Montana, 2026-27 season year

Montana Bear Season 2026-27

Q: When does bear season open in Montana in 2026-27?

Fall: September 15, 2026 to November 29, 2026. Archery-only: September 5, 2026 to September 14, 2026. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks publishes these dates and the full zone tables on this page were read from its own page on September 19, 2026.

Q: Who publishes guidance on living with bears in Montana?

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, on its page titled Living in Bear Country, which is linked from the agency notice on this page. That page is the agency's own guidance for Montana residents on attractants, encounters and who to call, and its sentence on fall activity is quoted verbatim beside the link, read on September 19, 2026.

Q: Where are the rest of the Montana bear hunting rules?

At Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, whose regulations page is linked on this page. Those rules are legally binding, change annually and vary by zone and land ownership; the permit and tag system, zone maps, methods and reporting requirements are all published there. This page carries the season windows themselves, with the source page and read date attached.

During the fall, they eat more than usual to gain body fat to sustain them through their winter "hibernation," which is not a true hibernation, but rather a deep sleep from which they can awaken quickly. When food is abundant, they will eat up to 45 lbs. a day and put on 5 lbs. per day in preparation for winter.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

Fall: September 15, 2026 to November 29, 2026. People report black bears in Montana most in July, and 23 percent of all reports fall in September, October and November. Everything below is Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’s own words and dates, read on September 19, 2026, beside the record of what people reported.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 19, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.

September 15, 2026 to November 29, 2026

Fall

published

September 5, 2026 to September 14, 2026

Archery-only

published

Not published yet

Spring

not yet published

July

Busiest reported month

1,528 reports on record

Fall activity

When black bears are most active in Montana

The department says plainly that Montana is bear country and that black bears reside across most of the state, native omnivores ranging from the wet, forested northwest corner to the dry, rugged country in the southeast. Grizzly bears are the state animal and live mostly in western Montana, though the department reports them increasingly roaming into areas they had not occupied for decades; they remain protected in the lower 48 as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

The bars count research grade American black bear observations people uploaded to iNaturalist for Montana, by calendar month, across every year the platform holds. The busiest month in the record is July, and reports drop below 40 percent of that peak by October. The drop into winter reflects bears denning and fewer people outdoors in equal measure, which is why the agency’s sentences below, not the curve, carry the timing.

1,528 research grade American black bear observations have been uploaded to iNaturalist for Montana across every year the platform holds, and 23 percent of them fall in the three shaded fall months. The busiest month in the record is July, and reports drop below 40 percent of that peak by October. These are counts of what people reported, so they measure observers as well as bears; they are not a population, not a survey and not a statement about this autumn. See the records on iNaturalist.

Research grade black bear reports uploaded for Montana by year, 2016 to 2025: 36 in 2016 and 151 in 2025. Most of the climb is the platform itself growing, and every species on it shows the same shape, so this is a record of reporting rather than a population trend.

What Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks says

Fall feeding

During the fall, they eat more than usual to gain body fat to sustain them through their winter "hibernation," which is not a true hibernation, but rather a deep sleep from which they can awaken quickly. When food is abundant, they will eat up to 45 lbs. a day and put on 5 lbs. per day in preparation for winter.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Denning

Bears den in winter due to a seasonal shortage of food, low environmental temperatures, and snow cover on the ground. In Montana, bears typically den for 5 to 6 months during wintertime (approximately November-March). Bears begin emerging from their dens in springtime, typically March-April.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

When conflicts and sightings rise

Bears are curious, and food driven. Feeding bears puts people and bears at risk. Securing attractants will greatly reduce the chances of a conflict with a bear.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

A young black bear resting its chin on a bare dead branch in a green hardwood forest, ears forward, looking at the camera — A young black bear on a dead limb in the hardwoods. In the eastern forests the fall feeding season runs on acorns and beechnuts, which is why the agency sentences quoted on these pages talk about hard mast and mast years. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Black Bear (20083897724)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

Hunting dates

Montana bear seasons, 2026-27

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks dates American black bear and grizzly bear seasons under its own names, and each is below under that name with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them, the source page linked beside each table, and the date it was read.

Fall

published

Fall is OPEN now in the Statewide, in the hunting districts open to black bear, through November 29, 2026.

Montana fall, as published by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Statewide, in the hunting districts open to black bear	September 15, 2026	November 29, 2026	The department's own date convention for this season is September 15 to the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

Dates read from Species Guide: Black Bear, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, accessed 2026-09-19.

Montana runs one fall window and the department publishes it as a statewide date, which its 2026 regulations then repeat district by district. One hunting district is the exception: district 309's fall dates read September 2 to November 26, 2026 in the department's table. District level detail lives in those tables rather than here.

Archery-only

published

Archery-only has closed for the season year; the last segment ended September 14, 2026.

Montana archery-only, as published by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Statewide, in the hunting districts open to black bear	September 5, 2026	September 14, 2026	The department's date convention is the first Saturday of September to September 14.

