A licensee is a person who enters property by 

 permission only, with no economic inducement by either 

 party. The duty to a licensee is generally stated as 

 the duty to refrain from acts of willful and wanton 

 negligence. Maxwell v. Maxwell , 140 M 59, 367 P. 2d 308 

 (1961) . A landowner who merely gives permission to 

 hunt without charging a fee would normally owe hunters 

 the duty of a licensee. Montana and most other states 

 have enacted statutes limiting landowner liability in 

 connection with allowing hunting on private property. 

 Montana's statute is 70-16-302, MCA, which provides: 



70-16-302. Restriction on liability to 

 permittee . A landowner or tenant who 

 permits, by act or implication, any person to 

 enter upon any property in the possession or 

 under the control of such landowner or tenant 

 for any recreational purpose without 

 accepting a valuable consideration therefor 

 does not by granting such permission extend 

 any assurance that such property is safe for 

 any purpose or confer upon such a person the 

 status of invitee or licensee to whom any 

 duty of care is owed, and such landowner or 

 tenant shall not be liable to such person for 

 any injury to person or property resulting 

 from any act or omission of such landowner or 

 tenant unless such act or omission 

 constitutes willful or wanton misconduct. 



The federal district court has stated: 



The only purpose of the recreational use 

 statute is to encourage landowners to make 

 their lands freely available to the public by 

 limiting landowners' tort liability. Fisher 

 V. U.S. , 534 F.Supp. 514, 39 St. Rep. 518 

 (D.C. Mont. 1982) . 



