Montana Hunting questions

A

AKCATHUNTER

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I am trying to plan a hunt to Montana next year. Are most of the tags over the counter or are they draw only. I am looking at region 7. I am having a hard time understanding the regs. I see all sorts of different draw hunts plus a general season. Any clarification would be greatly appreciated. Also any units I should look into would be appreciated.
CHRIS
 
There are no OTC tags for non-residents, except for possibly leftover doe tags. You need to apply for the deer combination license, or the big game combination which is a deer and an elk tag. The big game license is easier to draw because there are more available. I believe it's somewhere around a 12,000 tag quota for the big game combination license, and 2000 for the deer combination. If you only want to hunt deer and don't want to pay the extra money for the deer/elk license, then I believe it's around 1 in 4 odds of drawing the deer license. They do have other special hunts you can apply for later if you draw the general license.
 
Just be aware that you will not draw the first year. Because of the point system, you are pretty much locked out for a year or 3. Depending on whether you go for the combo or the deer only. I believe that there are quite a few states that you can get a tag yearly as a non-resident, but MT is not one of those. Good luck though. I am in the same boat now---no longer a resident.
 
Once you aquire the tag you can put in for the special permit. The tag drawing is Aprilish. You will have a little time once you draw the tag to put in for the special permits. That deadline is in June.

Isn't area 7 most of the east part of the state? If so you won't need a special permit to kill a buck over there. Just the regular tag. It will allow you to hunt clear through the weekend following thanksgiving. If you spend the extra bucks on the big game deer/elk combo. You can shoot a cow the last week of the season.

Good luck
Kris
 
I could be wrong but I believe it is possible to draw a deer tag the first year. A friend of mine drew the deer tag in 2004 and again this year. I'm not sure if he had applied previously to the tag he drew in 2004, but obviously for this year he would have had zero points.
 
Put in for the big game combo license and a preference point. You can definetely draw your first year, odds should be close to 1 in 2. Then as mentioned above you can put in for some special elk areas in region 7 if you want, good luck on that however!
 
My buddy and i put in for deer only this year as first timers and got it. We put in as a party. Hunted Nov.10 - 17. All on block management ground in region 3. He killed a nice 22" 4pt
that i passed on. I was looking for the bigger boys and had a couple chances at em but it did'nt work out. Killed a smaller buck the last day. We were in bucks every day it was an awesome trip.
 
sisqhunter:

You peaked my interest with your comments. I just got my block management guide and want to hunt region 3, somewhere along the I-90 - I-15 corridor if I can get a tag next year. I see a lot of deer as I drive down to Idaho all year long. I assume if I get off roads into some of those big walk in blocks that I can kill a buck. Any comments or suggestions would be welcomed. Did you have fun?

CUT
 
Thanks for all the info. All the different combo tags had me confused, but I am starting to understand it. Thanks guys
CHRIS
 
Yes region 7 is in the south east corner. That is nice that I wouldn't need a special permit for that region.
CHRIS
 
Hey sisqhunter,
Sounds like you guys had a good time and saw some deer! Which BMU did you guys end up hunting? I didnt see anymore muleys up in the area I shot my buck the rest of the season. My dad did see some nice ones on private land though. From what ive heard from hunters that have hunted that area for years, the muley population is way down. My dad and girlfriend did get great whiteys though. Sorry about the picture quality, its a picture of a photo.
43937da668eedbcc.jpg
 
Looks a little warm for a mid-november hunt! lol Nice deer.

Michael~All Gods creatures welcome... right next to the mashed potatoes and gravy.
 
Hey Ismith,
Yea we had a great time. It far exceeded our expectations, wich is always good. We saw bucks every day wich is why i decided to hold out for a better one. I had a couple chances at real good bucks but it just did,nt work out. We hunted the John Carey ranch
north of Whitehall on the hiway to boulder. and the Stiengruber
ranch near 3 forks. Never saw another person on Stiengrubers. Carey ranch has a forest service road going through it up
Dunn canyon and we saw several groups of guys going in and out of there but i think they were mostly elk hunters heading into the higher country up that canyon. All in all a great trip.
Thanks for the tips a while ago.
 
MichaelJ,
It was actually on opening day of rifle season, Oct. 23. The weather was unusally warm, 50 degrees in the shade and 70 in the sun.
 
I see that many think you can't draw a non-res on the first draw. Not exactly true. My wife is a non-res and was drawn for this past hunting season, first time in.
On another note, Region 7 is great hunting. If you get out on the block hunting areas or other public land, be sure to get away from the roads. My experience is most of the people are road hunters. There are many big bucks to be had there but it takes alot of footwork and glassing. Stalking is tough as they disappear into the thick trees. This past hunting season while my wife watched, I actually walked within 25 yards of a huge muley that I never saw while stalking another buck. My wife watched it stand up and sneak away after I'd passed it and said it was larger than the one I was after. That was in a block management area surrounded by roads that covered about 30 square miles. Nobody that I saw ever stopped to get out and hike and glass. This group of bucks was about 3/4 of a mile from the nearest road.
 

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