Montana Draw System Explained (2026): Preference Points, BOnus Points, and Strategies

Mar 24

Montana has one of the most confusing application systems in the West, and that is not an exaggeration.

There are plenty of states where the application process is annoying. Montana goes a step beyond that. This is one of those states where if you do not understand how the moving parts work together, you can waste money, waste points, or lock yourself into decisions you did not mean to make. And with preference points now costing $100 each, these are no longer little mistakes.

That is why this guide matters. If you are applying for Montana elk, deer, or the big game combo in 2026, you need to understand the difference between preference points and bonus points, how the general tag draw happens before limited entry, how the refund options work, and why some of the draw odds in Montana make almost no sense at first glance.

The good news is once you slow it down, the system is understandable. It is still messy, but it is understandable.

The Montana deadline and point-only windows for 2026

The deadline to apply is April 1 at 11:45 p.m. Mountain Time. Results usually show up about two to three weeks later, typically somewhere around April 14 to April 17 based on prior years.

Montana also has separate point-only periods later in the year. Preference points can be purchased from July 1 through December 31. Bonus points can be purchased from July 1 through September 30.

That sounds simple enough, but there is a major catch hidden in there. If you already have preference points and you do not apply this year, you lose them. Buying a point later in the summer does not protect the points you already had. That rule is one of the most important pieces of the entire Montana system because it changes how you have to think about planning ahead.

Montana has two different draws happening in sequence

For nonresidents, Montana really works in two stages:

First, you draw your combination license. That is your general license draw. This is where preference points come into play.

Second, if you chose to apply for a limited entry permit, that draw happens afterward and uses bonus points.

That order matters. You do not get to go straight into the limited entry permit draw on its own. You first need to draw the general combination license. Only after that can you be considered for the limited entry permit you selected.

What Montana means by “combo licenses”

Montana uses the word “combo” in a way that throws people off, especially newer applicants.

The big game combo includes your general elk tag and your general deer tag, along with the extra required pieces like your conservation, base license, fishing, and upland. The elk combo is the same concept, but it only includes the elk tag and those add-ons. The deer combo does the same on the deer side.

So when Montana says combo, they are not always talking about elk plus deer. Sometimes they are talking about one species plus all the required license add-ons bundled into one purchase. That is why the names feel more confusing than they should.

On the nonresident side, the elk combo and big game combo come from the same pool of 17,000 available licenses. The deer combo has its own pool of 4,600 deer licenses.

What Are Preference Points For?

Preference points in Montana are only for drawing your combination license. They are not species-specific, which is another place people get tripped up.

You do not have separate elk preference points and deer preference points. You just have one set of preference points. If you use them to draw an elk combo, they go back to zero. If you use them to draw a deer combo, they go back to zero. If you use them to draw the big game combo, they go back to zero.

That means you cannot really alternate species the way people sometimes want to. You cannot draw elk one year while building deer points in the background for the next year, then flip it around. Montana does not let the system work that way. You are building one preference point track for your general combo license, and when you cash it in, you are back to the start.

This is just one of the ways Montana forces us non-residents to plan multiple years in advance.

Bonus points are a completely separate system

Bonus points are for limited entry permits, and unlike preference points, they are species-specific.

That means you can have elk bonus points, deer bonus points, antelope bonus points, and so on. They cost $25 per species, and they are squared in the draw. If you have five bonus points, you go into the draw with 25 chances. If you buy another point and get to six, you go in with 36 chances.

Preference points help you get in the door with the general combo license. Bonus points help you chase the better limited entry permit once you are already in the building.

The limited entry process is layered on top of the general tag

Here is the practical version of how this works.

You apply first for your general combination license. During that process, you can choose whether you also want to apply for a limited entry permit. If you say yes, you then choose your permit options. Montana gives you three choices.

But here is how the permit draw actually works. Everyone’s first choice gets looked at before anyone’s second choice. Then second choices are considered only if tags remain. Then third choices after that.

In reality, the high-demand units are gone in the first round. The units that survive into second and third choice rounds are generally lower-demand permits. That does not mean they are worthless, but it does usually mean they are not offering much of an upgrade over what you could already hunt with the general tag.

One interesting quirk is that if you draw a limited entry permit on your second or third choice, you keep your bonus points. That can be useful in a narrow set of situations, but for most people the bigger takeaway is simpler: your first choice is the only place you should expect to draw most permits.

WHAT ABOUT REFUNDS?

Montana gives you a few options for what happens if you draw your combination license but do not draw your limited entry permit.

The first option, and the one most people should probably choose, is simply keeping your combination license and hunting general. That is the cleanest path and usually the most logical one.

The second option is returning your whole combination license for an 80% refund. The part a lot of people do not realize is that you still lose your preference points. That is a brutal trade for most hunters. You are taking only part of your money back and you are still burning points you paid hundreds to build.

The third option applies to people who drew the big game combo. If you do not draw your limited entry elk permit, you can return the elk portion, keep the deer tag, and receive a $315 refund.

That option has some practical use, but the larger point is this: most people are not going to improve their situation by returning tags. Most people should think of limited entry as a swing-for-the-fences add-on. If they hit, great. If they do not, they still have a Montana general hunt in their pocket.

Why the Montana draw odds look so weird

This is where Montana starts to feel broken if you are seeing it for the first time.

For preference points, Montana splits the general nonresident tags into two buckets. 75% of the tags go to preference point holders. 25% go to applicants with zero preference points.

That structure creates some extremely odd results.

For elk and the big game combo, someone applying with zero points has roughly 50% odds. Someone applying with one point has 0% odds. At two points, the odds jump to about 80%, and at three points, it is a guarantee.

