Montana Preference Points?
Elk
Good day.
It has been my understanding Montana offers preference points for combination licenses and bonus points for limited entry permits. Preference points intended to make sure combination licenses are awarded to highest point holders. Bonus points provide better odds to draw a limit entry permit. The snapshot below is straight out of the regulations...and seems to support the definition of preference points.
Found this non-resident combination license draw odds report on the Montana F&G website. Appears alot of tags were awarded to those with zero preference points, while many single point holders struck out. What am I missing here?
A % of NR tags go to zero PP holders.
Thanks Scrappy. I assumed there must be a random draw allocation, but didn't see it listed on the Montana website (likely just not looking in the right place). After reading your post, I did find a random draw allocation of 25% per combination license type mentioned on gohunt. Makes more sense now...although nearly 32% of the elk combination tags went to zero point holders last year. Maybe the difference there was returned licenses (failure to draw the LE permit) that wound up in the random draw...
Pav......did you see the antelope draw odds??
I know I didnt get one last year. I refused to pay the additional 50$ for a point up until last year when I didnt draw.
Am I reading this wrong? 0 points =70.94 success and 1 point = 34.71 success
Can I give my point back?
Sounds like a weird 'system', something a casino would be heavily fined for.
JL....here is a link to the antelope draw odds.
Thanks. It didn't open but I'll look for it.
Sorry, looks like you might have to be logged in to MyFWP in order to reach that page.
Yup two years I had one point and thought great I'll get drawn nope but a bunch with 0 points did makes sense to me. If I didn't have access to some prime land in Montana I would never go back there to hunt !!
A few years back I had two lope points and no draw. I drew the next year. Then I put in with zero points and drew. I drew last year with one, plus two doe tags.
Too far for this old man to drive these days. I have relatives that live on an Indian reservation. They invited me many times to come out there and hunt. I am sorry I never took them up on it. They said I didn't need a license on the reservation? I have a friend that went and killed turkeys and pheasants. A cousin of mine sent me pictures of a mountain lion in his back yard. He is a cowboy and rides his horse every day getting cattle rounded up.
Shuteye, can you adopt me? PLEASE? :)
Yup first year I went to Montana I pulled in and the rancher and his sons were branding cattle wearing leather chaps and cowboy hats. They were riding horses. I thought I step back in time. It was pretty cool !
JL, in MT the antelope draw is a bonus point draw, not preference. Elk and Deer are preference on the combo tag except for the 25% set aside for 0 point holders.
And they cap the pref points at 3 if I am correct? You lose them after 3 if you don't apply for a tag.
Steve, as of this last drawing you have to apply every other year to draw or you lose your pref points.
BP's and PP's have the same goal...to give those who choose to get them a mathematical advantage in drawing. One can still draw in both with zero points if there are set asides or more tags than applicants. I've drawn in both types of draws with zero BP/PP's.
Outside of that....the MT FWP makes a lot of money peddling BP's and PP's to NR's.
Here are the stats for the 2021 and 2022 NR BG Combo if anyone is interested and hasn't seen them.
Also...I spoke to the FWP license folks today about a couple of things. They may update the NR BG Combo Alt List this week if you're on it. I also did some asking around about the FWP doing an NR Alt List for the the other tags....antelope, deer, etc. That way folks who do draw and can't make the hunt can return the tag for a refund and those who didn't draw can sign up on a NR Antelope or Deer Alt List and maybe get a tag that way. Right now, a NR who can't make the hunt eats the tag and no one gets to use that tag....ie...it goes to waste. (They do have a transfer program for certain folks in unique situations) I thought that may be a good idea for everyone.
