Register online at fwp.mt.gov before midnight on April 19

In a continued effort to improve safety on opening day at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area (WMA), antler hunters wanting to enter by vehicle when the WMA opens at noon on May 15 should register for an entry number this week. Registration opened April 1 and closes at midnight on Saturday, April 19.

Entry is not limited, and the registration list will be randomized to assign numbers. Entry order will be emailed to registrants the week of April 28. To register and for more information, visit fwp.mt.gov and look for a link on the main page.

The WMA, located southeast of the town of Seeley Lake, is a popular destination that draws hundreds of shed hunters annually on opening day. Instead of staging vehicles along Hwy 83, which historically created congestion and safety concerns along the busy highway, all vehicle entry between noon and 2 p.m. on May 15 is now through the east entrance to the WMA, located off Woodworth Rd.

Those that miss the deadline and arrive on opening day without registering will line up at the east entrance behind all registered vehicles. Beginning at 2 p.m., the west entrance of the WMA will also open to vehicles with no registration required. Walk-in and horse access is available from designated parking areas on the west side of the WMA, off Hwy 83, beginning at noon, also with no registration required.

Last year, those entering the WMA on opening day followed a similar process. Prior to 2024, several hundred vehicles, as well as some campers and horse trailers, staged along Hwy 83, some for several weeks in advance, to access the WMA on opening day. This was a human safety issue for those parked along the highway and for traffic, and one that FWP, the Montana Highway Patrol, and Montana Department of Transportation sought to address with this new approach.