Points only?

[HuskyMusky]

sheep, goat, and moose you must front the money$$ and apply for the tag to get a point, most people who just want points for these species apply for the toughest unit, or the toughest/best unit, case they do draw they're not stuck with just a tough odds/bad unit. Which in the case of sheep some guys may be applying and not even wanting a tag that year making the odds even worse than they could be! Front fees even for a point might help draw odds.

It's not rocket science, so I'm not sure why so many states do awkward things.

as for points only, I think they're only talking about fixing it for elk/deer, etc... not for sheep, moose, goats, although a points only option would be nice, especially for the worst units/draw odds such as for moose, guys are applying for those units just to have bad odds and not draw, and guys who want to draw that unit are having to deal with even worse odds than what they truly should be.

I think to get a sheep point you have to apply for sheep.


I've been studying it and am in the same boat as the rest of you. I don't want a general tag, I'm not going to buy one and risk the long odds of the limited entry unit I want for elk.

I'll apply for sheep and goats and buy supertags and hope they shuffle their system again next year.

[Musket Man]

I think montana has the worst draw and license system of any western state and their general tag prices are much to high for what they have to offer. especially now considering th wolf situation. I wish they would divide it into regions and also split up the combo tags or not charge almost as much for a deer or elk only tag as for both. I also hear montana fpw is broke and looking to raise prices even more

[HuskyMusky]

I couldn't agree more!

I've just started looking over the regs etc... this season.

This general tag / special/limited tag system is terrible!
I want a special tag, not a general, the only way to draw the special tag is to 1st draw the general, then apply for the special, they combined this process this year, but still if you fail to draw the special they'll refund you the general tag at 80%?? so essentially I' pay $150 or more for a bonus point?

Separate the general and special tags! So we non-res can apply for 1 or the other, perhaps as a secondary allow non-res who fail to draw the special to get a general if they want, or make that a 2nd choice and if any tags are left over allow us to draw that general as a 2nd choice.

I have a feeling over the next few years MT will fix this, but this should be fixed this year, not 3 years from now!

If I draw my elk tag this year and I should I won't be back until this all gets fixed, whether that's 3 years or 20.

Many "easy fixes" if you ask me, and should be done sooner rather than later!

C'mon MT get your act together!

oh and allow sheep/goat/moose applicants to build points only vs having to apply, even if you require fronting full tag fees just to apply for points, which many currently do, ie applying for the worst unit/odds hoping not to draw that tag and gain points, which only hurts people who want to draw that unit. Odds would increase, another simple fix. This is what i do for moose, and I'm sure many others do the same for goats and sheep too.

I think montana has the worst draw and license system of any western state and their general tag prices are much to high for what they have to offer. especially now considering th wolf situation. I wish they would divide it into regions and also split up the combo tags or not charge almost as much for a deer or elk only tag as for both. I also hear montana fpw is broke and looking to raise prices even more

[HuskyMusky]

I think montana has the worst draw and license system of any western state and their general tag prices are much to high for what they have to offer. especially now considering th wolf situation. I wish they would divide it into regions and also split up the combo tags or not charge almost as much for a deer or elk only tag as for both. I also hear montana fpw is broke and looking to raise prices even more

They could definitely mimic NM(standard/high demand/quality) and reduce general tag prices, and make special elk/deer tags more, which are $555 and $780 btw, MT elk tag is $794, and their elk/deer big game combo is $944!

Right now a special elk permit costs $9 extra to apply and draw, imagine if a general tag was $500, and you had to pay an extra $294 to draw that special elk permit, better odds I'm sure would occur!

Again very simple/easy/quick fixes.

[HuskyMusky]

I've been reviewing some of the regs, looks like for 2012 they haven't announced if they'll have a points only period yet, but I would guess they will, for the big game combo... which btw had 100% draw last year so gaining a point for that combo is kind of pointless. The point I'd like to build is a bonus point for the special elk/deer permits, which I don't think they let you buy less you apply for, but who knows maybe this year they'll have this, but it's a guess for anyone at this point.

I wonder if you apply and turn your tag back in, do you get your points back? ie if you want a special elk permit but fail to draw that but draw the general, and turn it back in, will your points be re-instated? if not you basically just spent $190 to lose your points.

In my eyes the main points you want are the bonus points for special elk/deer tags, not pref points for the big game/elk combo.

[Bitterroot Bulls]

Husky,

You are right that pref points are what you want. I would guess everyone will get the combo this year as well. Pref Points are squared now, so they are especially valuable.

[HuskyMusky]

I wonder if I want the big game combo or just the elk combo? ie..do I want a deer tag? I doubt I would come back for the rifle deer season, so I'd either have to have a big mulie cross my path during the elk/bow season, or I'd have to take an elk early on and then chase mulies with the bow. Hmmm?