Planning to stalk some deer or chase waterfowl where three famous rivers collide? Things are looking a little different this fall if you’re heading out to Three Forks.
Because both regular parkgoers and hunters love this spot, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is rolling out a brand-new lottery system to keep everyone from tripping over each other. As park manager Alice Southworth put it, “Missouri Headwaters State Park provides a variety of recreation opportunities for thousands of visitors each year,” and officials are hoping “this new approach to managing hunting access in the park will help ensure visitor safety while maintaining the opportunities many people enjoy.”
Here is the lowdown on how to score a spot without getting sidelined:
- The Weekly Odds: Instead of a free-for-all, FWP is capping access at just six hunters per day.
- The Application Window: Every Wednesday from Aug. 26 through Jan. 6 (between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.), you’ll need to hop online and pick up to three potential hunting days for the following week.
- The Payoff: Win the draw, and you’ll get an email loaded with the rulebook, a map of off-limit safety zones, and a dashboard tag for your truck.
- Late-Season Play: If you’re out there after Jan. 15, ditch the website and grab a good old-fashioned paper permission slip from the visitor center.
Usual ground rules still apply: watch the weapon restrictions, respect the safety zones near park facilities, and mind the boundaries (upland bird hunting is restricted to a specific section, though deer and waterfowl hunters get a bit more elbow room).
Bottom line? “Beginning this season, hunting access at Missouri Headwaters State Park will be managed through a lottery reservation system,” so set a weekly alarm for Wednesday mornings if you want a shot at hunting the birthplace of the Missouri River this season.
(In case you can’t tell, the image is not real.)
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