Opening day of Montana’s rifle season is supposed to be one of the best days of the year. Early alarm, cold air, the smell of coffee and gun oil — most of us live for it. But for at least one Montana game warden, a recent opening day turned into something a lot more tense than a chip shot on an elk. Within two hours of legal shooting light, he’d had a scoped rifle pointed directly at him. Twice.
This latest episode from the Wildlands channel follows Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks wardens in the field during the general rifle deer and elk opener — one of the busiest and most chaotic days of the entire enforcement calendar. FWP wardens across the state are stretched thin on opening weekend, covering everything from license checks on Forest Service roads to spotlighting complaints after dark. The last thing any of them should have to deal with is a hunter sweeping a loaded, scoped rifle across another human being. But here we are. What makes this episode worth watching isn’t just the shock value — it’s seeing how the warden keeps his composure and handles the situation professionally while making it crystal clear to the hunter exactly what he did wrong.
Montana law is unambiguous on this. Pointing a firearm at another person — even unintentionally, even with the safety on — can rise to the level of criminal endangerment under Montana Code Annotated 45-5-207. Beyond the legal exposure, it’s the kind of thing that gets hunters killed. Every Hunter Education course in the state hammers the four cardinal rules, and “never point a muzzle at anything you’re not willing to destroy” is rule number one. Using your rifle scope to glass for game — something old-timers used to do casually — is exactly the habit that puts wardens, other hunters, and bystanders in the crosshairs. Binoculars exist. Use them.
What’s sobering about this video is the timing. Two hours. Two separate incidents. Opening morning, when the hills are crawling with orange vests and adrenaline is running hot, is precisely when muzzle discipline matters most. Montana’s public lands — from the Beaverhead-Deerlodge to the breaks country along the Missouri — see enormous hunting pressure on opener, and crowded terrain magnifies every lapse in judgment. If you’ve got kids coming into hunting age, or you know someone who’s been a little sloppy with muzzle control in camp, sit them down and watch this one together. It’s a harder conversation to have after someone gets hurt.
Editor’s note: Corrected the statute citation for criminal endangerment from MCA 45-5-208 to the correct 45-5-207.
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