For deer, the numbers are a little different but still strange. A zero-point applicant has about a 55% chance. A one-point applicant has about a 48% chance. Once you get to two or more points, you are at 100% odds.

So yes, Montana is one of the few places where you can literally have better draw odds at zero points than you do at one point.

Montana lets people buy a preference point at the time they apply, and a lot of people do exactly that. So the one-point pool gets overloaded. It becomes the crowded middle lane in the whole process. That is why the one-point bracket can become such a trap for elk hunters who are hoping to draw their first year.

Group applications

Montana also handles group applications differently depending on which stage of the process you are talking about.

On the permit side, where bonus points apply, the maximum group size is five and the points are averaged and then rounded to the nearest whole number. That means a group averaging 2.66 gets rounded up to three, which is a major advantage because three squared gives you nine entries. A group averaging 2.33 gets rounded down to two, which drops them to four entries. That is a meaningful swing.

On the general tag side, where preference points apply, the max group size is also five, but the group average is carried out to the third decimal place and there is no rounding. That removes any gaming the system there. You do not get surprise bonus value or penalty value from the rounding; you simply fall where your average falls.

So What Should You Do?

This is where the strategy comes in.

If you have zero points right now and want to hunt Montana elk or the big game combo this year:
I would not buy a point. Your odds are about 50% with zero points, and if you buy the point, your odds drop to zero for this year. If your goal is to hunt now, buying the point works directly against that goal.

If you have zero points and do not want to hunt elk or big game combo this year, but want to draw next year:
This is where buying the point makes sense. You are basically giving up this season or planning ahead so you can move yourself into a much stronger position for the next one.

If you already have one point and want to hunt elk or big game combo this year:
You should buy another point. One point gives you 0% odds. Two points gets you around 80%. This is one of the clearest examples in the whole system where the right move depends entirely on what you are trying to do this season.

If you have one point but do not want to hunt this year and want to hunt next year:
You can apply without buying another point. That keeps the point from being purged, although it only really makes sense as a short-term bridge move. Do that over and over and the application fees start to outpace the value you are trying to save. Basically, you’re spending $50 in app fees to save $100 in preference points.

If you have two or more preference points and plan on elk hunting:
Montana has basically forced your hand. At this stage you are so invested in the system that not applying means risking $200 or $300 of points. If you have two points and want a guaranteed tag, buying one more point gets you there. If you are okay with a little uncertainty, you can apply without buying another point and sit around 80% to save the $100.

The deer side is a little cleaner.

If you have zero points and want to hunt Montana deer as soon as possible:
Buying a point when you apply makes a lot of sense because the current-year odds are roughly 50/50 either way, but the extra point sets you up for guaranteed odds next year if you do not draw. If you only want Montana as a one-year gap plan and are not interested in being tied to the system next year, then applying with zero points saves $100 and doesn’t commit you to applying next year to avoid losing your points.

If you have two or more points and are planning on deer hunting:
You are at guaranteed odds already. There is no reason to spend another $100 buying a point you do not need. At this stage, the question is not whether to buy a point. The question is whether you are applying or walking away and eating the loss. If you are no longer planning on hunting Montana for elk or deer in the next 3+ years, it might make sense to just skip the application and forfeit your points.

The biggest Montana rule to remember

If you take one thing away from this article, it should be this:

If you have preference points, you must apply for a license to keep them. Buying a preference point later in the summer does not protect your existing points. And if you apply without buying a point, you cannot buy a point later during the point-only period.

Why Montana now requires a multi-year plan

This is probably my biggest practical takeaway from the whole state.

Montana is no longer a state where it makes a lot of sense to wake up in March and ask, “What are my best options this year?” That approach works in some places. It does not work very well here.

Montana now rewards hunters who think in two- and three-year windows. You need to know whether you want to hunt in 2026, 2027, or 2028. You need to know whether you care more about hunting as soon as possible or maximizing your draw odds one year later. And you need to know how Montana fits with your plans in other states, because once you start buying $100 preference points here, the system pushes you toward staying engaged.

That is why Montana feels so restrictive to a lot of nonresidents. It is not just that the system is confusing. It is that the system reduces your options.

My honest take on the Montana system

At a big-picture level, I understand what Montana is trying to do. They do not want people stacking up points forever and then parachuting into the system whenever they feel like it. They want hunters moving through the process, making decisions, and not clogging the top of the point pool indefinitely.

From the state’s point of view, that probably does help.

From the individual hunter’s point of view, I do not think it is a very friendly system. It forces decisions. It punishes uncertainty. And it makes you commit earlier and more often than a lot of hunters would prefer. That may help the state manage demand, but it does not necessarily help the average nonresident make better decisions for their own hunting plans.

So no, I am not a huge fan of the structure. But whether I like it or not, it is the system we have to play under. And if you understand it clearly, you can at least avoid the biggest mistakes.

Final thoughts on Montana applications for 2026

Montana can still be a great hunt. The mistake is assuming the application system is simple enough to figure out on the fly.

It is not.

This is one of those states where the draw system itself is part of the strategy. You need to know what you want before you apply. You need to know whether you are trying to hunt this year, next year, or just stay alive in the system without wasting money. And you need to understand that elk, deer, and the big game combo do not all behave exactly the same once the numbers start moving around.

If you can get clear on those decisions ahead of time, Montana becomes a lot more manageable. Still weird. Still overly complicated. But manageable.

Next steps

If you are applying this year, pair this with the species-specific strategy guide so you are not just learning the system, but also deciding whether the hunt itself makes sense for you.

And if this saved you from wasting money or burning points the wrong way, subscribe to the podcast and follow Drawn West wherever you listen.