Is buying bonus and preference points for Montana worth it for someone who is new like myself?

[WVgoodguy22]

I am the King procrastinator (one of my biggest faults). Anyway I am thinking about buying either preference or/bonus points in Montana and the deadline is a couple days away. I do have a rather limited budget so I want to make the right choices.
I am newer to the game although I do have 1-2 points for 2-4 species in WY, CO and NV. I am mostly interested in pronghorn and deer but eventually would love to experience rutting bull elk in archery season at least once. I am more proficient with a rifle, but am interested in getting more into archery.
I wonder what would be the best combination of preference and bonus points for what I am interested in doing? I can’t justify to the lady spending $150 for preference points and $75 for bonus points for those three main species (even though moose and sheep would be sweet).
Any solid advice would be appreciated.

Forrest

 

[Durango Mike]

You need to understand the "preference point system" wherever you are hunting, AZ preference points give you more lottery tickets but you might score on your first application. CO preference points accumulate and increase your chance as the "cohort" with 10 preference points actually has to compete with people who have 10 or more applying for that hunt. In the case of Moose, Sheep, Goats the CO system has changed the system so it looks more like AZ as the demand was so great that it was almost impossible to get drawn. Also check on resident versus-non resident preference value as only 10% of AZ licenses go to non residents, and there is a set aside for outfitters. Check state by state to see if it is worth it as some require the purchase of at least a small game license to apply (another $$ raising play by states).

 

[BuzzH]

You need to understand the "preference point system" wherever you are hunting, AZ preference points give you more lottery tickets but you might score on your first application. CO preference points accumulate and increase your chance as the "cohort" with 10 preference points actually has to compete with people who have 10 or more applying for that hunt. In the case of Moose, Sheep, Goats the CO system has changed the system so it looks more like AZ as the demand was so great that it was almost impossible to get drawn. Also check on resident versus-non resident preference value as only 10% of AZ licenses go to non residents, and there is a set aside for outfitters. Check state by state to see if it is worth it as some require the purchase of at least a small game license to apply (another $$ raising play by states).

Uhhh no.

 

[Wildabeest]

Also depends on your hunting objective. Trophy vs. just good opportunity to hunt amazing country and harvest an average animal. MT provides some of the best general tag hunting opportunities for both deer and elk with limited points required to draw those tags. 2 pts gives high odds, 3 almost guaranteed. Tons of places to hunt on those tags. Downside is cost - ~$800 for deer, ~$1,000 for elk or $1,200 for deer elk combo. CO has some great OTC options, but hunting pressure is much higher in those units. Those are both good options for you if you want to hunt sooner vs. holding out for a more premier unit. Since you’re building points in multiple states, you should also consider staging your points if you want a decent hunt each year. Pick 3-4 states that have units with high odds to get tags every 3-4 years and then rotate thru them.

 

[WVgoodguy22]

Also depends on your hunting objective. Trophy vs. just good opportunity to hunt amazing country and harvest an average animal. MT provides some of the best general tag hunting opportunities for both deer and elk with limited points required to draw those tags. 2 pts gives high odds, 3 almost guaranteed. Tons of places to hunt on those tags. Downside is cost - ~$800 for deer, ~$1,000 for elk or $1,200 for deer elk combo. CO has some great OTC options, but hunting pressure is much higher in those units. Those are both good options for you if you want to hunt sooner vs. holding out for a more premier unit. Since you’re building points in multiple states, you should also consider staging your points if you want a decent hunt each year. Pick 3-4 states that have units with high odds to get tags every 3-4 years and then rotate thru them.

That is a good point and consideration that I forgot to mention. I am mostly interested in opportunities vs trophy potential. Sure there could be a long term plan for a certain species/units, but being newer and from the east I haven’t figured that out while I also rotate through 3-4 states if I am blessed to do so. Mostly would be one big trip out west for 10-14 days per year.
I wanted to do a Wyoming pronghorn and mule deer combo hunt this year but multiple circumstances prevented me from doing so.
Yes cost in MT is a big factor as well as states that require payment BEFORE the drawing and return most of the fee if not drawn. Thanks for the thought provoking points.

 

[geetar]

For every thread that continues long enough to convince people it’s a waste of money to apply my odds go up.

 

[Shangobango]

I would sit down and really study how the Montana system works if I were you.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

For you specifically, the point to draw the combo (preference) yes, bonus point (no). Buy the combo point only if you think you will go soon (2 years).

It’s very expensive (relative) to try and only apply only for specific permit units in Montana. + IMHO the elk permits are worth it but the deer aren’t. MSG odds are terrible, I just buy the points in the off chance we move back to MT.

I have a limited budget as well, if I had $5000 to spend on apps every where sure I’d apply across the board... but I don’t.

