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Montana deer potential back up plans

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Well I finally did what I never thought I'd be able to do, I got a couple buddies on board to do a western trip that has seemingly fallen apart every single year. We all put in for our Montana deer tags and plan on going to where I hunted last fall. I've come to the realization that there is a good chance that this year we may not actually get drawn. Being in a family business I'm very fortunate to be very flexible with my vacation days, these guys on the other hand have already locked in the first ten days of November. So if Montana falls through, I need to find something that I can key in on during that time period.

So far Colorado 3rd season elk is the only thing I've thought could be an alternative, anyone have any other suggestions or recommendations to look into in the event our names don't get drawn?
 
Wyoming whitetails in the Bighorns, 3rd and 4th season Colorado, or over the counter Nebraska

I love the bighorns, and when I hunted there last year saw some guys had some really good success on whitetails there. I'm down to hunt whitetails anywhere, these guys want to hunt anything but for their first western trip
 
The deer combos might sell out during the draw. I bet there will be some elk combs left over in Montana. Buy some to them and head west.
 
I don't know. With the way this gloom-and-doom winter is going, I wouldn't be surprised if demand does not ease off the deer combos and we're back to slightly more supply than demand. I know our party of 4 is pushing back NE Montana plans until future years.

Another early November option might be some of the wilderness units or whitetail units in north/north-central Idaho.
 
Early season Coues in Arizona.

There are some Wyoming deer tags that run through early November, NE and NW parts of the state.
 
I did that last year, loved it. Due to it having to be in that early november timeframe, I don't think any of the seasons will be open. I could be wrong

Some units run into November. Last one I took was on election day. You could possibly pair it with leftover deer tags.
 
I don't know. With the way this gloom-and-doom winter is going, I wouldn't be surprised if demand does not ease off the deer combos and we're back to slightly more supply than demand. I know our party of 4 is pushing back NE Montana plans until future years.

Another early November option might be some of the wilderness units or whitetail units in north/north-central Idaho.



I'm hoping that the demand isn't there this year but deer hunting still will be fairly good.... Like Randy says, its almost impossible to not harvest a deer in Montana if you put any effort in and over selevtive.
 
For some reason I can't find the draw odds for the general tag, I emailed the fwp to see if they could point me in the right direction. After a number of years of being leftovers I just assumed it would be a given to get a tag, but i seem to recall some guys on here not drawing last year.
 
On your deer tag you can shoot either a mule deer or a whitetail deer in most districts. The only exception is if you try and draw for a specific district that is limited on mule deer. Then you could only hunt mule deer in that district and no other districts, but you could still shoot a whitetail in the mule deer district you applied for.
 
On your deer tag you can shoot either a mule deer or a whitetail deer in most districts. The only exception is if you try and draw for a specific district that is limited on mule deer. Then you could only hunt mule deer in that district and no other districts, but you could still shoot a whitetail in the mule deer district you applied for.

So a General MT Deer tag allows you to shoot either a whitetail or mule deer (not both), and you can hunt in ANY general unit across the state?
 
So a General MT Deer tag allows you to shoot either a whitetail or mule deer (not both), and you can hunt in ANY general unit across the state?
General tag allows either a whitetail or mule deer BUCK in most areas (some are LE only and then you can hunt MD only in that HD). Some HDs allow for a permit to take an additional mule deer doe. Some HDs offer additional whitetail doe tag(s). So there are lots of deer hunting options, but one must read closely the particular hunting district regulations. The information is pretty straightforward, but varies enough that it seems complicated. Read carefully.
 
It took me a little while studying the MT regs when I moved here in 11 to understand them, but it didn't take long to realize that they aren't as difficult as folks make them out to be. I posted this about a month ago on another forum, but should help you understand the regs:

I don't know the entire draw process for a nonresident, but determining what, where, and when you can hunt is not really that difficult. I don't know when your application deadlines are, but you have to have a General License no matter where you plan to hunt. A permit allows you to hunt a specific location, but not all areas require a permit. The district specific regulations tell you what, where, and when you can hunt with your general tag and what if any requires a permit. Some permits are unlimited, but limit you to that area only once drawn. Some permits are limited. Not all permits limit you to hunt the area that they are drawn for.

