The state has launched a new website to help hunters answer their "who, what, where, when and how" questions about hunting in Montana.

The website, which also helps Montana's librarians field requests from hunters, was a combined effort of the Montana State Library and Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks

The "Hunting Companion" site is at http://msl.mt.gov/hunting.

"Librarians around the state are reporting an increased need from their patrons for information on Montana's geography and natural resources," said Jennie Stapp, chief information officer and digital library director at the state library.

"That information is often found in multiple sources, including the websites from multiple state and federal agencies. By sifting through all of the information that is available from many different sources, we were able to locate the resources that every hunter needs for a safe and successful hunting season and make it available in one easy-to-access site," Stapp said.

She said the site is designed to provide answers to four questions that hunters ask: What can I hunt? When can I hunt? Where can I hunt? How do I hunt?

FWP is pleased to help "provide another access point to information about hunting in Montana," said Thomas Baumeister, FWP's education manager.

The site has an easy-to-use design and provides information from resources ranging from FWP, the state library and the Montana Base Map Service Center.

The Hunting Companion is the first website to go live as part of a large Montana State library project to condense all of the state's geographic and natural resources information and make it available in easy-to-access subject guides -- hunting, fishing, mining, water resources, and farming and ranching.

"As librarians, our goal is to help people find what they need so they can move forward with their lives, whether that's planning a successful hunt or finding the next birding location for a weekend outing," said Stapp. "These subject guides will prove to be tremendously helpful to Montanans looking for a wide range of information about Montana's geography and natural resources."

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