Blackfeet Off-reservation Yellowstone Bison Hunt regulations for the 2023-24 Season

1. Cost of tags: Tribal Members can purchase up to five (5) tags of each species (bison & Elk). Each individual tag costs $20.
2. Blackfeet game wardens will be present during the peak of the bison migration (normally February 1st through March 31) depending on weather and migration numbers.
3. The West Yellowstone season will begin on September 2nd, 2023 is extended from April 1^st to May 30^th, 2024 for bison bulls only.
4. Beatty gulch regulations: No special regulations; individual hunters will determine when they hunt this area, but should attend early morning meetings held in Beatty Gulch prior to the hunt.
5. The Blackfeet Fish and Wildlife Department is authorized to sell bison tags to any enrolled Blackfeet over 18 years of age.
6. Bison hunters must read and sign the orientation materials and agree to abide by Blackfeet off-reservation hunting regulations.
7. No cap on the number of Blackfeet Tribal hunters.
8. Tribal hunters must use a rifle with 150 gr. Bullet or larger when hunting bison.
9. For human health and environmental contamination reasons, tribal hunters are encouraged to use copper bullets.
10. Helpers are allowed. Tribal members are encouraged to have 4 to 5 helpers. These helpers can be tribal members, non-members, or descendants. However, only the tribal hunters are eligible to carry weapons and harvest bison and big game.
11. Since bison migration outside of YNP is unpredictable, off-reservation tribal hunters are allowed to harvest elk and deer.
12. All Blackfeet off-reservation bison hunters must report their harvest within 48 hours of their kill or their decision to discontinue hunting if unsuccessful. Any hunter who fails to contact the BFWD will be ineligible for bison hunting the next season.
13. Blackfeet bison hunters must comply with all National Forest Service and National Park Service regulations while bison and big game hunting in the Gardiner/West Yellowstone areas.
14. Blackfeet tribal hunters should be familiar with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) and comply with carcass disposal regulations. The BFWD can provide sampling kits to tribal hunters who are interested in removing their elk or deer lymph nodes for sampling. Please review the lymph node removal training video to learn how to properly find and remove lymph nodes for sampling purposes. Tribal hunters can also provide the head and neck of harvested elk or deer to the Blackfeet Fish and Wildlife Department for CWD sampling. Any deer or elk harvested should be sampled and the carcass properly disposed of in a landfill or solid waste container or left in the field, if boned out. It is recommended that tribal hunters not consume any deer or elk meat until notified that their harvested animal tested negative for CWD.