87-3-125. Restrictions on use of motor vehicles while hunting. - Montana Statutes

     87-3-125. Restrictions on use of motor vehicles while hunting. (1) Except as provided in 87-2-803(4)(a)(iii), a person, while hunting game animals or game birds, may not use a motor-driven vehicle other than on an established road or trail unless the person has reduced a big game animal to possession and cannot easily retrieve the big game animal. In that case a motor-driven vehicle may be used to retrieve the big game animal, except in areas where more restrictive regulations apply or where the landowner has not granted permission. After the retrieval, the motor-driven vehicle is to be returned to an established road or trail by the shortest possible route. For purposes of safety and allowing normal travel, a motor-driven vehicle may be parked on the roadside or directly adjacent to a road or trail.
     (2) A person, while hunting game animals or game birds, may not drive or attempt to drive, run or attempt to run, molest or attempt to molest, flush or attempt to flush, or harass or attempt to harass a game animal or game bird with the use or aid of any motor-driven vehicle.
     (3) A person, while hunting game animals or game birds, may not drive through any retired cropland, brush area, slough area, timber area, open prairie, or unharvested or harvested cropland, except upon an established road or trail, unless written permission has been given by the landowner and is in possession of the hunter.
     (4) A person may not use a self-propelled vehicle to intentionally concentrate, drive, rally, stir up, or harass wildlife, except predators of this state. This subsection does not apply to landowners and their authorized agents engaged in the immediate protection of that landowner's property.
     (5) The restrictions in subsections (1) through (3) on motor-driven vehicle use off an established road or trail apply only to hunting on state or private land, not to hunting on federal land unless the federal agency specifically requests or approves state enforcement.

     History: En. Sec. 14, Ch. 238, L. 1921; re-en. Sec. 3694, R.C.M. 1921; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 77, L. 1923; amd. Sec. 15, Ch. 192, L. 1925; amd. Sec. 12, Ch. 59, L. 1927; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 162, L. 1931; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 159, L. 1941; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 224, L. 1947; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 157, L. 1949; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 126, L. 1951; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 223, L. 1953; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 193, L. 1955; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 53, L. 1963; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 34, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 90, L. 1969; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 201, L. 1969; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 177, L. 1971; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 124, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 305, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 108, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 152, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 9, Ch. 9, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 196, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 235, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 400, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 13, Ch. 417, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 485, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 26-301(8), (9); amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 102, L. 2007.