Montana Preference Point Expiration MT HB637

I don’t mind paying more and I don’t mind waiting to come out and hunt. All I want to be able to do is plan and budget for a hunt in a given year. How in the hell can a fella do that with these shitty rules. Unbelievable

Add in the fact that the new regulations are going to eliminate any understanding of draw odds on top of what ever is happening with points, and your confusion is larger.
 
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The intent is to make guiding hunting more appealing and make it as hard as possible for people to go DIY.
I've gotta say, it makes perfect sense that Montana would be making life hard for DIY non residents. It doesn't take a weatherman to see that the opportunity for residents (in terms of seasons) is going to take a serious hit in the near future. It pretty much has to. They'll push that off (at the expense of the visitors) for as long as they can.

These Montana threads always make me sad. It's sort of like watching someone you love torching their life and not being able to stop.
 
I've gotta say, it makes perfect sense that Montana would be making life hard for DIY non residents. It doesn't take a weatherman to see that the opportunity for residents (in terms of seasons) is going to take a serious hit in the near future. It pretty much has to. They'll push that off (at the expense of the visitors) for as long as they can.

These Montana threads always make me sad. It's sort of like watching someone you love torching their life and not being able to stop.
 
Antlerless tags don't have a statutory cap. The B8 is $75. Some districts have offered up to 7 OTC tags.
My head hurts after catching up on this one today. It's going to be an interesting few months coming up. What a mess
 
At least Montanans aren't about to be back in court arguing about listed status of wolves & bison.

Oh, wait. They are.
I got to hand it to them, those Montanans, they managed to make their licensing system for hunting elk more of a PITA to navigate than the Mass DMV.

It was a tall order but they rose to the occasion.

bureaucrats everywhere...
 
It ain't over.

There will likely be more bills for giveaways, further reduction in resident and DIY NR opportunity, and an increase on NR quota portions to bring it close to 80/20 than 90/10. I'm seeing some talk about changing the 454 program more so that friends of the family can get LE permits too.
 
I've gotta say, it makes perfect sense that Montana would be making life hard for DIY non residents. It doesn't take a weatherman to see that the opportunity for residents (in terms of seasons) is going to take a serious hit in the near future. It pretty much has to. They'll push that off (at the expense of the visitors) for as long as they can.

These Montana threads always make me sad. It's sort of like watching someone you love torching their life and not being able to stop.
Agreed. Who knows how it will look when that day comes. But I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again... Montana has to, in my opinion, START with managing whitetails and mule deer independently of eachother in terms of season structure and opportunity.

I believe a good framework for
Mule deer from there would be moving general season to the month of October. Following that with a 2-week limited entry special draw hunt in every general unit during the rut, say Nov 15-Nov 31st.
 
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I don’t mind paying more and I don’t mind waiting to come out and hunt. All I want to be able to do is plan and budget for a hunt in a given year. How in the hell can a fella do that with these shitty rules. Unbelievable
Exactly!
I was planning on Montana Deer for fall of 2023...buy a point this summer and then buy another point before applying Spring of 2023. But now I am looking into all of this and not quite sure what's the best approach anymore.

When do these Regs take effect, or have they already? Cause none of this is reflected on the FWP site online.
 
Exactly!
I was planning on Montana Deer for fall of 2023...buy a point this summer and then buy another point before applying Spring of 2023. But now I am looking into all of this and not quite sure what's the best approach anymore.

When do these Regs take effect, or have they already? Cause none of this is reflected on the FWP site online.

the 2022/2023 regulations haven't been set yet. They are going to approve them on February 4th meeting.
 
Hey guys, I have an idea. After everything is killed, Mac and his stooges can lobby the legislature to create a CRP like fund, except for big game leases, where the government gives his members money to purchase leases and then not kill anything on them for a few years. You can feel good knowing that you could help pay for this via taxation!
 
Exactly!
I was planning on Montana Deer for fall of 2023...buy a point this summer and then buy another point before applying Spring of 2023. But now I am looking into all of this and not quite sure what's the best approach anymore.

When do these Regs take effect, or have they already? Cause none of this is reflected on the FWP site online.
You can read through the bill at this link. Should work.

 
You can read through the bill at this link. Should work.

Thanks for posting. Yes, I have read through it, at least the portions that I was concerned about.

Just seems to be conflicting info whether it be threads on here or Rokslide, etc. Some guys have had their points vacated, others still have them. So on and so forth.

My biggest question was when the new regs take effect which @Ben Lamb answered above.

Now I just have to decide whether I’ll apply for the tag this spring and hope I don’t draw (planning to be in Colorado for elk and deer this fall) so I can accrue a point or just wait and roll the dice next year. Decisions, decisions.

Open to any advice or opinions on this…
 
Thanks for posting. Yes, I have read through it, at least the portions that I was concerned about.

Just seems to be conflicting info whether it be threads on here or Rokslide, etc. Some guys have had their points vacated, others still have them. So on and so forth.

My biggest question was when the new regs take effect which @Ben Lamb answered above.

Now I just have to decide whether I’ll apply for the tag this spring and hope I don’t draw (planning to be in Colorado for elk and deer this fall) so I can accrue a point or just wait and roll the dice next year. Decisions, decisions.

Open to any advice or opinions on this…
Million dollar questions.... hopefully they clarify some of the issues when the regs are approved/released. I have traditionally and generally liked the split PP/BP system in MT, but this bill really screwed things up.
 
No we aren't all shocked that the Outfitting Industry used a core-lokt as a crayon and wrote the bill on back of a coffee can and sent it to the New Jersey gov who Tony Soprano'd it into being.
hey, for once I get to say that even in New Jersey our hunting rules are not this stupid!

for the bean counters at Montana - if you only knew how much money I’ve spent on CO, WY, UT, ID, NM, AZ applications (not including actually drawing) over the years who ALL have better systems than MT. I have spent almost NOTHING in MT except a few bonus points (not sure why I did even that), have never hunted nor even applied there. All directly as a result of how difficult it is to plan with any confidence due to their two-phase draw system and PP confiscation rules. I don’t mind spending money on apps if it makes sense to do so. To date, for me, Montana has not.
 
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