Groups petition Montana FWP to require hunters to carry bear spray

A group of 19 organizations and numerous individuals have submitted a petition for rulemaking to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks seeking to add a requirement that hunters and trappers carry bear spray with them when in grizzly habitat.

The groups said in a press release that the proposed rule is about public safety, just like the requirement to wear hunter orange.

“It is just plain common sense to require carrying bear spray that is easily accessible while hunting in western Montana,” said Michele Dieterich with Friends of the Bitterroot. “It protects both bears and people and it teaches bears to be wary of human encounters. If Montana is serious about wildlife management, it must require carrying bear spray anywhere one might encounter a bear.”

Montana FWP publishes a “How to hunt safely in grizzly country,” informational flyer, and tells hunters to carry bear spray in grizzly country.

“Keep it within reach and be prepared to use it at a moment’s notice. In sudden grizzly encounters spray has proven to be a valuable deterrent tool,” the brochure states.

Hunting puts individuals at greater risk of encountering grizzlies, the brochure states, and game calls and cover scents can attract bears, as can gut piles, and baited and scented traps.

An article in FWP’s Montana Outdoors magazine cites studies done in Alaska on the efficacy of using bear spray that found that around 90% of the time, bear spray stopped undesirable behavior in black and brown bears. There are also no incidents of bear spray killing a grizzly, while using firearms increases that likelihood drastically.

According to the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, about 70% of all defense-of-life killings of grizzly bears occur while hunting.

Montana FWP maintains a grizzly mortality database, and from October 2024 to September 2025, 11 grizzlies were listed as killed in defense of life scenarios.

“When it comes to public safety, carrying bear spray is the least we should expect from citizens of a responsible society,” said Clint Nagel, president of the Gallatin Wildlife Association. “Grizzly bears and other wildlife should not suffer the consequences of our lack of due diligence. We’re invading their home. It is our obligation to negate unnecessary deaths, not theirs.”

An FWP spokesperson said the agency has received the petition last week, if reviewing it and will respond “in due course.”

According to Montana statute, an agency must respond to a petition within 60 days.