Mountain Lion Monitoring Houndsman

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is soliciting bids from houndsmen to assist in treeing and darting mountain lions during the winter 2026/2027 season in the Northwest Lion Ecoregion near St. Regis, Montana, with bids due August 18, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. MDT.

Mandatory minimum qualifications include a minimum of five years of experience handling hounds to locate, chase, and tree mountain lions, with a documented career minimum of ten lions treed during winter snow conditions. Bidders must provide detailed documentation of experience, identify available hounds and transportation equipment, confirm availability up to four days per week, and demonstrate ability to collect and submit accurate GPS track logs daily. Optional but desired qualifications include prior experience on mountain lion research projects and a minimum of five lions treed during snow-free summer conditions.

The scope is daily houndsmen services covering labor, hounds, equipment, supplies, materials, supervision, transportation, and incidentals. Bidders submit a per-day cost. FWP will award multiple houndsmen under a multi-award structure. Payment terms are Net 30.

The solicitation was released July 31, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. MDT. Sealed bids remain sealed until the close date. Contact Mary Ellam at Mary.Ellam@mt.gov or +1 406-495-3244.