MT left-over licenses going on sale

[Big Fin]

Appears MT undersold the deer-elk big game combo this year, to a higher degree than last year when 800 tags were unsold. I remember when we went and fought the "Montana Native" bill in the legislature last year that allowed former MT residents to come back and hunt for 4X the resident price.

We stated it would cause tags to undersell, given tags under that program did not count against the set pool of 17,000 NR deer-elk combos. I hoped we would be wrong. Here are the numbers from this year, according to FWP.

Surplus Licenses
Big Game Combination (Deer/ Elk) 1,709 unsold fee = $939.00
Elk Combination (elk only) 2,158 unsold fee = $789.00

These remaining tags will go on sale on Monday April 23rd.

I hope they all sell out. I know many NRs will be returning the elk portion for a partial refund, given they did not draw in the Limited Entry drawing this week. Last year we still has some of those elk tags unsold when season opened.

Hope this doesn't cause FWP budgets to get hammered worse than they alread are. Good luck to any of you NRs who drew or who buy one of these left overs.

 

[belly-deep]

Maybe they'll wise up...

 

[tjones]

Could be Montana is not putting out a very good product in many HD's for many species right now.

 

[shoots-straight]

We have a hell of a lot less elk available, but the legislature wants us to sell more tags. I doesn't add up. They have made one giant mess of this state. I might add, MTFW&P's in many cases didn't look after our, and their best interests here either. There were things that could have been done, to keep from over harvesting antelope, Elk, and both deer species. They didn't put the breaks on fast enough. Then came the bad winter, and disease, and here we sit.

I'm actually surprised there's as many tags sold as there is.

 

[npaden]

It will be interesting to see how many native montanan tags sell this fall. Would also be interesting to see how many days afield those tags end up averaging. My guess is a few folks buy one to hunt before thanksgiving but not as many as some would think. And I doubt they end up hunting them very seriously.

Doesn't look like I will be buying any this year.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

It appears there are alot better deals out there for non-residents verses $939 for a combo tag,,,I didnt put in for montana because of the cost for a "average" general hunt.several states have that price beat,,,if they lowered there price or separated the combos they might get more non-res to apply.

 

[notellm]

Maybe MT should throw the NR's a bone like a FREE wolf tag or something? None of my family from MN come hunt with us anymore. They now go to CO and hunt elk, i dont blame them! I would not pay those prices to hunt here either.

 

[huntbux]

So expensive, especially coming from somewhere like Nevada.

 

[jlmatthew]

Montana's Nonresident Elk tags make Colorado's look cheap

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

only elk tags more expensive than montana are nevada at $1200 and wyomings "special" draw elk,as far as i know.nevada has some big ones that go with the big price.

 

[jryoung]

I had a feeling numbers would be even less this year. Just the general rhetoric you hear out on the internet indicated people were going to shy away.

I put in for me, my brother and Dad. My Dad might have less than 5 years left of hunting so while I want to hang meat it's more important for me to get out while we can. We're flying blind, no experience in MT (other than Dad 50 years ago), just going to hit up Google maps a plenty and hope for some luck. But, the $3k to spend a great week in the woods is worth it to me.

 

[shoots-straight]

Dan price is really a lame excuse.

Oregon Elk : $640 for a very small hunting season.
Montana Elk: $789 for 5 weeks. 6 weeks of archery. You can hunt deer at the same time.

Montana would be worth it if the quality, and quantity was still here. It's not so there's less people willing to shell out the bucks.

Throw in the Deer tag for a total of $944, includes Turkey, Fishing, and upland game bird
Oregon Deer tag $375.50 + $540elk = $915 + $26.50UGB= $942 +$77.50 Turkey, +$106 NR Fishing.

So dan, Oregon is a lot more money, and has lousy season structures.

I think if you check out all that goes with the licence in Montana, and lenght of season, these tags are right in line with most western states.

The resource needs to be taken care of better.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

I never said oregon was a good state to apply for as a non-resident,,,In fact i want everybody to know that oregon is clearly not recomended,,,only fair quality along with steep draw odds and lots of couger predatation is why i go out of state myself,,,,I was just stating that montana was clearly overpricing there tags for the quality/type of hunt,,,it makes colorado elk really look like a good deal for the price.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

why spend more money in montana for a lesser quality hunt vs wyoming,colorado,idaho? money isnt a lame excuse at all.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Comparable license in Wyoming is more expensive = $1065

Colorado, for NR Deer, Elk and fishing is $928.

 

[Ben Lamb]

why spend more money in montana for a lesser quality hunt vs wyoming,colorado,idaho? money isnt a lame excuse at all.

$1200 Kimber - check
$500 Leupold scope - check
$5/round ammo x 100 rounds per year - check
$25,000 truck - check
$900 in camo - check
$7000 ATV - check
$2500 Swaro spotter - check
$1500 Leica binos - check

Less than $1k to help fund wildlife management and hunt 11 weeks for big game, 4 months of upland and 12 months of fishing - communism!

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

How is wyomings "special" elk lincence comparable??? It is the same hunt as the $591 regular elk?draw pool is the only difference?they are in the same ballpark as colorado and idaho is even cheaper yet.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Dan,

That's the general NR elk, deer, fishing and upland game bird licenses together. That's what you get for the combo in MT.

 

[belly-deep]

Not to mention most of the state can be hunted with a general tag for both species....once you throw in the generous archery tag allocation for world-class elk hunting found in places like the Breaks, it gets even worse. Rut season for deer...I could go on...

Shit man, this state sucks. Maybe I should move Nevada so I can only draw a tag once every 10 years, or enjoy the 1-week seasons in Colorado. Of course, Idaho is great if you like hunting mule deer in the middle of October, when they are easiest to hunt.

I think about the only state that can compete with MT for hunting opportunities is Wyoming.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

montana I think should make them separate as alot of out of staters will travel out of state but will concentrate on 1 or 2 specific activitys,,,hard to do it all at the same time on the same trip?