Good Time To Apply For Apprentice Program

HELENA – If your youth is planning to apply as an apprentice hunter, it’s a good idea to apply now. The apprentice hunter law allows people ages 10 and older to hunt as apprentices with an adult mentor for two seasons without completing a Hunter Education course. The program is also for adults wanting to learn to hunt.

Hopeful hunters are encouraged to visit the website at fwp.mt.gov/hunt/education/ apprentice-hunter and read the apprentice hunter packet before seeking certification. Packets are also available at regional offices. There are guidelines for both the apprentice and the required mentor, including what apprentices can and cannot do, who can act as a mentor and how the certification process works.

Some key details to note: Certification can be done at FWP regional offices or online via the Online Licenses Service ols.fwp.mt.gov/. A person must be certified before purchasing appropriate licenses, which will then show apprentice status If the mentor is not related to an apprentice who is under the age of 18, a legal guardian’s signature also will be needed on the Mentor form, and the parent must provide his or her driver’s license A youth need not accompany the adult to certify as an apprentice, but he or she must understand the guidelines.

An Apprentice MUST:

• Be at least 10 years old at the time of license purchase

• Pay a $5 certificate fee; the apprentice license must be purchased separately from the adult’s license

• Hunt with a mentor who is at least 21 and who has a current hunting license

• Have the appropriate current Montana hunting licenses for the species being hunted; the licenses must show that he/she is apprentice hunter certified

• Stay within sight of the non-hunting mentor at all times