Montana guys… Any issues with e-tags last year?

[Rifleman86]

About to check out for my application this year and figured I’d ask this here first given the dumpster fire that is FWP.

I figure I have a lot higher likelihood that I lose/forget my tags rather than my phone, and given that I put it on airplane mode battery never seems to be an issue, e-tags seem to be the way to go. That is if they work as intended.

So guys who hunted MT last year, did you use e-tags? Have any issues?

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

I used it without issue. Just make sure to pre download the tags while in service, then you are good to go.

 

[303TrophyHusband]

no issues

 

[MTHunter1321]

No issues here. Download the tags on your phone and you can validate anywhere. Just don’t mess around with them and accidentally validate them.

 

[goodgrouper]

Worked great for me, no issues.

 

[jtevanMT]

Worked great with no issues.

 

[mmw194287]

Worked great, no issues.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ILoveBusch]

Worked well for spring turkey, will use a paper tag for anything else.

Anyone else concerned with the use of your GPS location being used to validate a tag for a big game animal? Could be helpful info to the biologists, but also free up a lot of info to the interweb after a few years of data... I believe the Mt FWP app won't work if you don't allow GPS access.

Just a thought, paper tags don't remember/share the exact location

 

[stank.243]

Worked well for spring turkey, will use a paper tag for anything else.

Anyone else concerned with the use of your GPS location being used to validate a tag for a big game animal? Could be helpful info to the biologists, but also free up a lot of info to the interweb after a few years of data... I believe the Mt FWP app won't work if you don't allow GPS access.

Just a thought, paper tags don't remember/share the exact location

I believe I read last year that it will only give FWP data on which HD you were in. I tried finding where I read that, but no luck. On their webpage for the app they say no GPS location data is shared per MT law.

 

[bsnedeker]

Worked well for spring turkey, will use a paper tag for anything else.

Anyone else concerned with the use of your GPS location being used to validate a tag for a big game animal? Could be helpful info to the biologists, but also free up a lot of info to the interweb after a few years of data... I believe the Mt FWP app won't work if you don't allow GPS access.

Just a thought, paper tags don't remember/share the exact location

I shut off GPS on my phone before opening the app AND I also denied the application access to my location information in my settings. I absolutely do not trust FWP with any kind of GPS data. But yeah, I still used the app last year and it worked pretty great. I was about 50-50 paper tags vs. e-tags just to be safe. This year I'm going all etags.

 

[BuckRut]

Worked for me with no issues. Even had to present tag to a warden to check in my sheep and that went smoothly as well.

 

[Team4LongGun]

No issues. If your paranoid, screen shot your tag as a back up. I did for my lion, but it wasn't necessary, the etag was great-click a button done.

 

[Rifleman86]

Thanks guys went the e-tag route. I do hope it helps FWP with management, as I’m sure they will get more accurate harvest numbers.

 

[logflame]

Make sure you can log into the app before going out of service. I had a couple issues with the app requiring me to login when out of service and that obviously is an issue. To be safe I took screen shots of my licenses and tags.

 

[hobbes]

Overall, no issues and I'll continue using it.

The app crashed on me at some point last spring the morning of a hunt and wouldn't open. I emailed FWP early before anyone was around and went ahead and hunted. They emailed me mid morning and said it had happened a few times with Android phones and to delete and reload they thought they had it fixed. I did that and everything worked afterwards.

I also ended up logged out of my account/the app somehow during a hunt and couldn't recall my login info so may have been ticketed since I didn't have access to my email to reset or retrieve login info and couldn't get logged in.

It's still my preference over paper tags. It looks like it sends gps data when I check animals in. You would assume that all my turkeys would be recorded as part of their data for harvest numbers, but I just recently got the harvest data phone call about 2022 spring turkeys.

 

[western406]

Call me old fashioned but I still prefer the paper tags. I just print them off myself on the write in the rain paper. If I misplace them it’s easy to go to any vendor and get them re printed. I’ve had guys lose their phones, break them or have them die. I use the app while out upland hunting with no issues.

 

[Elk97]

Yeah, I'm old fashioned too. Print em, laminate em, stick em in the pack with my kill stuff. Lots of things could go wrong with my phone while hunting (and has).

 

[grainhog]

Be aware that the app obviously records the date  and time that you validate. So, if you kill at last light and forget to validate until you're packed out or home the next morning, your submission will reflect this. Doubt it would ever matter so long as you'd otherwise harvested legally?

 

[MTPipeliner]

I’m also in the old fashion category, I never seems to have trouble losing my tags, but my wife loses hers on a regular basis so the phone app might be just the ticket for her but didn’t trust it last year since it was new

 

[Axlrod]

Had a friend get the etags for himself, and kids. He had all kinds of trouble accessing his own. No prob with the others.

I'm on day 3 of setting up a new router for my internet. Old computer couldn't see it, but could see every router in my neighborhood. Bought a new computer, it can't see my wireless printer, that the old comp. could. They can have my paper tags the day after I head to the Marble Orchard.