Montana Nonresident License Costs and Deadlines: The Straight Numbers
You sat down to price a Montana trip, and the numbers did not add up.
One page quotes $1,312 for a big game combination. Another lists a different figure for the same tag. An outfitter tells you the license is the cheap part, and then never tells you what the expensive part actually costs. Nobody hands you the whole bill in one place with the year attached, so you can build a real budget and hit a real deadline.
That is the gap this page fills. Below is the full nonresident fee table for the 2026 license year, the complete application deadline calendar, and an honest accounting of the costs that hide behind the headline number. Every figure here traces to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), the agency that sets it. Every fee and every date carries its year, because FWP changes both, and a page without the year is a page you cannot trust.
The full nonresident fee table (2026)
Nonresidents shop the license line first, so start there. These are the 2026 figures from FWP's nonresident fee schedule.
| License or fee | 2026 nonresident price |
|---|---|
| Conservation License | $10 |
| Base Hunting License | $50 |
| AISPP (aquatic invasive species prevention) | $7.50 |
| General Big Game (Deer & Elk) Combination | $1,312 |
| General Elk Combination | $1,112 |
| General Deer Combination | $760 |
| Deer B | $80 draw / $75 over the counter |
| Elk B | $275 draw / $270 over the counter |
| Black Bear | $350 |
| Antelope (pronghorn) | $200 (confirm the current figure for your year) |
| Moose / Sheep / Goat / Bison | $1,250 |
| Preference Point | $100 |
| Application fee | $5 |
Two things in that table need a note before you go further.
First, the antelope fee. FWP's resident and nonresident fee pages and the printed regulations have not agreed on this figure, and the gap is roughly the size of the application fee. Quote $200 if you are building a budget, and confirm the current figure for your year against the fee page before you send money.
Second, the application fee. The standard application runs $5. The once-in-a-lifetime species — moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, and bison — carry their own, higher application fee: $10 for residents and $50 for nonresidents. That is a small number next to a $1,250 tag, but it is a real number, and it is the kind of line most guides leave out entirely.
What each Combination actually includes
The word "Combination" confuses people, so here is what it means in plain terms.
A General Big Game Combination gives you both a general deer license and a general elk license. A General Deer Combination gives you the deer license only. A General Elk Combination gives you the elk license only. Each one also includes an upland game bird license, excluding turkey, and a season fishing license for the state.
That fishing license matters more than it sounds. If your trip runs long, or the elk are quiet and you have an afternoon, that line is already paid for. You are carrying a valid Montana fishing license on a hunt tag.
Then there is the rule that shapes every nonresident's planning: one Combination per nonresident, per year. You do not buy a Big Game Combination and also pick up a Deer Combination. You choose one, you draw it or you don't, and that is your season. FWP sets the cap deliberately. It spreads a limited pool of nonresident tags across the largest number of hunters it can.
Nonresidents cannot buy general deer or elk licenses over the counter. Resident hunters can, and most do. If you live out of state, the Combination is the lever, and it only moves through the draw.
A Combination holder may add up to two Deer B licenses on top. Those are generally antlerless, and they are how a lot of nonresident hunters fill a second tag or take home more meat than the general license alone allows.
The full deadline calendar for 2026
Miss a deadline in Montana and you do not get a second chance that year. There is no late window and no appeal. Put these on your own calendar, with the year on each one, because the dates move.
| What you are applying for | 2026 application window | Draw timing |
|---|---|---|
| Nonresident Combination + deer/elk permits | Mar 1 – Apr 1, 2026 | mid-April |
| Moose / bighorn sheep / mountain goat / bison | deadline May 1, 2026 | mid-May |
| Antelope + Deer B / Elk B (drawing) | deadline Jun 1, 2026 | — |
| Mountain lion (limited) | deadline Jul 22, 2026 | mid-August |
| Surplus (leftover) licenses — sign-up | Jun 15 – Jul 15, 2026 | then unsold go OTC |
| Returned nonresident Combos — Alternates List | May 1 – Jun 1, 2026 | availability peaks early fall |
The two that decide most nonresident trips are the top rows. The Combination deadline is April 1, 2026, with the draw running in mid-April. Miss it and your only remaining path to a Combination that year is the Alternates List or a returned tag, and both are thin.
