Updated on September 8, 2026. Confirm every fee, draw deadline, and hunter-education rule on the Montana FWP buy-and-apply page and the 2026 deer regulations before you buy. This is the field readout, not the proclamation.
| Who this is for | Resident and nonresident deer hunters in Montana (mule deer and white-tailed deer; one general license is one deer). |
|---|---|
| Buy it here | FWP Online Licensing, MyFWP, an FWP office, or a license ambassador. |
| Hunter education | Required if born after January 1, 1985. Other-state and Canadian-province cards count. Apprentice: age 10+, two license years, mentor in sight and voice. FWP hunter education. |
| What you actually buy | Conservation + base hunting + general deer (residents) or a drawn combo (most nonresidents). AISPP sits on the combo. Archery-only needs a bow-and-arrow license. Deer B is extra antlerless. A deer permit is not a second deer. |
| OTC vs draw | Residents: general deer is over the counter. Nonresidents: combo by April 1. Deer B drawing closes June 1; leftover and listed OTC B start June 15, 2026. |
| License year | March 1 through February 28. 2026 combo applications open March 1 at 5:00 a.m. MST and close April 1 at 11:45 p.m. MST. |
| Antlerless / bonus | Deer B is district-specific. Many mule B licenses are private-land only in 2026. Resident cap: three deer licenses (one general plus two B, or three B). Nonresident with a combo: two B; without: one B. |
| WMA / public extras | National forest, BLM, WMAs, and Block Management take the same deer license. No second “WMA card.” BMAs have their own sign-in. State school trust land needs the conservation license. CMR wants the refuge brochure. |
| Youth / apprentice | Youth deer-only hunt Oct. 15–16, 2026, ages 10–15 with a non-hunting adult. Turn 12 by Jan. 16, 2027: hunt after Aug. 15, 2026 once hunter ed is done. Apprentices cannot enter limited-quota drawings. |
| Where to hunt next | Montana deer hunting guide · eastern Montana BLM · Montana wilderness deer hunting |
Do not book Miles City until the paper matches the dirt
I have watched people price a cabin around the Oct. 24 general opener with a Midwest plan: “I’ll buy the tag when I get there.” That works in Michigan. It does not work for a nonresident in Montana. Residents can still buy a general deer license at a vendor. Most of the rest of us apply in March, draw in April, or we stay home. The national walkthrough lives at how to get a hunting license. This page is only Montana’s cart. Seasons and where to sit: Montana deer hunting guide.
Step 1: Hunter education
If you were born after January 1, 1985, Montana will not sell you a hunting license until a hunter-education certificate is on the account — Montana, another state, or a Canadian province. That is a 1985 cutoff, not Michigan’s 1960 line. Bring the card or the number.
In-person classes are free for ages 10 and up. Ages 18+ can finish online-only. Ages 12–17 who take it online still need a four-hour field day. Duplicates: MyFWP. Archery-only season also needs a bow-and-arrow license and bowhunter education, or a prior-year bowhunting license from any state or province.
Step 2: Resident or not
Residency is not a cabin south of Bozeman. FWP wants 180 consecutive days living in Montana immediately before you buy, vehicles registered here, Montana taxes if you file, and no resident hunting privileges somewhere else. After that you still live here as your primary home at least 120 days a year. A Wyoming address with a Miles City camp is a nonresident. Statute: MCA 87-2-102. Field version: FWP’s residency page. Active-duty military stationed here can qualify after 30 days with assignment orders and hunter ed. “Home of record” is not a hunting residency.
Step 3: What goes in the cart
Think in layers. This is not a one-line “deer license.”
- Conservation license. Prerequisite for every hunting license and the ticket onto most state lands. Adult resident listed in the single digits, nonresident around $10. Conservation license page, last checked September 2026.
- Base hunting fee. Charged on your first hunting license or application that year. Listed $10 resident, $50 nonresident on base requirements.
- General deer license if you are a resident. One deer, only for the species, sex, and district the table allows. Adult listed in the teens on the resident fee sheet. Nonresidents do not buy this line over the counter.
- Combination license if you are a nonresident. Deer Combination, Big Game Combination (deer plus elk), or landowner-sponsored. One combo per hunter. Includes season fishing and upland bird except turkey. Conservation, base hunting, and the angler AISPP are extra.
- Deer B for a second, antlerless deer in a listed district. Drawing first; some also sell OTC. A private-land-only mule B does not unlock Forest Service dirt.
- Deer permit if the district requires one to take a buck mule deer. It rides on the general license. It is not another carcass. Listed $5. Deadline April 1.
- Bow-and-arrow license for archery-only season or an archery-only district.
Cost band, last checked on FWP’s 2026 fee pages in September 2026: resident adult stack sits in the thirties. Nonresident Deer Combination is listed in the mid-$700s on the nonresident fee page; Big Game Combination is listed over $1,300. Preference points are listed at $100. Drawing applications add a nonrefundable $5. The species-guide page still shows older combo figures. Trust the fee sheet and the cart.
