How many points does it take

bigbrowns

Member
Messages
59
Just wondering how many points it takes to draw a decent Elk & Antelope unit in Montana. I'm planning on starting to buy points in Montana this year. I'm not looking for any monsters. I would be happy with a 14 inch goat or a 280-320 Bull. Any info would be appreciated.

If anyone needs any info on Az I would be happy to share what I know.

Thanks,
Adam
 
Montana doesn't use the " preference points" system. The points in Montana are "bonus" points. With every point you have, square it, and that's your number of chances in the drawing. A lot of people think our system is pointless, pun intended. mtmuley
 
Bigbrowns, yeah, MTmuley is exactly correct.
More and more, the prime areas are managed for the introduced Canadian Wolves. Combo possibilities are no longer limited.
General Big Game tags are a 100% draw.
Those that have connections in the foothills do REAL well.
Permits only,VERY tough for NR'S. :(
 
bigbrowns, permits in Montana have always been a tough draw, wolves or not. I don't hunt the foothills, and I'm still killing bulls. My advice is get a local hunters outlook on wolves where you want to elk hunt. For antelope, look for a high percentage draw and have fun. mtmuley
 
On average how many years does it take to draw a decent tag. For instance in Az it takes 15-20+ years to draw a good Rifle Antelope tag & 5-12 years for an Early Archery Bull tag. I'm just wondering how many years I will most likely have to wait for a tag.

Thanks,
Adam
 
I drew a once in a lifetime either sex elk for 620, 621 and 622 with nine points.
That was nice.
However that is the only draw I have been lucky with.

I can help, honest info, pm me.
I don't need to promote MT hunting nor do I need to discourage it.
 
This is not an easy question to answer because Montana's draw odds for elk permits is all over the place. Some rifle units are 100% (unlimited) and some are below two percent. If you took a look at the draw odds on the mt fwp webpage you would see that permits are awarded pretty randomly throughout the applicants that apply for a certain unit.

You will see guys with ZERO points draw a permit in a good unit while some unlucky guys with 8 or 9 points do NOT draw a tag in the SAME unit. So a unit that is not unlimited that you may think will take 5 years to draw (just threw that number out there as an example) may take you 15. Or, you may draw it your first try.

Same goes for antelope. I have seen guys with 4 points not draw a permit, while the odds of drawing that very same permit with two or three points is 75-90%.

So basically your bonus points increase your odds of drawing, but there is no guarantee that you will be awarded a tag when you get to the front of the line. This is my take on it from mu NR perspective.
 

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