BILLINGS - State wildlife officials are planning to recommend that the hunting of bison that leave Yellowstone National Park continue, and will likely request that more permits be made available, a spokeswoman for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks said Monday.

The agency has been gathering comments, including from hunters who participated in last winter's hunt, as it writes a recommendation to put before the state Fish, Wildlife and Parks commission next month, Mel Frost said. Officials have not yet begun writing the proposal, and issues that still need to be addressed include the number of hunting permits and the time frames for using them, she said.

Officials have the option of allowing up to 225 total permits but face some constraints in terms of available lands on which to hold the hunt and the overall length of season, she said.

The state's first bison hunt in 15 years began last November. The three-month season was divided into two sessions, with hunters allowed to kill as many as 25 bison during each period. Forty bison were killed, and all 34 of the permits issued to the general public were used, Frost said. Other permits were awarded to the state's American Indian tribes.

Hunting was allowed near the park's northern and western boundaries, from which bison often wander, particularly in winter, in search of forage in Montana.

Previous hunts sparked protests and outrage in part because of how they were conducted, with wardens leading hunters to bison that often were shot at close range. That was not allowed this time around, in what state wildlife officials considered a fair chase hunt.

Protests this time around were largely unconfrontational. Members of the Buffalo Field Campaign were on hand during the hunt but mainly to document what occurred with cameras.

Comments from hunters who responded to a survey from Fish, Wildlife and Parks ranged from there being too many protesters who kept ''getting in the way,'' to a pat on the back, of sorts, to activists for not interfering in a hunt.

Twenty-four of the 30 hunters who participated in the survey rated as excellent their overall bison hunting experience; a number of hunters, in a written summary of their comments provided by Frost, also urged the agency to continue or expand the hunt.

All but one of the hunters responding to another question found the required training course helpful. The class provided instruction on a range of topics from dealing with protesters and news reporters to making a clean kill and the history of bison in the region.

Craig Sharpe, executive director of the Montana Wildlife Federation, said the hunt probably couldn't have gone better; it was run as a fair-chase hunt, he said, with little agency involvement. He looks forward to seeing what the agency proposes.

Stephany Seay, a spokeswoman for the Buffalo Field Campaign, said her group is not anti-hunting but does oppose hunting bison that leave Yellowstone until, among other things, the animals are given secure habitat in Montana.

If the hunt continues, Seay said her group wants it to be as ''fair and ethical as possible.'' Members of the group have recommended better educating hunters about shot placement to help ensure that bison don't needlessly suffer, she said.