Dates read from Species Guide: Black Bear, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, accessed 2026-09-19.

The archery window sits immediately ahead of the fall season and carries the same dates in every hunting district that lists one in the department's 2026 tables.

Spring

not yet published

Montana spring bear season: not yet published as of September 19, 2026

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks had not posted these dates when this page was last checked. Montana adopts bear seasons two years at a time, and the commission packet that set 2026 carried 2027 alongside it with a spring window of April 15 to June 15, 2027, the same convention as 2026. The department has not yet published its 2027 regulations, so nothing is carried here as a season date; the 2026 spring season ran April 15 to June 15 and has closed. They will appear first on the agency page linked below.

Watch for them at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks

The agency's own season sentence

From the high density bear populations of the maritime, wet, forested northwest corner of the state to the dry, rugged country in southeastern Montana, black bear hunters and enthusiasts enjoy a variety of season types and viewing opportunities.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read September 19, 2026. Read it at the source

Current Montana regulations

Permit and tag requirements, zone maps, permitted methods, tagging and reporting, and everything else a bear hunter is bound by for Montana are set by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks: current regulations

A black bear track pressed into wet grey mud, five rounded toes in an arc above a broad pad, with a second fainter print beside it — A black bear track in mud in Shenandoah National Park. Tracks, scat, turned over logs and claw marks on smooth beech bark are the sign most people meet in the fall woods, weeks before they meet the bear. Photo: M. Punches, NPS. “Black Bear Track in Mud (44654784885)”, ShenandoahNPS, Public domain

Bear season in other states

Montana deer seasonArchery, firearms, muzzleloader and youth deer windows for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Montana small game seasonPheasant, quail, grouse, rabbit and squirrel openers, read from the same agency.Montana foraging calendarThe acorns, beechnuts and berries the agency names as fall bear food are the same mast a forager follows.

An adult black bear standing on a broken limb high in a hardwood tree above two small cubs, all three looking down — A mother black bear and two cubs of the year in a hardwood tree. The denning sentences quoted on the state pages describe when family groups like this one go to ground, and it moves by weeks between a Gulf Coast winter and a northern one. Photo: Courtney Celley, USFWS. “Black Bear Family (20083894064)”, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region, Public domain

Montana bear season questions

When are black bears most active in Montana in the fall?

In the observation record for Montana, research grade black bear reports peak in July and 23 percent of all 1,528 reports fall in September, October and November. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks describes the fall feeding period in its own words, quoted on this page with a link to the page it came from. Reports count people as well as bears, so the shape of the curve is the useful part and the exact numbers are not.

When does bear season open in Montana in 2026-27?

Does Montana have a spring bear season in 2027?

Montana holds a spring bear season, and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks had not published the 2027 dates as of September 19, 2026. Montana adopts bear seasons two years at a time, and the commission packet that set 2026 carried 2027 alongside it with a spring window of April 15 to June 15, 2027, the same convention as 2026. The department has not yet published its 2027 regulations, so nothing is carried here as a season date; the 2026 spring season ran April 15 to June 15 and has closed. The dates will appear first on the agency page linked on this page.

When do black bears go into dens in Montana?

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks describes the denning timing for Montana in the sentence quoted on this page, read on September 19, 2026 from the page linked beside it. In the observation record, reports fall below 40 percent of the July peak by October and reach their low in February. That drop reflects bears denning and fewer people outdoors in equal measure, which is why the agency's sentence, not the curve, is the denning answer.

Are black bear sightings in Montana increasing?

The number of research grade black bear reports uploaded for Montana went from 36 in 2016 to 151 in 2025. Most of that rise is the platform itself growing, since every species on iNaturalist shows the same climb, so the year bars on this page are a record of reporting rather than a population trend. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks describes when sightings and conflicts rise in Montana in the sentence quoted on this page.

Who publishes guidance on living with bears in Montana?

Where are the rest of the Montana bear hunting rules?

A brown wooden Bear Country sign with a white bear pictogram and a red band, on two posts at the edge of a lodgepole pine campground in low sun — A Bear Country sign at Indian Creek Campground, Yellowstone. The land manager writes the rules on the board, and they change by campground and by season: food storage orders, closed drainages, and whether a soft sided tent is allowed at all. “Bear Country Sign for Indian Creek (14457698423)”, Yellowstone National Park from Yellowstone NP, USA, Public domain

A snow covered track running between pines bent low under heavy snow, with a strip of blue sky above — Midwinter at Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, Maine. This is denning season in the north; each agency's own sentence on when its bears enter and leave their dens is quoted on the state pages, and the month bars show the reports thinning to match. “Winter at Moosehorn (11714166893)”, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Northeast Region, Public domain

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with agency data read on September 19, 2026 and an iNaturalist record to September 19, 2026. Every sentence about bear behaviour is Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’s own, quoted exactly with a link to its page; every season window is republished from the agency page linked beside it, and windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. The month bars count what members of the public reported and are not a population. See also the national bear season guide.