Step 4: Draw calendar, leftover, OTC
2026 dates from FWP’s application calendar: license year opens March 1. Nonresident combo and deer-permit applications run March 1, 5:00 a.m. MST through April 1, 11:45 p.m. MST; combo drawing mid-April. FWP lists 4,600 general Deer Combination licenses and 2,000 landowner-sponsored. Deer B drawing closes June 1 at 11:45 p.m. MST and draws mid-June. OTC Deer B starts June 15. Surplus-list sign-up for leftover drawing B licenses runs June 15–July 15; remaining unsold licenses can then go to any provider. That list is luck, not a trip plan.
Preference points, not bonus points, run the nonresident combo. Seventy-five percent of licenses go in point order; twenty-five percent go to people with zero points. Cap is three. Skip a year, or draw, and the pile zeros. Parties of up to five average their points and get one seed. Outfitter clients can buy a second point that is only valid with an outfitter. Read the preference-point page before you spend $100 on a theory.
What a nonresident can actually get this season
A first-year nonresident with zero points can apply for a Deer Combination or Big Game Combination, apply landowner-sponsored if a Montana landowner will certify you, sit the 25-percent no-point pool, or use a narrower door: Nonresident Native (FWP offices only; born here, resident relative), Come Home to Hunt (500 licenses, family sponsor, April 1 draw), or a full-time Montana college student carrying 12 credits. Youth 12–17 can ride a discounted combo if a parent, grandparent, or sibling holds a current combo or a resident deer or elk license.
Miss April 1 and leftover B licenses after June 15 are antlerless and district-specific — not a general mule-deer rifle hunt. Neighboring carts: Idaho (2026 nonresident general deer is also a draw, no preference points) and Colorado (mule deer limited; plains whitetail is the OTC product). Trip math: planning an out-of-state deer hunt. Woods: Wyoming.
How you carry it, tag it, and get it home
Carry the license. Before the carcass leaves the kill, electronically validate the tag in the MyFWP app or cut out the date on the paper tag (MCA 87-6-411). A paper tag that was not e-validated stays with the carcass. Mechanics: how to tag a deer. Paper deer licenses have no statewide harvest report; e-tagging reports when you validate. Stop at check stations you hit — Highways 2, 83, 93, and 200 in Region 1 on general-season weekends — empty truck or not. CWD testing is free and voluntary almost everywhere, and mandatory on Deer B 199-20 in HDs 100, 103, and 104 and mule permit 103-50 in HD 103. Brain and spine stay at the kill or go to a Class II landfill. Details: FWP CWD management. Symptoms: CWD in deer. Highway deer: what to do if you hit a deer.
Public land does not need a second deer license
Kootenai, Flathead, Lolo, Beaverhead-Deerlodge, Custer Gallatin, eastern BLM, and the state WMAs take the same Montana general deer license. A private-land-only B or a landowner-sponsored combo written to one ranch does not unlock a national-forest spur. Woods how-to: hunting national forest land and public land deer hunting. Block Management is enrolled private land. You still need the deer license and conservation license, plus that BMA’s sign-in and vehicle rules. Read the 2026 BMA Access Guide before you point a truck at a yellow sign. Charles M. Russell NWR is a Montana license plus the refuge brochure. Species ID: mule deer vs whitetail. The hunting-district table decides which one the general license covers.
Youth and first-timers
The two-day youth deer-only hunt is Oct. 15–16, 2026: licensed 12–15-year-olds who finished hunter ed, plus apprentice hunters 10–15, each with a non-hunting adult. Elk is closed those two days. The apprentice certificate is $5 and lasts two license years. Mentor is 21+, licensed, and stays in sight and voice contact with one apprentice. Apprentices cannot enter a limited-quota drawing, which knocks out combo and drawing B. After two years, finish hunter ed.
Common ways this goes wrong
- A nonresident waiting until September to “buy a deer tag at the gas station.”
- Skipping conservation or the base hunting fee.
- A private-land-only mule B in a national-forest parking lot.
- Calling a deer permit a second tag, or an Idaho license on Montana dirt.
- No hunter-ed number on the account, born after Jan. 1, 1985.
- Leaving the kill without validating the tag.
Where to hunt once the tag is in the truck
Start with the Montana deer hunting guide for seasons, Sunday hunting, baiting, and public land. Eastern glassing: BLM land deer hunting in eastern Montana. Pack-in timber: Montana wilderness deer hunting. Species: mule deer and white-tailed deer. Woods people skip: where to hunt. Another leftover-tag cart: Kansas deer license. Parent hub: how to get licensed · deer hunting · hunting by state.
FAQ
Can a nonresident buy a Montana general deer license over the counter? Not as a statewide walk-up. Draw a combination license by April 1, or use Native, Come Home to Hunt, student, or a leftover Deer B. Confirm on FWP nonresident fees.
Do I need hunter education? Born after January 1, 1985: yes, unless you qualify for the two-year apprentice program.
Does an Idaho or Wyoming license work here? No.
Do I need a separate license for Block Management or national forest? No. You need a valid Montana deer license and a conservation license. BMAs add sign-in rules. CMR adds the refuge brochure.
Where do I report a deer? Validate the tag at the kill — app or cut-date paper. Stop at check stations you encounter.