In an effort to reign in hunting pressure from out-of-staters, Montana wildlife commissioners voted unanimously this week to significantly reduce the number of nonresident deer tags available in 2026 and 2027. Under the amendment that was approved at a commission meeting Wednesday, the state’s fish-and-game department will implement a sales cap limiting nonresident hunters to half the number of general deer licenses sold. (These will be counted separately from the elk combination licenses.)
This could lead to a reduction of around 2,500 nonresident deer tags, according to a report by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. This figure is based on the overall number of general deer licenses that MFWP has sold historically.
The amendment to the two-year hunting rules that resulted in the decision was offered by commission chair Lesley Robinson, who represents the northeast corner of Montana. She noted a significant increase in nonresident hunting pressure in both regions 6 and 7 in the eastern part of the state.
“Relative to residents, the number of nonresident hunters, their hunting effort, and their harvest have become points of focus for the legislature, commission, and the public, including landowners,” reads an MFWP report giving a rationale for the tag reductions.
The MFWP report points out that as hunting pressure from nonresidents has increased in recent years, Montana’s mule deer populations have declined in many areas. Some of the state’s whitetail herds are also suffering due to an EHD die-off this fall.
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The most significant EHD impacts have been in regions 6 and 7 in eastern Montana, which, as Robinson noted, is also where the majority of nonresident deer hunting pressure occurs. MFWP estimates that more than 11,000 nonresident deer tags were sold in those two regions alone in 2023 — roughly the same number of tags sold in the other five regions combined. Wildlife managers have likewise estimated that the nonresident deer harvest in both regions exceeds the resident harvest.
Given these concerns, the agency notes that a reduction of around 2,500 nonresident tags would help alleviate some of the overall harvest pressure, while still providing nonresident hunters with approximately 12,000 deer tags statewide.
These cuts could also lead to a roughly $1.7 million shortfall in license revenue for MFWP, however, which is something the department says it will have to address.
Resident hunters will likewise see changes to deer tag allocations based on the commissioners’ recent meeting, according to KTVH News. Another amendment that passed unanimously Wednesday will reduce the number of general deer tags a resident can hold from eight to three.
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The commission this week also voted to increase the number of archery antelope permits available in most areas of the state. Commissioner Brian Cebull originally proposed increasing the quota of 900-series archery-only tags to 7,000, but later amended his increase to 5,600 after receiving pushback from fellow commissioners and the public.
The 5,600 permits would ensure that nearly every resident applicant draws. Nonresidents would have about a 40 percent chance of drawing every year. The permits would be valid statewide with the exception of Region 3 in southwest Montana.
Commissioners argued that the increase in archery antelope permits runs contrary to public comments on the proposals, which overwhelmingly supported limiting nonresident hunting participation in Montana.
“I think you go through all the public comments that we received for this season-setting period, I’d say one of the highest concerns we heard was crowding and excessive nonresident permits,” noted Commissioner K.C. Walsh.
The commission’s actions govern hunting rules and permit quotas for both the 2026 and 2027 seasons.
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