 

[Durango Mike]

Uhhh no.

ok s'plain what is wrong? I have no idea how WY works, have been drawn 2 times in AZ, once for deer in Kaibab (first time I applied), Elk took 10 tries for the tag. CO I know well and now have the preference point dilemma of having 18 points for elk which falls a point short of the area I have wanted to hunt, but used to always get my second choice of private land elk good for Sept through Jan 15 for the GMU my ranch is in. Used to be a guaranteed tag, now needs 2 preference points to draw so my wife did not get her cow tag this year. Used to get depredation tags for up to 10 cows 15 years ago and donated over a ton of elk meat to the local food charities, they don't exist in my area any longer. Another factor to consider is how long points stay live, some places require continuous application, others let you pass for a year or two.

 

[BuzzH]

ok s'plain what is wrong? I have no idea how WY works, have been drawn 2 times in AZ, once for deer in Kaibab (first time I applied), Elk took 10 tries for the tag. CO I know well and now have the preference point dilemma of having 18 points for elk which falls a point short of the area I have wanted to hunt, but used to always get my second choice of private land elk good for Sept through Jan 15 for the GMU my ranch is in. Used to be a guaranteed tag, now needs 2 preference points to draw so my wife did not get her cow tag this year. Used to get depredation tags for up to 10 cows 15 years ago and donated over a ton of elk meat to the local food charities, they don't exist in my area any longer. Another factor to consider is how long points stay live, some places require continuous application, others let you pass for a year or two.

Arizona doesn't have an outfitter set aside.

Arizona does not guarantee NR's 10% of their tags.

Your info on CO sounds suspect from what I know.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Arizona doesn't have an outfitter set aside.

Arizona does not guarantee NR's 10% of their tags.

Your info on CO sounds suspect from what I know.

The CO portion checks out. There is a big no mans land for pref points, there were a lot more private land only cow tags and/or people applying for them even just a few years ago. My first season I got a muzzy bull tag and a leftover cow private land only tag, you can't do that anymore.

 

[Durango Mike]

Arizona doesn't have an outfitter set aside.

Arizona does not guarantee NR's 10% of their tags.

Your info on CO sounds suspect from what I know.

 

[Durango Mike]

I know CO is correct. My main point is KNOW what the deal is, as it varies greatly state by state. Get the guide and read it, keep in mind the CO big game guide takes two pages to explain points and the "weighted preference points" system for Moose, Sheep, and Goats and they charge $50 fee to acquire weighted average points, and no longer charges extra for elk and deer IF you apply for the license as first choice, otherwise the point costs 7 bucks. The dilemma is either continue to pay for a preference point as first choice to get over the point threshold for a hunt you want (CO does not offer anything like the number of quality of limited hunting areas that exist in almost every other western states, the few superior trophy areas require high teen point totals) or blow the whole total on a hunt code that might only need a low single digit number of points. CO points are truly "preference" in that a resident application with enough points (usually high single digits) is virtually guaranteed a license for almost all the hunt codes, and residents get preference over NR. The AZ deal is correct in how it works, you get more lottery tickets the more points you have, and NR tags are limited and that means the "value" of a preference point is less for NR vs Resident. I am not saying AZ guarantees 10% of tags go NR, but that seems to be roughly how many get allocated, should have made that clear. I checked and you are correct that there is no outfitter set aside in AZ, I think it is still a factor in NM. Several years ago George Taulman, who has a successful outfitting business and tag application service, sued AZ on their policy on NR tags and ultimately lost, but while the suit was pending AZ did allocate more NR tags, my only deer tag came in a year as part of the increased NR allocation. I believe the state passed a legislative solution which nullified the Taulman suit. CO has seen alot of changes when Parks was merged with Wildlife and prices (along with hidden charges like mandatory license purchases before applying) have gone up. The only positive I have seen is the requirement for a hunt/fish license to access state WMA's spreading the cost over more users. How does WY work? Most states seem to be biasing their system to favor residents (CO does for sure). The math is compelling with NR tags usually 10-12X the cost of resident tags to raise revenue, and special (Moose etc cost 2X for non residents to acquire weighted point and without them your chance of drawing is near zero) tags absolutely need points to draw.

 

[MTGomer]

My main point is KNOW what the deal is

Good advice. For all...

 

[WVgoodguy22]

Thank you everyone for your insight and advice on my question. I went ahead and got bonus points for 900-20 archery pronghorn and standard pronghorn (since one of my goals is to hunt pronghorn in every state that I can DIY public land if I can) and a NR Big Game Combo preference point (they didn’t separate elk and deer for whatever reason). I know that I can buy one more next year, but my 3rd year I have to play the Montana general tag 🏷 lotto.