I fully agree with you and Randy that more animals = more hunting opportunities. That's on game and fish though. They set objectives, and give out tags based on that. Are they giving out too many tags in general? Probably. But in 2021, only 12% of elk hunters in MT were non-residents. That's a fairly small percentage. Also, it looks like resident hunter numbers have been declining since 2015 in the latest info I could find.
A lot of other things come in to play with population objectives. I'm less interested in that topic at the moment, and am more interested in why non residents given such a small piece of the pie when they're the ones funding the bakery? Also, at what point is it too expensive for people? My guess is that right now it's becoming popular, and it will slowly drop back down as opportunities get harder and harder to come by. Until a point when states realize they've made a mistake.