Montana ridiculousness- Pref point debacle

[BlakeA]

So i bought a point and applied for the big game combo last year and didn't draw, would i be safe to just purchase a point this year and not lose my points since i applied for a tag last year? Also if i read it correctly, a PP is good for any combo tag, just because i tried to use it for the big game combo last year, doesn't mean i cant apply for just deer or elk this year?

Yes and yes.

 

[Cheesehead]

Left to right: Montana, me, Wyoming

 

[kwyeewyk]

So i bought a point and applied for the big game combo last year and didn't draw, would i be safe to just purchase a point this year and not lose my points since i applied for a tag last year?

I read it as no:

"Any accumulated preference points are lost if the applicant does not apply for a nonresident combination license in consecutive years,"

If you have points and don't apply each year you lose them is what I'm reading.

 

[BlakeA]

If you have points and don't apply each year you lose them is what I'm reading.

I believe you cannot do points only in consecutive years...if you apply one year you can do points only the next but then have to apply the following year after that....

 

[kwyeewyk]

I believe you cannot do points only in consecutive years...if you apply one year you can do points only the next but then have to apply the following year after that....

I don't know, that doesn't sound like applying for in consecutive years to me, pretty sure you'd lose points with this approach.

 

[Kramer588]

I read it as no:

"Any accumulated preference points are lost if the applicant does not apply for a nonresident combination license in consecutive years,"

If you have points and don't apply each year you lose them is what I'm reading.

So by this line of thinking, they wouldn't even need a timeframe to purchase preference points only and not apply. This would mean that year one if you only purchased a point and didn't apply, you'd just lose that point and be back to zero next year, basically meaning you have to apply every single year to acquire a point

 

[kwyeewyk]

So by this line of thinking, they wouldn't even need a timeframe to purchase preference points only and not apply. This would mean that year one if you only purchased a point and didn't apply, you'd just lose that point and be back to zero next year, basically meaning you have to apply every single year to acquire a point

Yes, the one catch being if you skip a year of applying you can still buy a point after July and then another point at time of application to apply with two points the first time you apply, but if you buy in July and don't apply following spring point is lost.

 

[WIbiggame]

. This would mean that year one if you only purchased a point and didn't apply, you'd just lose that point and be back to zero next year,

No you can buy just a point in the summer of year 1 but HAVE to apply in year 2 or you lose the point you bought. The only time you can buy just a point without applying is after the draw has happened if you didn't apply in the draw.

 

[shumhow]

If you apply with 0 pts and don't buy the pref pt, and you do not draw, are you awarded a pref point for not drawing that year? I could not find anything in regs that mentioned this scenario. Thanks.

 

[kwyeewyk]

If you apply with 0 pts and don't buy the pref pt, and you do not draw, are you awarded a pref point for not drawing that year? I could not find anything in regs that mentioned this scenario. Thanks.

Not with preference points, that's how the bonus points work if you elect to buy in.

 

[shumhow]

Not with preference points, that's how the bonus points work if you elect to buy in.

Ha, I messed up then, I have a few bonus points I have bought/earned previously, but applying this year I didn't select yes on the bonus question because I didn't think I had a chance for LE yet and didn't realize that is where you gain addtl bonus points if not drawn for LE. I applied for the elk/deer combo general tag, so now I can't buy a bonus pt for those species this summer from what I understand. I was racing thru it this year and missed that part, oh well.

I asked the question on the pref pts because my brother didn't believe me on that, and I wasn't 100% sure. Thanks for the reply!