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Montana MSG Results

Clarq said:
View attachment 275760

Pretty stoked. I've got a lot to learn and I'm feeling a bit intimidated but I'm very much looking forward to the journey ahead!

I drew a ewe tag in Colorado in 2019 and was able to harvest on that trip. With the kind of $ I spent on that hunt I honestly felt a good amount of stress/pressure to get one. The hope this time is to keep it a little more fun.
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Congratulations I’ve been putting my dad in for 4 years for that tag with no luck yet
 
Big Fin said:
Interesting to read comments about the Big 3 in Montana. Many of the topics, changes, and variations were discussed that impact this "demand side" of the equation when the Montana point system was developed 25 years ago. I sat on that committee.

We had statisticians report to us how any of the variations would impact draw odds. The reality was, nothing was going to impact draw odds, merely slice the pie different ways, with each manner of slicing the pie creating a different set of winners and losers and leaving some with the idea that they had solved the "supply side" of the equation.

The proposals were many, most of which have been mentioned here. Do the Idaho thing where you only get to apply for one of the Big 3. Keep half the tags out of the point scheme was my biggest push and I think the vote was 14-1 against it, with the youngest person on the committee (me), being outvoted by the elders. We reviewed ideas of squaring bonus points, which the stats should was the biggest folly in trying reshuffle the deck. It was defeated by the committee as a useless idea, only to be passed by the legislature eight years later. Leave it to a legislature to do something that the numbers show is illogical.

We discussed Once-In-A-Lifetime as a solution. Statistically it was insignificant to draw odds. But, we all knew that for perceived equity it would go a long ways. That OIL proposal was defeated by a close vote. Just too many old gray hairs on the committee hoping for that 2nd, 3rd, or 4th Big 3 tag.

Over the course of the year that the committee met, one thing became more and more obvious and was something I think most of us knew before the committee. The statistical models made it pretty clear we were just rearranging the same furniture and not making any difference.

From that experience, it was pretty obvious to me, and not just for the Big 3 - the only real impact was going to be addressing the supply side of the equation as mentioned by @Randy11 . The demand side of the equation was never going to change, likely to increase as it always had. Manipulations and tricks to try cut the pie to the favor of one group over another was a mirage. To increase the odds in total, there needed to be more supply; in other words, we needed more animals in the hills.

As I look back over the last 25 years since that committee met, that axiom; "more animals in the hills" is more true today than it was back then. And it will be more true 25 years from now than it is today.

If hunters and legislators took one-fourth of the time they spend arguing about the "demand side" and scheming new gymnastics to benefit certain groups, and they spent that time on conservation, habitat, advocacy for native species, and working to fund the expensive efforts to increase numbers of the Big 3 ("make a bigger pie" as I call it), we would have way better draw odds for these species.

"Supply side" work is hard, it is expensive, it takes time, money, and commitment. Given that challenging reality of "supply side," the odds are that hunters and legislators will likely continue focusing on the "demand side" that rearranges the same furniture, albeit less furniture to rearrange.

Edit: One thing the committee did not consider, as nobody could have imagined such change, was removing the requirement to front the tag fees of the Big 3. Back then $75 per species was fronted. Whether one likes/dislikes that idea, it has been the biggest change to the "demand side" of this equation.
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Points are just a boomer special. I hate them. Sliding hunting opportunity up the age ladder is one of the greediest measures a generation has taken since wildlife was put on the road to recovery a hundred years ago.
 
Nothing for me! Swing for it again next year. Let’s hope my luck changes with multiple other state draw results coming out in the coming weeks.
 
Seems like the trick is if you can draw one tag you’ll get a second
 
cgasner1 said:
Seems like the trick is if you can draw one tag you’ll get a second
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We have the best deer hunting in the west. Lack of tag drawing teaches us how to lace the boots up tighter for the old warrior troll bucks. Congrats to all that drew tags. I’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of them. Just not this year.
 
JinNWMT said:
Can’t wait have a couple scouting trips planned, have a Bozeman guy going to do some glassing when the snow clears and have some buddies to help me out. This will be my first goat hunt so I about passed out when I saw the results.
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They are fun to hunt and live in great terrain.

I hope you connect and come back and share some photos and a story.
 
Mtnhunter1 said:
I've been busy with work but received this email today.
View attachment 276033
Then checked my FWP account, just to see if the email was legit.

View attachment 276032
A nice surprise and looking forward to crossing the river a few more times.
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That’ll be a fun tag. shouldn’t have to go too far from the highway there. Those things are usually way down low. Hence all the signs about don’t run over the sheep 😁
 
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