Bill to Give Elk Licenses to nonresident Landowners Splits Sportsmen's Community

Montana hunters agree on many things, but a bill to give elk tags to nonresident landowners isn’t one of them.

Hunters lined up outside the Senate Fish and Game committee room late last week to testify on both sides of House Bill 635. Rep. Joshua Kassmier, R-Fort Benton, carried HB 635 successfully through the House for the Montana Citizen’s Elk Management Coalition, a diverse group of Montana hunters that came together about a year ago to try to reduce the various struggles over elk. Kassmier gave only a brief description of the bill, leaving the justification to the proponents.