{"id":3802,"date":"2026-03-23T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hunttalk.com\/strategy\/2026\/03\/23\/navigating-the-western-application-season-episode-161\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T18:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T18:30:00","slug":"navigating-the-western-application-season-episode-161","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hunttalk.com\/strategy\/2026\/03\/23\/navigating-the-western-application-season-episode-161\/","title":{"rendered":"Navigating the Western Application Season | Episode 161"},"content":{"rendered":"<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-3802-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/traffic.megaphone.fm\/ONYO6471859601.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/traffic.megaphone.fm\/ONYO6471859601.mp3\">https:\/\/traffic.megaphone.fm\/ONYO6471859601.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p>In this episode\u00a0 of the Elk Talk Podcast, Randy and Corey take a deep dive into the confusing, and often frustrating, world of western hunting applications.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This podcast looks at why hunting systems have become so complex, specifically how state legislatures (rather than biologists) often create &#8220;harebrained&#8221; rules like Montana\u2019s &#8220;one-point sandwich&#8221; and New Mexico\u2019s 0.75 rounding rule.<\/p><div id=\"huntt-1710499757\" class=\"huntt-mid-content huntt-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-top: 10px;margin-right: 10px;margin-bottom: 10px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669304083421411\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669304083421411\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"4452452530\" \ndata-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\ndata-ad-format=\"fluid\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>Other key highlights include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why applying as a party in New Mexico can actually hurt your odds.<\/li>\n<li>Explaining how you can be &#8220;unsuccessful&#8221; and &#8220;successful&#8221; at the same time in the Montana draw cycle.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>A candid look at how Montanan legislative &#8220;handouts&#8221; and carve-outs have pushed nonresident numbers far beyond the original 17,000 non-resident tag caps.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/megaphone.fm\/adchoices\">megaphone.fm\/adchoices<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this episode\u00a0 of the Elk Talk Podcast, Randy and Corey take a deep dive into the confusing, and often frustrating, world of western hunting applications.\u00a0 This podcast looks at why hunting systems have become so complex, specifically how state legislatures (rather than biologists) often create &#8220;harebrained&#8221; rules like Montana\u2019s &#8220;one-point sandwich&#8221; and New Mexico\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1384,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-elk-talk"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.2 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Navigating the Western Application Season | Episode 161 - Hunttalk Strategy Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hunttalk.com\/strategy\/2026\/03\/23\/navigating-the-western-application-season-episode-161\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Navigating the Western Application Season | Episode 161\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this episode\u00a0 of the Elk Talk Podcast, Randy and Corey take a deep dive into the confusing, and often frustrating, world of western hunting applications.\u00a0 This podcast looks at why hunting systems have become so complex, specifically how state legislatures (rather than biologists) often create &#8220;harebrained&#8221; rules like Montana\u2019s &#8220;one-point sandwich&#8221; and New Mexico\u2019s [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hunttalk.com\/strategy\/2026\/03\/23\/navigating-the-western-application-season-episode-161\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hunttalk Strategy Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-23T18:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"huntstrat_admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"huntstrat_admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hunttalk.com\\\/strategy\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/23\\\/navigating-the-western-application-season-episode-161\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hunttalk.com\\\/strategy\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/23\\\/navigating-the-western-application-season-episode-161\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"huntstrat_admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hunttalk.com\\\/strategy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bdf2d4e7c046bc09df1ce873c4fc7c7c\"},\"headline\":\"Navigating the Western Application Season | Episode 161\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-23T18:30:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hunttalk.com\\\/strategy\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/23\\\/navigating-the-western-application-season-episode-161\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":139,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hunttalk.com\\\/strategy\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hunttalk.com\\\/strategy\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/23\\\/navigating-the-western-application-season-episode-161\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hunttalk.com\\\/strategy\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/Elk-Talk-Podcast-masthead.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Elk Talk\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hunttalk.com\\\/strategy\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/23\\\/navigating-the-western-application-season-episode-161\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.hunttalk.com\\\/strategy\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/23\\\/navigating-the-western-application-season-episode-161\\\/\",\"name\":\"Navigating the Western Application Season | Episode 161 - 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