87-2-803. Persons with disabilities. (1) Persons with disabilities are entitled to fish and to hunt game birds with only a conservation license if they are residents of Montana not residing in an institution and are certified as disabled as prescribed by departmental rule.
     (2) A resident of Montana who is certified as disabled by the department and who is not residing in an institution may purchase regular resident deer and elk licenses at one-half the fee paid by a resident who is 15 years of age or older and who is under 62 years of age.
     (3) A resident or nonresident person with a disability who is certified as disabled by the department and who is not residing in an institution may carry a permit on a form prescribed by the department. A person with a disability who is issued a permit under this subsection is entitled to have the department stamp the permit with "Permission to Hunt From a Vehicle" if the person establishes to the satisfaction of the department that the person is nonambulatory and has a permanent physical disability or that the person's mobility is substantially impaired.
     (4) A person with a disability carrying a permit as required in subsection (3), upon which is stamped "Permission to Hunt From a Vehicle", may hunt by shooting a firearm from the shoulder, berm, or barrow pit right-of-way of a public highway, as defined in 61-1-202, except a state or federal highway, or may hunt by shooting a firearm from within a self-propelled or drawn vehicle that is parked on a shoulder, berm, or barrow pit right-of-way in a manner that will not impede traffic or endanger motorists or that is parked in an area, not a public highway, where hunting is permitted. This subsection does not allow a person with a disability to shoot across the roadway of any public highway or to hunt on private property without permission of the landowner. A person with a disability who hunts as authorized in this subsection must have a companion to assist in immediately dressing any killed game animal. The companion may also assist the hunter with a disability by hunting a game animal that has been wounded by the hunter with a disability when the hunter with a disability is unable to pursue and kill the wounded game animal. Any vehicle from which a person with a disability is hunting must be conspicuously marked with an orange-colored international symbol of persons with disabilities on the front, rear, and each side of the vehicle.
     (5) A resident of Montana who is certified by the department as suffering from blindness, as defined in 53-7-301, may be issued a lifetime fishing license for the blind upon payment of a one-time fee of $10. The license is valid for the lifetime of the blind individual and allows the licensee to fish as authorized by department rule. An applicant for a license under this subsection need not obtain a wildlife conservation license as a prerequisite to licensure.

     History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 267, L. 1955; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 16, L. 1957; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 100, L. 1957; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 36, L. 1959; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 36, L. 1963; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 55, L. 1963; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 148, L. 1963; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 9, L. 1965; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 241, L. 1965; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 319, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 84, L. 1969; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 129, L. 1971; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 110, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 139, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 167, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 261, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 408, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 49, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 91, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 289, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 417, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 546, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 169, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 235, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 13, Ch. 417, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 26-202.1(16)(c); amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 169, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 416, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 41, L. 1989; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 49, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 24, Ch. 417, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 306, Ch. 42, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 78, Ch. 472, L. 1997.