montana resident party tags

[sacountry]

Let me know if this question has been raised elsewhere. I can't find it with a cursory search on Hunttalk. This is specifically targeted at those Montana resident hunters as tag season approaches (or at least it does in my mind).....

If a guy has 15 deer points and he has another buddy with 5 points and another buddy with 3 points, does the guy with the most points reduce his chances of drawing a limited draw deer tag if the 3 of them enter as a party tag?

I've heard various opinions, like the state will only square the smallest member's points so in this case 9 points for the party versus the guy with 15 would get 225 points if he entered alone. Can't find any information on FWP and any information over the phone is pretty uncertain. Asking for a friend ;-)

 

[MTHunter1321]

The points for the party is an average of the points for the whole party. So in this case, 15+5+3=23, divided by 3 equals 7.667, and the state rounds to the nearest point so the party would have 8 bonus points. Then they do square that I believe. So yes, the guy with 15 points is decreasing his odds and the two other guys would increase theirs by putting in for a party.

 

[livingthedream]

See page 17 of the 2020 printed regulations, bullet 6 under Bonus point system.

 

[sacountry]

See page 17 of the 2020 printed regulations, bullet 6 under Bonus point system.

Thanks. That answers most of that. I guess I had looked over that bullet...assuming the average score is then squared like MTHunter hinted at.