Montana Cutting Deer Licenses

[JWBINX]

Doe + 2 fawns = 3 deer...

Does don't always throw 2 fawns unlike Antelope.

[CarbonHunter]

Doe + 2 fawns = 3 deer...

Does don't always throw 2 fawns unlike Antelope.

Your right. Sometimes they throw 3 and about a 1/3 of the population dies during an average winter. There are lots of variables that go into deer populations but one guarantee is that the more doe’s you shoot the fewer deer there will be the following year.

[JWBINX]

Doe + 2 fawns = 3 deer...

Does don't always throw 2 fawns unlike Antelope.

Your right. Sometimes they throw 3 and about a 1/3 of the population dies during an average winter. There are lots of variables that go into deer populations but one guarantee is that the more doe’s you shoot the fewer deer there will be the following year.

I agree 100 percent!

[muleyguy]

A lot of this is just political theatre.......mule deer doe tags have already been drastically cut in Montana, and in region 6&7, you cannot shoot a doe on public ground anymore.  Most of these antlerless tags they are cutting are whitetail tags, and the amount of people in Montana shooting 3 or more deer is incredibly small.    Makes for a good sound bite, but won't make any meaningful difference.  While Montana had been guilty for too many antlerless tags for way too long, that has essentially gone away now.

The 2500 deer combo tags they are cutting for NR is also just more theatre......those tags still exist.....they just exist up at the big game combination level now.  So, this will just force more NR into applying for the big game combo who used to apply for just the deer combination.  This will reduce the odds in that category for everybody, including the applicants who are willing to return their deer tags.   My guess is once it is all said and done, the actual cut will be far less then 2500 tags.  This "cut" in tags is just a 50% cut in the number of successful big game combo applicants who elect to return their deer tag to the NR deer combination pool.  Last year that was 5000 people.   That number will be smaller in 2026 because now the big game combo odds will drop because of the deer combo applicants "moving up" to the big game combo.   It won't take long for the hunting blogs who charge everybody to explain and show everybody how to do it..........So.......more theatre and sound bites.......

Doe tags and NR hunters in Montana........two hot button issues........the politicians on the Commission just passed a nice resolution that sounds really good, but, won't make any meaningful change.

As NR, we all have to understand that we are on the chopping block.   I will get run out of here for this comment........but, personally an idea that I put in my comments to the FWP was that the NR tags are very oversubscribed.  The FWP needs to dramatically raise the price of the NR tags to get closer to a 1:1 draw odds each year.  Why would they leave that much money on the table every year??  Then, take this money, and dedicate it to enhancing and enlarging the Block Management Program.  This would almost triple its funding.  Hundreds of thousands of acres could easily be added to the program.  More open acreage to hunt, less pressure on current public ground and BMA, less pressure on the animals, and less crowding.  We need to find ways as NR to align ourselves with the R.  Use NR $ to fund increased R access.  Pitting R against NR.......we will lose.......and once those NR tags are "lost" you won't ever get them back........

[ThurstonCokid]

I was just in time for this change.


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[pianoman9701]

This is a bit confusing because the only issue being addressed is hunter overcrowding...and they don't really even address that. Herd size isn't mentioned. CWD isn't mentioned. A cut of 2,500 non-resident hunters will realize a density reduction of 0.1 (1/10th of a hunter) hunters per square mile of public land and that doesn't even account for how many non-residents hunt privately-owned land. However, the financial impact could be devastating. There's something missing here. Maybe it's just common sense. Has their Wildlife Commission been poisoned with animal rights activists?

[Skyvalhunter]

I apply for several different states and this isn't really anything new. I have seen over the counter tags reduced, non resident special permits cut and non resident application costs go up. It is trending towards a rich mans sport. I understand how some Montana feel about not wanting to see a bunch of hunter orange while on their hunts. Then seeing all these out of state lisc plates even though it's helps with their revenue.

[hughjorgan]

Randy Newberg was on the GoHunt podcast recently and discussed the tags being slashed. Puts the cuts into perspective for a non resident. Tried to copy and paste the discussion but isn’t letting put his full transcript…if you want to listen to what he said it starts around the 30 minute mark.


“Yeah, so what it is is the Montana FWP, Fish, Wildlife and Park Commission, said we call them orphan tags. So we got to get into the Montana system to explain it, but-
It's not a term I've heard.
Oh, you guys haven't heard it? Okay, so in Montana, you can apply for... Most people apply for the deer elk combo.
So you get a deer and an elk tag. But you also can check the option of, I only want the elk tag. So they separate those deer tags and they put them over in another pile.
And the legislature told the commission 10 or 12 years ago, if you want to issue 5,000 of those as extra non-resident tags, go ahead. So we call them the orphaned deer tags. Because it's kind of like they got split off from the combo.
So anyhow, Montana's always statutorily said, we're going to issue 17,000 non-resident deer elk combo tags. They call them B10, B11. And if you hear all this B dash, something that means it's a non-resident type.
Well, for years and years, it was always said Montana is never going to go over this 17,000[…]”

From Big Hunt Guys: Public Land Access, Tag Cuts, and Where Hunting is Headed — A Conversation with Randy Newberg | Big Hunt Guys, Ep. 206, Dec 18, 2025
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/big-hunt-guys/id1615426118?i=1000741829105&r=1806
This material may be protected by copyright.

[muleyguy]

I think it’s very unlikely 2500 tags get cut……NR will adjust their application strategy……

[wa.hunter]

I have hunted Montana as a non resident  since the the 1970 and have seen a lot of of changes. I use to hunt se and now hunt ne areas. I use to se up to 3000 deer a day in se don’t hunt there now so can’t say what it is like. I hunt on private land and see less deer, and only look for for quality animals and as a result of less deer I have chose to not harvest and aniamal the last 3 yrs. Sadly when you go into any cut and wrap meat place it is full of locals and non resident shooting young animals which supply minimal amount of meat. Yey they keep getting shot. Need to stop all doe tags , and quit just killing any animal to fill a tag. I have found Washington hunters to be the worst at trespassing to just fill a tag. Believe me we have seen it and caught them. Something like 9200 Washington people hunt in Montana each year only because there is poor hunting opportunities here. I just wish more quality type hunters would hunt there and chose to not harvest young animals to fill their tags. Let the get to an harvestable age where you actually get some meat off an animal.