Montana
General hunting season ends with increased success in western regions, mixed results in east • Daily Montanan
Following the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Montana’s 2024 general big game hunting season came to an end on Dec. 1. Hunters across the state had mixed results, with hunters in Montana’s western regions seeing increased harvests compared to 2023, while hunters in many of the eastern regions reported mixed or decreased harvest numbers.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks biologists rely on hunter check stations to collect data on hunter participation and success — though these check stations only capture a snapshot of the overall hunting data as check stations are only manned on weekends in specific areas. However, because many stations have been operated consistently over the years, they provide important harvest trend data. Biologists will also collect information through hunter harvest phone surveys.
“Thank you to all the hunters who stopped and shared information with us season-long,” Lee Tafelmeyer, FWP wildlife biologist in charge of the Bonner station said in a statement. “Hunter harvest information and observations are important input for FWP.”
Here is a roundup of how hunters fared across the state.
Region 1
In the northwest portion of the state more than 10,800 hunters stopped at check stations and roughly 10% of them made successful harvests, up a percentage point from last year.
Hunters bagged 954 white-tailed deer, including 745 bucks, according to counts at the four regional check stations. That was up by nearly 200 deer, and 200 bucks, compared to 2023’s harvest data.
The mule deer harvest across the northwest was down slightly from last year — 92 compared to 97 — but hunters harvested 11 more elk this season.
Region 2
In the state’s west-central region, which comprises the Bitterroot and the I-90 corridor from the Idaho border toward Anaconda, hunters also saw increased success from last year. Over the six weekends of the general hunting season, 9,905 hunters stopped at the region’s check stations and reported a harvest of 288 elk, 119 mule deer and 525 white-tailed deer.
The overall number of hunter stops was down slightly, but harvest number across all three species were higher at nearly all check stations.
Region 3
Across seven hunter check stations operating on intermittent weekends in southwestern Montana, FWP officials met with 6,966 hunters. Hunters reported harvesting 406 elk, including 199 antlered animals. The majority of elk were reported at the Cameron/Ennis check station, where hunter success rates averaged around 9%.
Hunters also reported taking 168 mule deer and 48 white-tailed deer across the region.
The Alder check station saw the highest reported hunter success rate in the region. On closing weekend, 21% of the 208 hunters who passed by the check station reported successful hunts. Hunters also had a 19% harvest rate during the third weekend of the season.
Region 4
Data from Region 4, comprising the north-central part of the state, was not available by Friday afternoon. This piece will be updated.
Region 5
The final hunting weekend for south-central Montana had mild, sunny weather but depressed success rates for hunters. According to an FWP news release, three of the four check stations recorded some of the lowest harvest rates on record for closing weekend and the cumulative mule deer harvest was a record low at three stations.
A total of 4,400 hunters visited the region’s check stations throughout the season and reported 451 total harvested mule deer, 398 white-tailed deer, 271 elk and 54 antelope. The general antelope season closed Nov. 10.
Region 6
The Havre check station reported the lowest number of hunters seen since 2015, when antlerless mule deer licenses were not available or greatly reduced throughout the state. Just 1,657 hunters passed through the check station this year, down 18% from 2023 and 7% below the long-term average.
Harvest rates were also lower for most species throughout the season.
Hunters reported 150 antelope — the antelope season closed on Nov. 10 — down 15% from 2023, but a whopping 39% below the long-term average. Mule deer harvest numbers were also down 31% from last year and 32% below the long-term averages. Mule deer doe harvest was down the most, at just 40% of average.
White-tailed deer numbers were also depressed, with just 118 harvested, 21% below last year.
The region also saw the lowest elk harvest number in two decades, with only 19 elk checked.
Region 7
A colder-than-normal closing weekend in southeast Montana brought down hunter traffic at game check stations in Hysham, Ashland and Glendive.
Final weekend tallies showed the Hysham station reported near average hunter numbers, but harvest success rates were about 26% below normal for closing weekend.
