Montana ‘Hunting Companion’ proves useful online resource for hunters

By Sara J. Groves

The Montana State Library and
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks have
partnered to provide easily accessible
information to help hunters have a safe
and successful hunting season.

The website is designed as a streamlined
access point for the basic information
hunters need to be successful. The
site was launched in response to librarians
reporting an increased need from
their patrons for assistance in finding
hunting information online.

“The site launched in time for the 2010
hunting season and quickly became one
of our most popular resources,” said
Jennie Stapp, information officer and
digital library director at the Montana
State Library.

The “Hunting Companion” is designed
to provide answers to four common
questions:

• What can I hunt?
• When can I hunt?
• Where can I hunt?
• How do I hunt?
The site has an easy-to-use interface and
simplistic design, and provides information
from resources ranging from
FWP, the Montana Base Map Service
Center, and the library.

New features for 2011 include harvest
and hunting reports, updated land
ownership maps, and a video overview
of the site.
It was the first web site to go live as
part of a large project by the library
that will condense all of Montana’s
most important geographic and natural
resources information and make it available
in easy-to-access subject guides,
such as hunting, fishing, mining, water
resources, and farming and ranching.

Information on broad subjects is often
found in multiple sources, including
the web sites from state and federal
agencies.

“As librarians, our goal is to help people
find the information they need easily
and quickly,” said Stapp.
The “Hunting Companion” can be
found at msl.mt.gov/hunting.

Sara J. Groves is the Marketing and
Communications Coordinator for the
Montana State Library.