Montana Non-Resident Elk hunting Questions

[Roughwater]

Hi, I have never hunted Montana and I have several questions about Montana's Non-Resident, Elk/deer General season License.
1. A buddy invited me to hunt Montana with him this year for Elk. He tells me he plans to get a leftover tag cause they always have leftover tags he says. The very little bit of research I did indicated that in 2017, 17500 Non residents applied for a tag but only 17000 were offered so 500 didn't get their tag. So I'm thinking we need to get in the draw to be fairly sure to get a tag or are there other leftover tags that could be counted on even if the general tags are sold out? OK, that was one long question but I have a couple others.
2. If I enter the non-res draw for elk/deer and get a tag, it looks like it's good for Archery and Gun should a person have the time and don't score during archery. Is that correct?
3. Again, should one draw the nonres general season Elk/Deer tag is the tag unit specific or can one hunt any general season unit?
4. Honestly I'd be good with a cow Elk, so does Montana offer a cow tag without having to purchase a bull tag too?
5. I read something about a Special unit drawing as well. Does that also apply to nonresidents or does it require a lot of preference points?

 

[Schism]

Deadline has changed to April 1, 2020. Otherwise the info is accurate.

 

[Roughwater]

Thanks Schism, I think that answered all my questions, for now anyway.

 

[Deleted member 40315]

Sorry for any confusion but just to be clear; I must as a nonresident buy a general elk tag to be considered for a “limited” entry draw (limited entry is where preference points are awarded?). Basically, I’m trying to gain preference points in Montana for the future. Is this right or gaining preference points in Montana not possible? Thanks for any clarity.

 

[BMF11]

You must APPLY for a general elk tag to be considered for a limited entry draw tag. The application for the general elk tag uses preference points. The limited entry draw uses “bonus points”. 2 entirely separate and different point systems. It is possible to gain preference points, but I believe 2 is the max you can attain...not positive on that one. You can acrue As many bonus points as you wish at a rate of 1 per year. I believe you can buy the preference points and/or bonus points at 2 different time periods during a calender year, but only 1 per year. Wow, the more I type , the more confused I become! It was an attempt to help!

 

[Badger_55]

Sorry for any confusion but just to be clear; I must as a nonresident buy a general elk tag to be considered for a “limited” entry draw (limited entry is where preference points are awarded?). Basically, I’m trying to gain preference points in Montana for the future. Is this right or gaining preference points in Montana not possible? Thanks for any clarity.

Yes you need to apply for a general elk combo or big game combo to be put into a selected LE elk drawing. When you do this you will have option to pick a LE district that you want to get lucky on. This is where you can build bonus points while applying. You will also select the option to retain the general combo license if you dont draw your aspired LE tag or ask for a refund if you only wanted to hunt a LE district. Thats where some left over combo tags come back to be available to purchase. Now if you applied and didnt even draw the elk or big game combo this is where you would acquire a preference point. I like to think preference point for the license and bonus point for the specific species limited entry permit.

 

[8andcounting]

Yes you need to apply for a general elk combo or big game combo to be put into a selected LE elk drawing. When you do this you will have option to pick a LE district that you want to get lucky on. This is where you can build bonus points while applying. You will also select the option to retain the general combo license if you dont draw your aspired LE tag or ask for a refund if you only wanted to hunt a LE district. Thats where some left over combo tags come back to be available to purchase. Now if you applied and didnt even draw the elk or big game combo this is where you would acquire a preference point. I like to think preference point for the license and bonus point for the specific species limited entry permit.

You have to buy the pref point tho and bonus point also you don’t just get them if unsuccessful. $50 for pref point and that goes towards this years draw for the big game combo/elk combo , the bonus point for LE does not go towards this years app and is $20 . If you just want points and don’t want to apply , you can buy them in July

 

[Roughwater]

Sorry for any confusion but just to be clear; I must as a nonresident buy a general elk tag to be considered for a “limited” entry draw (limited entry is where preference points are awarded?). Basically, I’m trying to gain preference points in Montana for the future. Is this right or gaining preference points in Montana not possible? Thanks for any clarity.

In Montana you have preference points which help you get a General Tag and you have Bonus points which help you obtain a LE (Limited Entry) unit tag.
As you can see from my original questions that started this thread I'm new at understanding the Montana draw. That said, as I understand it, if you just want points to get into the LE units then it's mostly bonus points you want. From what I understand also you can buy them without getting a tag (please correct me if I'm wrong) at one per year. But when it comes time to actually applying your point/points you need to also purchase a Elk combo tag through the general season draw. At the same time you also put in for your LE draw unit. So it's good to have a preference point or 2 because you have to be selected in the General draw before your name goes into the LE hopper for the LE draw. In other words of you don't get selected in the general draw you don't hunt that year in Montana but you retain your points and get a 80% refund I believe. If you draw the general tag and not the LE tag you can either hunt the general season or get a 80% refund. I think you keep your bonus points though in that last scenario since you didn't get your first choice. Again as to bonus points they are for the LE draw and you can collect as many as years and money you want to put into it. The more you have the better your odds. Montana multiplies your bonus points times each other (squaring). If you have 3 bonus points they square those so you have 9 chances to win/draw. You could draw with one but as you can see your odds increase the more you have.

That all said and I don't know for sure I'm correct on this but it appears that generally sometime after the draw is said and done there are likely to be leftover general season Elk tags that were turned in that become available on a first come first served basis.

 

[8andcounting]

Your mostly correct . If you don’t draw the big game combo you get a full refund minus what you paid for bonus and pref points . Last year I was denied a big game combo with 1 pref point so this year I have 2 cuz I bought another when I applied a few weeks ago . So last year with 8 bonus points for LE elk I didn’t even get entered in the LE draw

 

[Hunt West]

Does Montana average the preference points when applying as a group? I know they average bonus points for the LE tags but I can’t find where it lays out averaging for preference points in the general tag draw?

 

[8andcounting]

Does Montana average the preference points when applying as a group? I know they average bonus points for the LE tags but I can’t find where it lays out averaging for preference points in the general tag draw?

I am not sure on this one ....

 

[Wildabeest]

And regarding your question on doe/cow, that’s specific to what unit you hunt. Many general entry units allow you to take a brow tined bull or a cow on the basic general tag. Others don’t. Then there’s also the “B” tag drawings that you can enter in the June/July timeframe to get specific cow elk or doe deer if not allowed on the general tag for the unit you are hunting.

 

[Schism]

Does Montana average the preference points when applying as a group? I know they average bonus points for the LE tags but I can’t find where it lays out averaging for preference points in the general tag draw?

From the MTFWP website under "Parties":

Up to 5 applicants may apply as a party. FWP shall use an average of the number of preference points accumulated by those applicants to determine the party's preference points. FWP shall consider any fraction that result from the calculation of an average when determining that priority.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks :: Nonresident Deer & Elk Combination Licenses

Nonresident Deer & Elk Combination Licenses

fwp.mt.gov

 

[Hunt West]

From the MTFWP website under "Parties":

Up to 5 applicants may apply as a party. FWP shall use an average of the number of preference points accumulated by those applicants to determine the party's preference points. FWP shall consider any fraction that result from the calculation of an average when determining that priority.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks :: Nonresident Deer & Elk Combination Licenses

Nonresident Deer & Elk Combination Licenses

fwp.mt.gov

Thanks, I was looking in the paper book and should’ve went online.