Glendive also saw less action than normal on closing weekend, with just 21 hunters passing by the check station, down 30% from normal.
Comparatively, hunters passing through Ashland saw increased harvest rates with a reported seven elk, 11 mule deer and 15 white-tailed deer.
Muzzleloader heritage season offers upcoming hunting opportunities
While the general rifle season closed on Dec. 1, hunters will have some wintertime hunting opportunities, such as the upcoming muzzleloader season which runs from Dec. 14-22. . Find out more: fwp.mt.gov/hunt.
- During the muzzleloader heritage season, a person may take a deer or elk with any unused license or permit that is valid on the last day of the general hunting season (i.e., Dec. 1, 2024).
- Hunters can use plain lead projectiles and a muzzleloading rifle that is charged with loose black powder, loose pyrodex, or an equivalent loose black powder substitute and ignited by a flintlock, wheel lock, matchlock or percussion mechanism using a percussion or musket cap.
- The muzzleloading rifle must be a minimum of .45 caliber and may not have more than two barrels.
- During the Muzzleloader Heritage season, hunters may not use a muzzleloading rifle that requires insertion of a cap or primer into the open breech of the barrel (inline), is capable of being loaded from the breech, or is mounted with an optical magnification device.
- Use of pre-prepared paper or metallic cartridges, sabots, gas checks or other similar power and range-enhancing manufactured loads that enclose the projectile from the rifling or bore of the firearm is also prohibited.
- Many of Montana’s Wildlife Management Areas have seasonal closures from Dec. 2 through May 14. Before heading to the field, hunters should review the regulations for each hunting district they plan to hunt. A list of WMAs and seasonal closure dates are available online at https://fwp.mt.gov/conservation/wildlife-management-areas
Montana hunters can also thank landowners for access and share stories of their season through an online portal. FWP will collect these expressions of gratitude and share them with the specific landowners at the end of the season. Notes can be submitted online at www.surveymonkey.com/r/thank-a-landowner-2024.
Montana
Montana Supreme Court Decides International Child Custody Case – Transnational Litigation Blog
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act discourages forum shopping in child custody disputes by assigning subject-matter jurisdiction to the court located in the “home state” of the child. In Allen v. Allen, decided on April 21, 2026, the Montana Supreme Court had to determine whether the child’s “home state” was Montana or the Netherlands. This case shines an important spotlight on the importance of timing in international child custody disputes. The left-behind parent’s likelihood of success is strongly correlated with how quickly he or she acts to vindicate their legal rights.
Facts
Jonathan Edward Allen (Father) and Petronella Gerline (Van Oosterom) Allen (Mother) were married in Colorado in 2009. Father is a United States citizen. Mother is a dual citizen of the United States and the Netherlands. Their child (R.A.A.) was born in 2015. In 2020, the family moved from Colorado to Montana.
In August 2023, after Father and Mother began having marital difficulties, Mother and R.A.A. relocated to the Netherlands. In February 2024, Mother filed a petition for divorce and custody with the District Court of Central Netherlands (Netherlands District Court).
In January 2025, Father filed a petition with the District Court of The Hague seeking the return of R.A.A. pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This petition was denied. Although the court held that R.A.A. had been wrongfully removed from the United States, the court reasoned that the one-year automatic return period had passed and that R.A.A. had become settled in her new environment in the Netherlands. This decision was affirmed on appeal.
In September 2025, Father filed an Emergency Motion for Temporary Custody and Petition for Permanent Parenting Plan in Montana state court. That court dismissed the petition on the grounds that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. Specifically, it held that it lacked the power to adjudicate the dispute because Montana was no longer the “home state” of R.A.A. Father, acting pro se, appealed to the Montana Supreme Court.
Analysis
The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) assigns exclusive subject-matter jurisdiction to courts located in the child’s “home state” when it comes to matters relating to child custody. The “home state” is “the state in which a child lived with a parent or a person acting as parent for at least 6 consecutive months immediately before the commencement of a child custody proceeding.” The UCCJEA specifically provides that courts “shall treat a foreign country as if it were a state of the United States” for purposes of resolving these disputes.
