Montana Closes Black Bear Management Unit 700 to Hunting All Black Bear With Hounds

April 20, 2026
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Montana's Fish & Wildlife Commission just dropped a curveball on bear hunters, slamming the door shut on hound hunting for black bears in Black Bear Management Unit 700 (BMU 700) starting one-half hour after sunset this Sunday, April 19, 2026. That's right—chasing bruins with a pack of hounds in this prime chunk of Big Sky Country is off-limits until hound training season kicks off the very next day, Monday, April 20. On the surface, it looks like a minor seasonal tweak to manage wildlife pressure, but dig deeper, and it's a stark reminder of how state agencies wield unchecked power over traditional hunting methods that have sustained rural communities for generations. This isn't just about bears or dogs; it's a microcosm of the creeping regulatory overreach that 2A advocates have been sounding alarms about for years. Hound hunting, a skill passed down through families and rooted in America's frontier heritage, relies on the same Second Amendment freedoms that protect our right to bear arms for self-defense and sustenance. When bureaucrats in Helena redraw maps on a whim—without public input details in this announcement—it erodes the hunter's autonomy, mirroring the incremental assaults on gun rights we see in urban legislatures. BMU 700, smack in grizzly territory where human-bear encounters are spiking (Montana reported over 100 conflicts last year alone), needs balanced management, not knee-jerk closures that push sportsmen toward overharvested alternatives or, worse, poaching. For the 2A community, this signals vigilance: if they can neuter hound hunts today, what's next—restrictions on bear guns tomorrow? The implications ripple outward. Pro-2A hunters should flood the Commission with comments before this sets precedent, rallying around groups like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation or Backcountry Hunters & Anglers to demand transparency. It's a call to arms (figuratively, for now) to protect our hunting heritage as an extension of self-reliance and constitutional carry in the wild. Stay sharp, patriots—because in Montana, the real predators might be wearing suits, not fur.

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Montana’s Fish & Wildlife Commission just dropped a curveball on bear hunters, slamming the door shut on hound hunting for black bears in Black Bear Management Unit 700 (BMU 700) starting one-half hour after sunset this Sunday, April 19, 2026. That’s right—chasing bruins with a pack of hounds in this prime chunk of Big Sky Country is off-limits until hound training season kicks off the very next day, Monday, April 20. On the surface, it looks like a minor seasonal tweak to manage wildlife pressure, but dig deeper, and it’s a stark reminder of how state agencies wield unchecked power over traditional hunting methods that have sustained rural communities for generations.

This isn’t just about bears or dogs; it’s a microcosm of the creeping regulatory overreach that 2A advocates have been sounding alarms about for years. Hound hunting, a skill passed down through families and rooted in America’s frontier heritage, relies on the same Second Amendment freedoms that protect our right to bear arms for self-defense and sustenance. When bureaucrats in Helena redraw maps on a whim—without public input details in this announcement—it erodes the hunter’s autonomy, mirroring the incremental assaults on gun rights we see in urban legislatures. BMU 700, smack in grizzly territory where human-bear encounters are spiking (Montana reported over 100 conflicts last year alone), needs balanced management, not knee-jerk closures that push sportsmen toward overharvested alternatives or, worse, poaching. For the 2A community, this signals vigilance: if they can neuter hound hunts today, what’s next—restrictions on bear guns tomorrow?

The implications ripple outward. Pro-2A hunters should flood the Commission with comments before this sets precedent, rallying around groups like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation or Backcountry Hunters & Anglers to demand transparency. It’s a call to arms (figuratively, for now) to protect our hunting heritage as an extension of self-reliance and constitutional carry in the wild. Stay sharp, patriots—because in Montana, the real predators might be wearing suits, not fur.

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