncertainty for their businesses when it came to how many clients will draw licenses in a given year, they said.

Suggested changes drew the ire of a number of hunter advocacy groups. Proposals like guaranteed licenses for outfitted hunters would disadvantage do-it-yourself nonresident hunters, but more importantly privatize a public resource for those that could afford to pay, they argued.

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