Montana general tag allotments

[sasquatch]

Can someone put into simple words how the NR tag quota is broken down.

There’s 17k big game combination tags and 17k elk tags, surely they not giving out 34k elk tags.

How do they split the elk vs combination tags? As they are awarding tags to people through the drawing do they just count them together?

Example would be person #1 who drew wanted a combination tag, and the second person in line wanted just an elk tag. That means two of the 17k tags are now spoken for?

Then on top of that the general deer tags still get their own 4600 tags? So in theory you could have 21600 NR deer hunters but no more than a max of 17k elk hunters?

I hope this question makes sense lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[hiker270]

Good question. Montana's drawing process is a total nightmare. Last year they said they had some computer problem and notified over 1200 hunters they drew an elk tag. A week or so later they notified the hunters their tags were no good because of the so called computer problem. This happened to a friend of mine. I find their website the hardest to use of all the states I apply for tags.

 

[InkedElkSlayer]

This article and a few others like it came out this past spring. Some people agreed, others thought they were stirring up resident vs. non-res. Worth reading though.

https://mtstandard.com/opinion/colu...cle_1071ff0c-3124-56c0-84ad-63f607c271e7.html

“Can someone put into simple words how the NR tag quota is broken down” you ask. Answer is, NO. MT FWP sure can’t either.

 

[Indian Summer]

All licenses (except cow tags) are “combo” tags. Elk combo is elk only. Big game combo is elk and deer. The word combination is used because the license includes fishing, small game, and upland birds.

 

[ez_willie]

Look at the data over the past few years between elk only and elk combo. The quotas must be determined after everyone applies in order to get nearly the same % successful at 1-2-3 pts split between the elk only/combo.

 

[sasquatch]

All licenses (except cow tags) are “combo” tags. Elk combo is elk only. Big game combo is elk and deer. The word combination is used because the license includes fishing, small game, and upland birds.

I understand that part

I’m trying to figure out how elk combo has 17k tags AND big game combo also says 17k tags


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Erict]

The quotas for non-residents of Big Game BG combo (17000 ELK, up to 17000 DEER), Landowner Sponsored Deer Combo (2000 DEER) and DEER Combo (4600 DEER) are established in MT Codes. The majority of NR get their elk and deer licenses from these quotas.

Imagine a bucket filled with 17000 ELK licenses and another bucket with 17000 DEER licenses.
The ELK draw is held. FWP has prioritized lists of BG Combo (ELK+DEER) and Elk Combo (ELK only) applicants. "Bob" is highest on the list and has a BG application - they go to the buckets and pull out a ELK and a DEER license, "Larry" is second and has a EC - they pull out an ELK license. There are now 16998 ELK licenses and 16999 DEER licenses left in the buckets. They continue until the ELK bucket is empty. Say 13000 BC applicants drew and 4000 EC (Elk only) drew, that means 17000 Elk licenses issued. However, the DEER bucket should have 4000 licenses remaining. Keep reading.

Imagine a bucket filled with 2000 DEER licenses.
The Landowner Sponsored Deer Combo draw is held. Up to 2000 deer only licenses issued. If they only issue 1000, there are 1000 deer licenses remaining. Keep reading.

Imagine a bucket filled with 4600 DEER licenses.
But wait! There were 4000 DEER licenses not issued during the "Elk draw" and 1000 not issued during the "Landowner Deer" draw. They dump those into this bucket which now has 9600 DEER only licenses available.
The DEER Combo draw is held.

If you are a visual person, a historical breakdown of quotas vs applications can be found HERE.

Good luck!

 

[hiker270]

According to (Book your Hunt)​

Montana issues 17,000 General Big Game Combo (deer and elk), 17,000 General Elk Combo, and 4,600 General Deer Combo licenses for non-residents, that are available through limited draw. The applications are accepted from March 1, and the deadlines are April 1 for deer and elk, May 1 for moose, bison, bighorn sheep and mountain goat, and June 10 for pronghorn, and “type B” deer and elk tags. Hunters who weren’t successful in the draw receive a preference point, and those who do not participate in the draw can purchase a preference point as well. This is a good idea to do if you plan to hunt in Montana in the future; while preference points do not guarantee drawing a tag, draw statistics suggest that with two bonus points the chances of winning are approximating 100%.​

 

[Erict]

According to (Book your Hunt)

... Hunters who weren’t successful in the draw receive a preference point, ... while preference points do not guarantee drawing a tag, draw statistics suggest that with two bonus points the chances of winning are approximating 100%.​

Bad info from "Book your Hunt". There is no freebie preference point in MT and they apparently don't understand the difference between PP and Bonus points.

 

[Wapiti406]

Between the 17k nonresident tags, nonresident youth combo, come home to hunt, native nonresident, nonresident students, and 454 tags I would guess there are more than 34k nonresident elk tags being issued.