On the facts presented in Allen v. Allen, the Montana Supreme Court correctly held that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to consider Father’s emergency motion. Mother and R.A.A. relocated to the Netherlands in August 2023. Six months later—in February 2024—R.A.A.’s home state shifted to the Netherlands. The Dutch courts—rather than the Montana courts—now had exclusive subject-matter jurisdiction to resolve custody disputes involving R.A.A. Father did not file his motion in Montana until September 2025, which was nineteen months too late.
Conclusion
If Father had filed his suit in Montana before February 2024, he could have shown that Montana was R.A.A.’s “home state” because the child had not yet resided in the Netherlands for six months. The suit was, however, not filed until September 2025.
If Father had filed suit in the Netherlands before August 2024, he could have argued that R.A.A. should be returned to the United States pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction because the child had not yet resided in the Netherlands for a year. The suit was, however, not filed until January 2025.
The key takeaway of Allen v. Allen is the need for speed in international child custody cases. The timelines baked into the relevant laws and treaties mandate that the left-behind parent move quickly to assert their rights. If they are slow off the mark, they be forced to litigate in foreign courts under less favorable legal rules.
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Clark Fork River has long been a defining feature of Missoula, shaping the city’s culture, economy and outdoor lifestyle.
The river is so closely tied to the area that it helped inspire the well-known book and film “A River Runs Through It.” But local conservation advocates say its importance goes far beyond scenery.
“Without the Clark Fork River, Missoula would just be another town,” said Lisa Ronald, Northern Rockies associate conservation director for American Rivers. “We wouldn’t be the River City. I think we’re known in Montana as Missoula the River City, and it’s really because of the Clark Fork River and its central role in business, in economics, in recreation, that really makes Missoula the town that it is.”
Carmen Murill, a field organizer with Wild Montana, said the river is deeply woven into daily life for people who live in Missoula.
“A lot of us would wonder what to do on a beautiful or a rainy summer day,” Murill said. “I mean, it’s really a lifeforce of town. And I think it’s pretty unique that Missoula, as a community is living and breathing on both sides of the river. It’s really like two downtowns but connected by the Clark Fork.”
Conservation groups say protecting the river begins with community involvement.
Advocates encourage residents and visitors to spend time outdoors, whether on a trail, in the woods or along the river, and to learn how they can become better stewards of the environment.
MISSOULA — Sam Forstag edged out Ryan Busse to secure the Democratic nomination in Montana’s 1st Congressional District.
Busse conceded the race to Forstag on Wednesday morning. Forstag had trailed behind Busse Tuesday evening, but he made up ground as the votes were counted into the early hours of Wednesday morning. The other two candidates in the race, Russl Cleveland and Matt Rains, are sitting at third and fourth, respectively.
Forstag leads in close race for Montana’s 1st Congressional District
Forstag spent eight years as a wildland firefighter, including four as a smokejumper, and he’s been vice president of the local National Federation of Federal Employees union. Last week, U.S. House of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, held a rally in Missoula to support Forstag’s campaign.
He told MTN on Tuesday that his campaign has been for the working class.
“We got a whole lot of people here that have been working their tail off to finally get some working-class representation in Washington,” Forstag noted. “So proud of everything we’ve done and so grateful.”
Forstag further noted he wants Montanans to be able to afford groceries, have universal free childcare and restore and expand Affordable Health Care Act subsidies.
“Hearing people’s stories and struggles and commonalities in the ways that we’re all fighting in the system that does not serve us so often, and the government serves corporations and the richest people in this country more than working people. It has been frustrating and saddening, but it has also inspired so much hope in me, like the fixes we can actually make,” he told MTN.
The 1st Congressional District covers much of western Montana, including Kalispell, Missoula, Butte and Bozeman. It is currently held by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, who chose not to seek reelection.
By securing the nomination, Forstag is slated tol face off against Libertarian candidate Nick Sheedy and Republican candidate Aaron Flint in November.
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