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Montana residence for college kids question.

SteveE

SteveE

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The boy is going to play ball for the Vandals in Idaho.
I have been building points for him in MT waiting for the day that he has more time to hunt.

Legally I believe he becomes a resident of Idaho. I’m thinking he will lose all his points unless We put him in as a non resident about his junior year to keep him from missing 3 consecutive years of MT draws. ?

Has anyone dealt with kids going out of state for college and keeping the Montana bonus bonus points? Any pointers? Thanks for any advice.
 
A student who is enrolled full-time in a postsecondary educational institution out of state and who would qualify for Montana resident tuition or who otherwise meets the residence requirements of subsection (2) or (3) is considered a resident for purposes of this section.
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This from Montana Code would seem to indicate that he may elect to maintain Montana residency due to his opting to maintain his Montana home of residency while a college student out of state. On the other hand if he elects to become a resident of Idaho, then the Montana FWP license changes.
 
He does not lose his residency while going to school out of state, unless he does things to establish/gain residency in Idaho.
 
I would call the FWP in Helena to be sure.

But, even if he is a NR, cant he just purchase points as a NR without buying a license?

Thought they changed the law to allow people to just acquire points?
 
Perfect - we have some skin in the game at this stage. Good deal.
You guys are the best! Thank you!!
 
Yep, you can just continue to buy points, the difference in price for deer, elk, and pronghorn is pretty minimal between R and NR. Going to come down to what JLS stated regarding residency.

•If you did not apply for a bonus point you can purchase a bonus point from July 1st through September 30th. The fee to purchase a bonus point without applying is $15 per species for residents and the nonresident fees are $25 per species with the exception of Moose, Sheep, and Goat which are $75 per species.

Would suck to lose acquired points for sure.
 
BuzzH said:
I would call the FWP in Helena to be sure.

But, even if he is a NR, cant he just purchase points as a NR without buying a license?

Thought they changed the law to allow people to just acquire points?
Click to expand...

I think this is correct also Buzz. Couple different options. Think we will just leave him a MT resident. He won’t have time to hunt during school anyhow. Thanks fellas!
 
I assume will be in Idaho for 3 big game draw cycles and could be a resident for 2 of those if not more. The odds for drawing an Idaho Shiras bull moose as a resident are very good and that might be something he wants to consider during the Idaho era of his life. Paying a bit more for applications and points back in Montana to have a chance to pull a bull moose tag could be an interesting scenario to crunch some numbers for odds and $$.
 
Better check on that. Some states don’t allow you to declare yourself a resident just because you go to school there.
 
Hunting Wife said:
I also believe Montana law says that you can not purchase resident licenses in another state and still be considered a resident for hunting purposes in Montana. Maybe another thing to check into.
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Correct. Discounted student licenses are usually not considered a resident license.

Edit: exceptions are usually also made for military personnel where they can buy a resident licenses in both their home state and state where their orders put them.
 
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If your son wants to hunt during college and is starting as a freshman 2018 this would be my recommendation. This season apply for points again in Montana as a resident and buy a resident sportsman's license (do this now), in July/ August have him get a driver's license in Idaho, this triggers him becoming a resident and starts the clock ticking. After six months from the date he gets his license he will be considered an Idaho resident for hunting purposes, provided he also title any vehicles in his name in ID, register to vote in ID, and if he works file an ID tax return. Even though he has an ID driver's license he will be able to come home his freshman year at thanksgiving and hunt on his Montana resident hunting license, provided you purchased said license before he got an ID driver's license hence why I said he should buy the license when you put in for points. If he wants to hunt his freshman year in ID he would have to do so as a non-resident (yes even if he got a driver's license in April), as you can only hold one resident license at a time.

MT points are agnostic with regards to residency, meaning he will keep his current points when he becomes an ID resident will be able to apply for pts as a non resident while in ID and then move back to MT and use those points again as a resident. So if he has 3 pts then he can get 4 while he is in ID and then return to Montana after he graduates with 7pts. The only draw back will be that after becoming an ID resident point will be more expensive and he will have to buy the nonresident come home to hunt tag in order to hunt over breaks in MT.

I recently made the move from CO to MT for three years then back to CO while building points in both states.

Also residency for tuition status is unrelated to residency for hunting. Only way to get the cheaper in-state rate would be to live in ID for a year or two and then start school.
 
Idahoarcheryhunter said:
tell him welcome to the potato state, he picked the right school :hump:
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Thank you for the welcome! We feel the same way!!

Idaho has been so good to me - great country and friendly people!

Excited to be a Vandal family!

Thanks all for the advice. Wllm that is good info
 
Son is a Colorado student, so they treat him like a resident for hunting and fishing purposes. He is still a resident of Mississippi.
I bought my son a Lifetime Liscense for Mississippi when he was an infant. Might be worth looking into for your son.
Also, college ball is going to take up a lot of hunting time. It’s like a job.
 
3855WIN said:
Also, college ball is going to take up a lot of hunting time. It’s like a job.
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No doubt. He won’t have time to hunt OR the money for the next four years but want to keep him in the point game till then.

On the other hand his Dad just might get MORE time in Idaho :hump:

The last trip to Idaho was good!! I love that state! Go VANDALS!!!
16B429F8-7837-4939-AFDE-BC7C48EAF8A9.jpg
 
SteveE said:
No doubt. He won’t have time to hunt OR the money for the next four years but want to keep him in the point game till then.

On the other hand his Dad just might get MORE time in Idaho :hump:

The last trip to Idaho was good!! I love that state! Go VANDALS!!!
View attachment 79882
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Great bull! If you need a hunting partner for the next couple of years while he is in school hit me up ;)
 
College ball takes a lot out of a guy. He won't get many weekends off but make sure that he gets involved with some locals that can get him out on what free time he'll have. That's the only thing that kept me sane during the 24/7 in-season football/school life. Best of luck to him and you!
 
Wouldn't be a bad idea for him to get his residency in idaho and buy a life time license there, when he moves back home he will always be included in the resident draws of idaho when ever he applies, no matter where he currently resides.
 
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