The Alternates List is worth understanding, because almost nobody explains it well. When a nonresident draws a Combination and then returns it, that tag can be offered to someone on the list. You sign up between May 1 and June 1, 2026, and availability tends to peak in early fall, when plans change and tags come back. It is not a reliable plan. It is a real second chance.
The surplus list is the other second chance. You sign up between Jun 15 and Jul 15, 2026, and whatever is left after the drawings goes over the counter. For the marquee species, surplus is close to empty. For some B licenses and leftovers, it is where they end up.
If you are chasing the hard draws, the mountain lion and the antelope windows matter too. Antelope is draw only, deadline Jun 1, 2026, and it is the kind of tag a first-time nonresident can realistically plan around. Mountain lion is limited and due Jul 22, 2026.
The "hidden" costs, added up
Here is where the headline number and the real number separate.
FWP sells the Combination, and it also requires you to hold a Conservation License and a Base Hunting License to hunt at all. Nonresidents then pay the AISPP — the aquatic invasive species prevention pass — on top. These are not optional, and they are not included in the $1,312.
Do the arithmetic for a General Big Game Combination:
- Big Game Combination: $1,312
- Conservation License: $10
- Base Hunting License: $50
- AISPP: $7.50
- Total: $1,379.50
An Elk Combination runs $1,112 plus the same $67.50 in add-ons, which is $1,179.50. A Deer Combination runs $760 plus $67.50, which is $827.50. Add the $5 application fee, and the true entry cost for the big game tag is a little over $1,384.
Nobody is hiding this from you on purpose, exactly. FWP publishes every one of these lines. But they are on separate pages, and almost no summary page puts them together. Now you have the whole bill for 2026 in one place, which is the point of this page.
Budget the add-ons. A hunter who plans for $1,312 and shows up with $1,312 has $67.50 less than he thought.
The cheaper routes, and who qualifies
The Combination draw is the default path for a nonresident. It is not the only one, and for some readers it is the wrong one. Three routes cost less, and each has its own gate.
B licenses. A Deer B runs $80 in the draw or $75 over the counter; an Elk B runs $275 or $270. These are generally antlerless tags, often for a specific district or private land, and many antlerless drawings are far easier to win than a Combination. If your goal is meat and a first Montana season rather than a trophy, a B license plus a fishing license can be the honest entry point. A Combination holder may add up to two Deer B on top.
Landowner-Sponsor Deer Combination. FWP sets aside 2,000 sponsored nonresident Deer Combination licenses. A landowner with 640 or more acres can sponsor up to two hunters. The license price is the same $760 Deer Combination, but it does not come out of the general draw pool, so it is a different door. If you have a landowner relationship in Montana, this is the route to ask about. Most hunters do not, and that is fine — know the price and know it exists.
Come Home to Hunt. For former Montana residents, the sponsor must be resident family, and the quota is 500 each. The prices are real: Big Game Combination $656, Elk $556, Deer $380, and you apply Mar 1 – Apr 1, 2026. If you grew up in Montana and moved away, this is the single biggest discount in the entire system, and it is under your name.
Nonresident Native License. If you were born in Montana, the same prices apply — and this license is unlimited and over the counter. There is no draw, no quota, no deadline race. If you were born in Montana and hunt out of state now, this is the line to confirm against your own record before you plan anything else.
There is also Landowner Preference, which reserves 15% of a district's quota for qualifying landowners. Deer, Deer B, and antelope entries need 160 or more acres in primarily agricultural use; elk and elk B entries need 640 or more contiguous acres. That is a landowner tool, not a nonresident shortcut, but it explains why some districts fill differently than the draw numbers alone suggest.
Whatever route you take, access is half the hunt. Montana runs one of the largest hunter-access programs in the country through Block Management, which opens private land to public hunting at no cost, and the state is nearly one-third public land.
