HELENA - The 2009 Montana Legislature passed a number of hunting bills.

- House Bill 221 allows qualified children who will be 12 years old before Jan. 16 to hunt for the entire, preceding fall season, even if they are only 11 during the fall. Twelve is the normal hunting age. The bill will not take effect until 2010.

- House Bill 383 provides free hunting licenses to youths with life-threatening illnesses. Previously, free licenses were available to youths with terminal illnesses.

- House Bill 585 creates up to 500 nonresident elk/deer combination and 500 nonresident deer combination licenses for use by adults who return to Montana and wish to hunt with resident relatives. The legislation awaiting the governor's signature would be in effect for four years, beginning in 2010.

- Senate Bill 185 creates a big game combination license for use by nonresidents attending Montana colleges, or by people who lived in Montana and left the state to attend college.

- House Bill 137 allows landowners enrolled in Block Management, a program that makes private land available for public hunting, to receive a free big-game combination license and ends the requirement that the value of the license be deducted from compensation the landowner gets for participating in Block Management. The free license also may go to the landowner's full-time employee.