Montana Hunting License: $10.00, $26 With a Tag
In Montana the licence is $10.00 and the first deer costs $26
What a season in Montana actually costs to start
A resident hunting licence in Montana is $10.00, sold as the Base Hunting License. Hunting a deer on it means buying the General License (Deer) as well, at $16.00, so the first day costs $26 rather than $10.00. That is 160% more than the licence price a search result would have shown. 39 of the 50 states read here work the same way. The licence itself runs a licence year with its own start and end dates, set by the state rather than by the calendar.
- Resident licence $10.00, the Base Hunting License
- Nonresident licence $50.00
- First deer on top of it $16.00, the General License (Deer)
- What the first morning costs $26
- The licence runs runs a licence year with its own start and end dates, set by the state rather than by the calendar
- Hunter education required of anyone born on or after 1985
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks sells it through its own licensing system, which is where a fee change appears first.
Every Montana hunting licence, at the price Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks prints
Eleven tags and permits were read off Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks's own fee pages for Montana, each one priced below with the row it sits in. A tag is a second purchase, and the licence price on its own is the first half of what a season costs.
- Conservation License$8.00
access to most state lands including fishing access sites and wildlife management areas, and it is the prerequisite for every other licence
annual
Montana's Conservation License is a prerequisite for all resident and nonresident licenses. Deadline/Availability: Over-the-Counter Resident Cost: $8 Youth 12-17 Resident Cost: $4 Senior 62+ Resident Cost: $4 Nonresident Cost: $10
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Base Hunting License$10.00
nothing on its own, it is the fee that must be paid before any resident hunting licence or tag is issued
annual
This is an annual fee and will be assessed at the time the hunter purchases or applies for his/her first hunting license, including upland and migratory bird licenses. Deadline/Availability: Over-the-Counter Resident Cost: $10 Nonresident Cost: $50
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Conservation License$10.00
access to most state lands, and it is the prerequisite for every other licence
annual
Montana's Conservation License is a prerequisite for all resident and nonresident licenses. Deadline/Availability: Over-the-Counter Resident Cost: $8 Youth 12-17 Resident Cost: $4 Senior 62+ Resident Cost: $4 Nonresident Cost: $10
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Base Hunting License$50.00
nothing on its own, it is the fee that must be paid before any nonresident hunting licence or tag is issued
annual
This is an annual fee and will be assessed at the time the hunter purchases or applies for his/her first hunting license, including upland and migratory bird licenses. Deadline/Availability: Over-the-Counter Resident Cost: $10 Nonresident Cost: $50
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - 3-day Upland Game Bird License$60.00
three days of upland bird hunting for a nonresident, not sage grouse and not pheasants in the opening week
3 day
$60: 3-day license for nonresidents. The license is not valid for sage grouse at any time or for ring-neck pheasants during the opening week of the season.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Big Game Combination- Youth (12-17) - Sponsored$656.00
the same nonresident deer, elk, upland bird and fishing package at the sponsored youth rate
annual
Big Game Combination- Youth (12-17) - Sponsored $656.00 - For information, call 406-444-2950.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Conservation License (Resident Youth 12-17 or Senior 62+)$4.00
the same state lands access and licence prerequisite at the reduced youth and senior rate
annual
Conservation License $8.00 $4.00 $8.00 $10.00 Prerequisite.
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Sportsman's with bear$79.50
resident general deer, general elk, black bear, upland bird excluding turkey and season fishing in one package
annual
Sportsman's Combination Includes Deer, Elk, State Lands, Upland Bird (excluding turkey) & Season Fishing Licenses. $8.00 or $4.00 Conservation License, $10.00 fee for the Base Hunting License and $2.00 AISPP fee are also required. ... Sportsman's with bear $79.50 $79.50 $79.50
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Big Game Combination- Drawing$1,312.00
nonresident general deer, general elk, upland bird excluding turkey and season fishing, but only if the applicant is drawn
annual
Big Game Combination: Includes General Deer, General Elk, Upland Bird (excluding turkey), and Season Fishing licenses. For information call 406-444-2950. Big Game Combination- Drawing $1,312.00 April 1
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
When a Montana hunting license expires Licence year
Montana runs a licence year with its own start and end dates, set by the state rather than by the calendar. The year turns on a date the state picked, usually in the spring or early autumn, so what a licence is worth depends on where in that year it was bought. The sentence the state uses is quoted below and links to the page it came from.
A Montana licence runs with the state licence year that opens on 1 March and closes at the end of February, so one bought late in the year has less of that year left.
The license is valid March 1 through Feb. 28 of the following year.Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
Montana hunter education: born on or after 1985
Montana hangs hunter education on a birth date rather than on an age: the requirement reaches anybody born after 1985. Every state that publishes a cutoff publishes a different one, and across this reading they run from 1949 to 1986, which is why a national answer to this question is always wrong somewhere.
Anyone born after January 1, 1985 must show proof of a completed hunter education course before they can buy or apply for a Montana hunting licence, and the Apprentice Hunter programme lets someone 10 or older hunt supervised for up to two years without it.
To purchase or apply for a Montana hunting license, any person born after January 1, 1985, must provide proof of having successfully completed a hunter education course issued by Montana, any other state or any Canadian province. A student must be at least 10 years old to register for Montana's hunter education courses. ... The Apprentice Hunter program allows anyone 10 or older to hunt for up to two years without completing a hunter education course. Certain restrictions apply, and anyone certified as an Apprentice must be accompanied by a certified Mentor.Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
Who counts as a Montana resident
Montana draws the resident line at 180 days, and the difference between the two sides of it is $10.00 against $50.00. The statutory definition is quoted below.
To be a lawful Montana resident and eligible to purchase any Montana resident fishing, hunting, and trapping licenses, you must, have been physically living in Montana for at least 180 consecutive days immediately prior to purchasing a resident license;Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
39 of 50 states sell the animal separately from the right to hunt it
Montana works the way most of the country does. Of the 50 states read here, 39 sell the tag apart from the licence and 11 print it on the licence instead. Where the tag is separate, the middle state adds 95% to the licence price before anybody has left the driveway.
Resident licences across these states run from $10 to $64.54, and nonresident licences from $50 to $410, which is the widest spread on any licence this site has read. 25 states run a licence year of their own, 9 give a full year from the day of sale, and 9 end it on 31 December whatever month it was bought.
The national table puts Montana beside every other state on licence price, first tag, and the two added together.
Montana hunting license questions
More for Montana
Hunting licenses in every state
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks read 23 September 2026, with every licence price, tag price, expiry rule and hunter education cutoff above linked to the page it came from. Fees are set by statute or by a commission and change between seasons, so the agency page beside each figure is what governs on the day. Tags on top