Anyone that wants to hunt deer or elk, must have a General Deer License or a General Elk License. For a nonresident that's a Deer Combo, an Elk Combo, or a Big Game Combo (deer and elk). There are some prerequisites that need to be purchased to apply for these, make sure you know what they are. Last year was the first time since the big price increase that some of these were overapplied for, so some folks did not draw.

The following are the 2017 regs for Hunt District (HD) 705 (don't confuse them with 2018):

el8q2p.jpg

Start at the top under General Deer License. With a General Deer License (in 2017) you can kill either sex mule deer or eaither sex whitetail Sept. 02 to Oct.15 in the archery only season. You can kill either sex mule deer or either sex whitetail deer Oct. 21 - Nov. 16 during the general season(rifle season).

Then there are three different Deer B licenses.
007-03 must be drawn, there are 7500 licenses available, they are valid in all Region 7 HD's, it is good for antlerless Mule deer only. It is an additional license and not a permit.
007-00 can be purchased over the counter, they are unlimited, one per hunter and are for antlerless whitetail deer in all Region 7 HD's. It is an additional license and not a permit.
007-01 can be purchased over the counter, there are 2000, but are for residents only.

After that it says General Elk License.
With a General License you can hunt Antlerless elk only in the archery only season Sept.2 - Oct.15 and in the general season(rifle) Oct.21-Nov.26, but the general license is not valid on NF during the rifle season.

Then it says Elk Permit
These do not allow an additional elk, but allow you to kill either sex in an area that you otherwise couldn't. As shown above the general license only allows you to kill an antlerless elk in 705 and not on NF during the rifle season. If you want to shoot a bull in 705, you must draw one of the following permits.
799-20, these are a limited drawing, there are 225 total permits available and are only valid in HD 702, 702, 705, It is good for either sex elk Sept2-Oct.15(archery only) and Oct.21-Nov.26.
900-20, there are 3700 permits available and is an archery only permit and has a whole list of areas that this permit allows you to hunt.
These permits do not say that once drawn that is the only area that you can hunt, so you could draw, show up, not find elk, and decide to go check out an area that only requires a general license to shoot an elk and hunt there instead.

Then Elk B License
The licenses listed must be drawn and allow an antlerless elk in the specified locations at the specified time. A B License is an additional license and allows an additional elk (typically a cow).
 
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Now, let's take a look at an area that requires a permit to hunt Mule Deer:

HD 392
2rr1ger.jpg

Start at the top again under General Deer License:
Sept.02-Oct.15, Archery Only Season, you can kill antlerless mule deer or either sex whitetail
Oct.21-Nov.26 (rifle season) you can kill either sex whitetail deer only.

Note that with a general tag you cannot kill a mule deer buck unless you draw the following permit.

Deer Permit
392-50, you must apply for the permit but they are unlimited, one per hunter, and it states "Holders of this permit may not hunt antlered buck mule deer in any other HD"
It then tells you when you can use the permit. Sept.2-Oct.15 Archery only, Oct.21-Nov.26 General Season (rifles or archery is allowed during the general season, but most folks call it the rifle season)
This permit does not allow you additional deer, but allows you to hunt MD Bucks in HD 392 and it limits you to hunting MD bucks in 392 only. However, if you can't find a mule deer buck or just can't make it to 392, you can still kill a whitetail buck in any HD that allows you to kill an whitetail buck with a general license.

In reference to the question about killing a mule deer doe (antlerless mule deer) if you have the buck permit. In this particular unit, the buck permit only limits where you can hunt buck mule deer. It does not limit where you can shoot either sex whitetail or antlerless mule deer. During the Archery Only Season, a mule deer doe would be fair game because she is allowed on your general license. However, a mule deer doe is not allowed during the rifle season. Once you kill the mule deer doe, you've filled your general deer license (unless you have a B tag for her, but 392 did not have B mule deer tags in 2017) and your buck permit is worthless at that point.

If you keep going down through the regs for 392 you can see what can be hunted with the general elk license and what requires a permit, and what B tags are available.
 
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