The honest picture
Now the part most fee pages skip.
The fees are real, they are large, and they have been rising. A nonresident Big Game Combination at $1,312, plus the required add-ons, is not a casual purchase. Treating it like one is how hunters end up with a tag they cannot use well. So here is what the Ally in us has to say.
Do not apply for a tag you have no plan to hunt. A Combination you draw is a Combination you have spent $1,379.50 on. If your schedule, your budget, or your fitness cannot support eleven days in the mountains, the tag is not the prize. Draw it when you can use it.
Do not sleep on the one-per-year rule. You get one Combination. If you are also thinking about a premium limited-entry permit, understand that some of those live inside the same application and the same season. Read the elk tag application process before you send anything.
Do not build points you will lose. Preference points apply only to the nonresident Combination drawing. They cost $100 each, they max out at 3, they are used up when you draw, and they are lost if you skip a year. That last clause costs more hunters more money than any other line in the system. Buy the point every year you are serious, or buy none.
Do not confuse the two kinds of points. Bonus points for permits are squared chances — FWP's own example: 10 points becomes (10 × 10) + 1, which is 101 entries. That is not a preference ladder. Only the nonresident Combination uses true preference points, where 75% of licenses go in preference-point order and 25% go to a random draw among zero-point applicants. If the two are blurred in your head, start with what a bonus point actually is and then read the full mechanics on bonus points.
And confirm your year. Every date and fee on this page is the 2026 cycle. FWP sets season dates and deadlines every year, and the numbers move. Before you apply, check the current FWP fee page and the current application dates. A figure from last year is not a figure for this year.
That is the honest picture. The system is expensive, it is competitive, and it is also published, at least by FWP. Our job is to put it in one place and hand it to you. If any of it makes you decide a lower-cost tag or a different year is the smarter buy, the page did its work.
FAQ
How much does a Montana nonresident hunting license cost in 2026?
The headline nonresident tags for 2026 are a General Big Game (Deer & Elk) Combination at $1,312, a General Elk Combination at $1,112, and a General Deer Combination at $760. Add the required Conservation License ($10), Base Hunting License ($50), and AISPP ($7.50), and a Big Game Combination totals about $1,379.50 before the $5 application fee.
What is the deadline to apply for a Montana nonresident deer or elk combination in 2026?
The application window runs Mar 1 – Apr 1, 2026, with the draw in mid-April. Miss it and your remaining paths are the returned-tag Alternates List or the surplus sign-up, both of which are thin for Combinations.
Can I buy a Montana nonresident deer or elk license over the counter?
No. Nonresidents must draw a Combination license. General deer and elk licenses are sold over the counter only to residents. Some B licenses and leftover tags do go over the counter after the drawings.
How many preference points do I need for a Montana nonresident Combination?
Preference points apply only to the nonresident Combination drawing, cost $100 each, and max out at 3. In that drawing, 75% of licenses go in preference-point order and 25% go to a random draw among zero-point applicants, so points help but they are not a guarantee at any level. Points are lost if you skip a year and used up when you draw.
Is there a cheaper Montana nonresident license if I used to live there?
Yes, in two cases. Come Home to Hunt for former residents runs Big Game $656, Elk $556, and Deer $380, with a sponsor who is resident family and a quota of 500 each, applied for Mar 1 – Apr 1, 2026. The Nonresident Native License for people born in Montana carries the same prices and is unlimited and over the counter.
Get the draw odds and the deadlines in one place
You now have the fees and the calendar for 2026. The next question is whether you will actually draw, and that depends on the unit you pick and the points you carry.
Our Draw Odds & Deadline Calendar puts the FWP draw data beside every key date, so you can see how a bighorn sheep or elk tag actually behaves in the unit you want before you commit the application fee. Get the numbers, pick the right year, and hunt the tag you drew instead of wishing you had drawn a different one.
Everything on this page is the 2026 cycle and traces to FWP. Re-verify against the current regulations before you apply.