87-3-126. Restrictions on use of aircraft or boats -- exception -- authority to issue permits and adopt rules. - Montana Statutes

     87-3-126. Restrictions on use of aircraft or boats -- exception -- authority to issue permits and adopt rules. (1) (a) A game bird or game or fur-bearing animal may not be killed, taken, or shot at from any aircraft, including helicopters.
     (b) An aircraft or helicopter may not be used for the purpose of concentrating, pursuing, driving, rallying, or stirring up any game or migratory birds or game or fur-bearing animals.
     (c) A powerboat, sailboat, or any boat under sail or any floating device towed by a powerboat, sailboat, or any boat under sail may not be used for the purpose of killing, capturing, taking, pursuing, concentrating, driving, or stirring up any upland game birds or game or fur-bearing animals.
     (2) It is unlawful for any person airborne in any aircraft, including a helicopter, to spot or locate any game or fur-bearing animals and communicate the location of the game or fur-bearing animals to any person on the ground by means of any air-to-ground communication signal or other device as an aid to hunting or pursuing wildlife.
     (3) Within the boundaries of a national forest, except as permitted by the department, it is unlawful to use aircraft, including helicopters, for hunting purposes, except when persons or cargo are loaded and unloaded at federal aviation agency approved airports, aircraft landing fields, or heliports that have been established on private property or that have been established by any federal, state, county, or municipal governmental body. Hunting purposes include the transportation of hunters or wildlife and hunting equipment and supplies. The provisions of this subsection do not apply:
     (a) during emergency situations;
     (b) when search and rescue operations are being conducted; or
     (c) for predator control as permitted by the department of livestock.
     (4) An aircraft or helicopter may be used for the purpose of herding, driving, or hazing wild animals damaging private property or crops on the property in question pursuant to a permit issued by the department. The commission shall adopt rules for the issuance of the permit. The permit may be conditioned to address individual circumstances of each application for a permit. The department may not issue permits during any legal hunting season for the species for which a permit was requested. The permitting program must comply with requirements of federal law for such activity.

     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. 5, 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(2); amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 211, L. 2005.