Big 3 Officially in

I'm in for mountain goat and moose, with no points! Nice to be able to dream for a few weeks.

When I don't draw I can console myself by going into the deer and antelope draws. I think I'm getting the hang of this draw system haha

Does anyone else struggle with putting in again for big 3 tags they have drawn? I am still a year out of being able to put in for moose but not sure I will. Maybe some of these tags should be OIL?

Hoping to draw sheep but didn't put in for goat as I have no real burning desire to shoot one.

JEL said:

Does anyone else struggle with putting in again for big 3 tags they have drawn?

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No. Hate the game, not the player.

JEL said:

Does anyone else struggle with putting in again for big 3 tags they have drawn?

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Ha. Surely you jest..

Washington State has comparable odds for their lottery tag raffles by spending the same $$ total as if were a non-resident applying in the draw. You have to be in Washington State to purchase the raffle tickets as they feel is gambling if sell online. If are driving through, buy a few. Big goats here. Some big sheep.

11 - Moose
11 - Sheep
9 - Goat

Fin, having points definitely makes a difference over time if you math it out. Especially for Goat and to some extent Moose as well. Sheep odds are terrible no matter how many points you have.

I want a moose!!!

Moose (14 points )

Goat (8 points ) for sure the funnest tag I've drawn

Sheep (6 points)..I feel guilty accumulating 5 sheep points by not drawing hard to draw ewe tags during my post ram tag 7 yr wait.... but I don't lose any sleep.lol

I do think it would be more fair if MT went to a once in a lifetime draw for the big 3 like ID. I feel sorry for my kids

I think the points help you over those who don't have to some extent......but I know several people who have draw back to back big 3 tags. Heck the guy who shot the state record P & Y sheep in the breaks drew it again his 1st yr back in the draw.

The draw odds really boil down to two. zero and 100%

Anyone else press "send" and then immediately start worrying that they screwed something up? Of course, it doesn't help that I usually do screw something up. My points look a lot like Big Fin's, except for goat. It's nice to be like Big Fin in at least SOME regard...

I'm sitting about 1/2 the points of most of you...I'm banking on more points for next year. I have considered putting in on ewe sheep hunts as my low point numbers are bleak compared to the rest of you guys

Flatrock said:

I honestly think I'm better off spending $70 on Super Tags for sheep than I am applying in the draw.

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My nephew asked me if he should start applying for sheep in MT last year. I did a rough calculation and came to the conclusion his odds of drawing a Super Tag were better than someone with 0, or just a few points in the draw. So when MT started squaring points (and significantly increased the cost of applying) they really screwed the newbies (a familiar story). I told him he was better off just buying some raffle tickets, unless he was willing to flush a lot of money down the toilet for a very long time, just to get up to a 0.1-0.5% chance of drawing.

MT has been good to me, but I got in the game early, and have just been lucky. Now I'm just hoping to draw a sheep tag with max points; it will likely never happen but ~$100 for a ~1% chance is still worth the risk for me.

M - 9
S - 9
G - 10

I was silly for a few years, not wanting to "play the game". I was in my twenties, really only interested in hunting elk.

Bombs away though. 8.2% chance on my goat, according to gohunt (I did run my own numbers this year to check their accuracy, I'll trust them next year). Moose and Sheep? I've seen miracles happen.

I'm what Fin calls a late onset hunter. I've got 1 point across the board but I'll still throw my name in the hat. I've got a friend and his wife who have drawn a moose tag on 5 points, a moose tag on 7 points, a moose tag on 0 points, a goat tag on 6 points, and breaks ram on 0 points. My thought is if I hang out with them enough maybe some of their luck will rub off on me....or they'll give me the name of the guy to send money too.

beartoothfront said:

I'm what Fin calls a late onset hunter. I've got 1 point across the board but I'll still throw my name in the hat. I've got a friend and his wife who have drawn a moose tag on 5 points, a moose tag on 7 points, a moose tag on 0 points, a goat tag on 6 points, and breaks ram on 0 points. My thought is if I hang out with them enough maybe some of their luck will rub off on me....or they'll give me the name of the guy to send money too.

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I'm in the same boat. I only have 1 or 2 points for the big 3. I really don't expect to draw any of these tags in my lifetime, only 41. But I think moose and sheep are going downhill quickly, due to multiple factors. It's still fun to apply and watch others be successful. I'd be very happy with a limited elk b tag and a region 3 pronghorn tag. Good luck in the draws.

What is this point stuff y'all speaking of??
Just being a SA, but wishing all of you the best of luck, seriously.

I'd sure like to see Montana make bull Moose, ram Bighorns, Mountain Goats, and Bison once in a lifetime. I'm sure there are many besides me who know folks who have drawn multiple sheep, moose, and goat tags. We need to fix that. NO-ONE deserves to get more than one of these fantastic animals in their lifetime and we need to give more folks the opportunity. No it WILL NOT drastically increase our odds, but it's a definite step in the right direction.

For example, I know a guy who drew a Lower Rock Creek ram tag a while back and he got a beautiful 43"x16" ram scoring around 192. He waited 7 years and applied again and the very first time he could apply again he got a Petty Creek ram tag and he shot another beautiful ram. Truly that tag should have gone to someone else to give him or her that experience.

I applied for 33 years in a row before I drew a Mountain Goat tag. The area I chose had a huge decline in numbers and I never got a goat but I had an incredible time from June until the end of November. I only saw ONE Mountain Goat that whole time! It still was an incredible time and I loved every minute of it. I would like to see someone get the same opportunity that I had.

It is year number 38 in a row now for me for Moose and Sheep so maybe this is the year for one of those critters!! I'm hoping anyway!!

Not sure what Montana is doing on the bison permits either. If they want to harvest 300 animals they should issue 300 permits. What is this crap about having 3000 + folks on a drawing list and they call to see if you can hunt. It makes no sense to me and they just need to issue the tags and call it good. I was on the list last year but they would need to call 3200 people before me who would turn it down before I was up next.

We sportsman need to help figure out some way that we get our Fish & Game folks some hard funding in the legislatures. They cannot run on license fee's alone and I think that their need to sell tags sometimes overcomes the correct thing to do with the sale of tag numbers. For example in district 480 over near Lewistown, they still are issuing tags for antelope, although only 100 this year, instead of giving those poor buggers a chance to come back. Used to be there would be something like 1200 either sex permits and another 1000 doe/fawn every year but with some disease, hard winters, and then continuing to sell permits and hunt the hell out of them, they really hurt the populations.

Best of luck to you all in the drawings!

David

lots of heartache about never going sheep hunting on here from guys that live in a state with 5 unlimited units.

Sure wish they would change moose, sheep, and goat to once in a Lifetime. Year number 38 in a row for me for moose and sheep. Maybe this is the year.

When do the big 3 results usually come out?

mtmiller said:

No. Hate the game, not the player.

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Well played!:hump:

Sorry. Posted already