Montana DIY Pronghorn Hunt

[TheYoungGun]

I am looking into a DIY hunt in MT with a few friends. We are all first time antelope hunters as we've stuck to ND/MN whitetail hunting most of our lives. Looking for some insite on the best units to apply for. And also would it be best to get preference points or are general tags easy to get? I'm sure there are previous forums for this but I'd like some up to date knowledge for this next fall/upcoming years! We aren't looking for monsters, at least right away . Thanks!

 

[ultimag43]

skip montana go wyoming

 

[TheYoungGun]

skip montana go wyoming

But is it really worth the extra money to drive down there? I've heard the easy draw units are posted hard, and the public land units take years and years to draw. Can you give more info please

 

[reelhardmt]

Montana's nonresident antelope drawing can be very tough to draw. I'd look at Wyoming.

 

[nksmfamjp]

Get yourself onX or Basemap. Look at where the public and block management are….draw for 3 good areas. Then get the block management sheet for each place and figure out how to get on the land…..go hunt!

 

[338 dude]

But is it really worth the extra money to drive down there? I've heard the easy draw units are posted hard, and the public land units take years and years to draw. Can you give more info please

It's been a couple years now probably four or five but I got drawn to Hunting Wyoming on my first attempt

 

[dogz]

But is it really worth the extra money to drive down there? I've heard the easy draw units are posted hard, and the public land units take years and years to draw. Can you give more info please

IMO it's worth the extra tank of gas to get to Wyo if you can actually draw a tag............

 

[Horse1]

SE (700) is typically the easiest to draw in MT, also sees the most pressure, especially non-resident pressure. They come across on I-90, head N @ Belle Fourche to 212 and spread out @ the border from Alzeda to Jordan. Last year (2021) they cut the tags WAY back due to drought and resultant significant drop in animal population. IIRC ~40% drop. That's going to take several years of good weather/reproduction to restore the population.

SE MT didn't get very much precipitation this winter, they're going to need an awful lot of spring/early summer rain or the critter situation will get worse, not better. Certainly not the place I'd start my 1st pronghorn hunt if I were intending on hunting pronghorn fall of '22.

 

[dogz]

Region 7 success to draw for either sex in the total draw is 38.44 % (not sure on non res)

Region 7 success to draw for doe/fawn in the total draw is 2.9% (again not sure on non res)

Once Covid settles down hopefully drawing odds and point creeps will come back down to planet earth.......

 

[Horse1]

As a NR, 3 of us with either 4 or 5 points each DIDN'T draw in '21, and I'm actually glad given the poor numbers I saw driving through Western SD multiple times last summer/fall. We're going to build points for a few years until numbers improve.

 

[dogz]

did you apply as a party?

 

[Horse1]

Yes we did.

 

[leclairk]

I hunt for antelope (when I get a tag) when I hunt mule deer NE of Great Falls. Success rate for a tag is about 14% as I recall. There are no over the counter tags. I did draw a tag in 21'. There was a ton of antelope, most I had ever seen. In 20' we saw maybe 1 heard, least I've ever seen. Go figure. Last year was my 6th year going and I've drawn a tag twice. I'm an OR resident.

 

[Horse1]

Region 7 success to draw for either sex in the total draw is 38.44 % (not sure on non res)

Region 7 success to draw for doe/fawn in the total draw is 2.9% (again not sure on non res)

Once Covid settles down hopefully drawing odds and point creeps will come back down to planet earth.......

2021 NR draw odds on 1st choice for Region 7 were 12.5% and the tags were decreased 30% across the board vs. 2020. 8500 total region 7 tags in 2020 which means 850 for NR, and 6000 total region 7 tags in 2021 which means 600 for NR. Total NR applications in region 7 went from 3643 1st choice in 2020 up to 4884 1st choice in 2021.

25% increase in applicants with a 30% decrease in tag numbers = tags are gonna be tough to draw for a while.