An in-person hunter education classroom course is now open for registration in Great Falls.
There is no charge to attend the course, but advanced registration is required and is available here.
The course will be held from 7-9 p.m. on March 12-14, 18-19 and March 21 at the Paris Gibson Education Center.
Attendance at a field course on March 23 is also required. Students are required to pick up materials and complete the course manual before attending the first class.
In-person, instructor-led hunter education courses are available free to anyone aged 10 and older and are led by trained volunteer instructors who are passionate about preserving Montana’s hunting tradition, teaching firearm safety, ethics, and outdoor skills, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
Montana also provides a self-paced online-only hunter education course that is available for anyone 12 and older. The online course provides a convenience for those who are comfortable with e-Learning or who already have a good firearms and hunting background.
Students ages 12-17 who take hunter or bowhunter education online will also be required to pass an in-person field day.
There will be a field day for online students in Great Falls on the afternoon of March 23.
More information on the field day for online students is available here.
Other hunter education courses are also open for registration in these north-central Montana communities:
- Conrad beginning March 4
- Fairfield beginning March 5
- Choteau beginning March 7
- Lewistown beginning March 25
More information on these courses is here.
For youth to be eligible to hunt and be fully certified during the 2024 season, they must be 12-years-old by Jan. 16, 2025. Students aged 10 and 11 can take the in-person classroom course and hunt as an apprentice but will not be fully certified until the year they turn 12.
To purchase or apply for a Montana hunting license, anyone born after Jan. 1, 1985, must complete a hunter education course issued by Montana, any other state, or any Canadian province.
