WY or MT Archery Elk?

[CINELK]

I am planning a 2015 archery elk hunt and need to decide on building some points in either Wyoming or Montana. I don't have the cash to build points in both states. So if you had to pick one which would you chose, WY big horn mountains areas 35-37 or MT breaks unit 410-15?

[Indian Summer]

You can buy license points in either state. But in Montana you have to actually apply for the license AND the permit to get a point toward the unit permit. In WY there is only a license. You can buy points only starting in July. You will not have enough points to draw the Bighorns by 2015.

But... you don't need a permit in Montana or a top unit license in Wyoming to have good elk hunting. Montana has leftover licenses so the year you want to hunt you can just apply and draw one. Even for a general license in WY you need a point unless you want to pay top dollar for a Special General license.

[BrentLaBere]

I went through the same thing last year in trying to decide which state to apply for. I ended up with buying a point for WY and this year applying for MT.
That will put me with 2 points, after I get one this summer again, for WY and like Indian Summer said that 1 is enough for a general. Some of the top draws for WY are hard to draw even with max points from what I have found. The general areas seem to produce very good results but one needs to do research. You can also apply for MT general draw and then the permit to gain bonus points(acquire them if you are not drawn). If you do not get the permit I believe you can get a refund of 80% of the license fee. I wouldn't recommend it but it is an option.

[CINELK]

If I purchase a MT point this summer I am guessing I will be able to apply that point towards unit 410-15 for the 2014 draw correct?

[aron]

You missed the deadline (March 15th?) to apply for the MT elk season this year and with that, missed the chance at getting any points for 2014. You can however buy points for WY to put towards the 2014 season.

MT you need to apply for the tag to get points where WY you can buy points without applying.

[otcWill]

Go to Wyoming

[BrentLaBere]

aron is right to a certain extent about not being able to get points for MT. To get a bonus point (for permit areas in MT which includes 410-15) for the 2014 season you would have had to apply by March 15th, just like aron said. You can get a preference point for the 2014 season (for the general draw) but this doesn't help much considering they have left over license again this year.See link http://fwp.mt.gov/hunting/licenses/nowAvailable.html

It takes some time to understand other states drawing systems. I know I struggled with this right away.

[CINELK]

Thanks guys, your input helps out a lot. The MT point system structure was news to me, I now have a much better understanding.

[Indian Summer]

To be clear... in Montana the point you can by is for their general hunting LICENSE. Since you don't need a point to draw that is obviously a waste of money. With that license you can hunt any of the units that do not require a PERMIT.

Once you have that license you can apply for a permit such as 410. The only way to get a point for permits like that is to apply for one and not draw. As mentioned above if you don't draw the limited permit you can get an 80% refund on the license. License $809. After the refund $161.80 plus the permit fee is what the point will cost.

Right now there are leftover Montana licenses for sale but the only permits you can get are the unlimited ones. Like Aron said March 15th is the dealine for those.