Big Game by StateThe public record of western draws

Montana · Antelope · District 526

Montana antelope licence 526-20

How many people put this antelope licencefirst and how many of them drew it — year by year, separately for each of the four pools Montana draws, and separately at every bonus point level. Every figure comes from a Fish, Wildlife & Parks report linked at the foot of this page.

What the 2026 drawing did

Montana set a quota of 100 on 526-20 in 2026 and drew 100 — the quota filled. Across the four pools FWP draws separately, 3 nonresident landowner applicants put it first and 3 drew, 100.00%; 7 resident landowner applicants put it first and 7 drew, 100.00%; 26 nonresident applicants put it first and 7 drew, 26.92%; 239 resident applicants put it first and 83 drew, 34.73%.

Published in 5 of the drawing years FWP has posted, 2022 to 2026.

Drawing pool

First-choice success rate, by pool and year

The rate is the first-choice applicants in a pool who drew, divided by the first-choice applicants in that pool. Both are exact integers FWP printed in the same row, and it is the measure the department's own drawing statistics tool publishes: "the percentage of 1st choice applicants that were successful". A dash means nobody in that pool applied, so the draw answered nothing — absent, not nought.
YearPoolPool capPut it firstDrew on first choiceFirst-choice success ratePut it 2nd or 3rdDrew on 2nd or 3rd
2026Nonresident1026726.92%190
2026Resident1002398334.73%1050
2026Nonresident landowner1033100.00%——
2026Resident landowner1577100.00%——
2025Nonresident25382360.53%430
2025Resident25027222181.25%770
2025Nonresident landowner2522100.00%——
2025Resident landowner3844100.00%——
2024Nonresident25432148.84%360
2024Resident25027621979.35%1000
2024Nonresident landowner2544100.00%——
2024Resident landowner3866100.00%——
2023Nonresident25342264.71%600
2023Resident250215215100.00%1023
2023Nonresident landowner2533100.00%——
2023Resident landowner3877100.00%——
2022Nonresident25312374.19%250
2022Resident250207207100.00%8315
2022Nonresident landowner2522100.00%——
2022Resident landowner3833100.00%——

Pool cap is FWP's own QTA column, and it is a ceiling rather than an allocation. The resident regular cap equals the overall quota; the nonresident caps are ten per cent of it and cover landowner and regular nonresidents together; the resident landowner cap is fifteen per cent. The department states plainly that the ceiling is not a floor: "although the nonresident quotas are set at 10%, that entire quota may not be drawn by nonresidents", and that if every resident applicant draws, nonresidents may go over ten per cent.

Landowner rows are a different drawing, not a subset of the one below them.Landowner preference is the first stage, worth up to fifteen per cent of the quota to resident landowners, and its applicants are counted apart from the regular pool throughout. FWP publishes the landowner pools at first choice only, which is why their second and third columns are dashes rather than noughts.

Draw rate at each bonus point level

One row per bonus point level per pool per year, exactly as FWP's Detailed Bonus Point report publishes it. The rate is that level's successes divided by its applications — both exact integers in the same printed row.
YearPoolBonus pointsAppliedDrewDrew at this level
2026Nonresident05120.00%
2026Nonresident114428.57%
2026Nonresident27228.57%
2026Resident0961919.79%
2026Resident11185143.22%
2026Resident2211152.38%
2026Resident33133.33%
2026Resident411100.00%
2026Nonresident landowner011100.00%
2026Nonresident landowner122100.00%
2026Resident landowner022100.00%
2026Resident landowner155100.00%
2025Nonresident0200.00%
2025Nonresident1221150.00%
2025Nonresident211981.82%
2025Nonresident322100.00%
2025Nonresident411100.00%
2025Resident01238669.92%
2025Resident112010688.33%
2025Resident22222100.00%
2025Resident366100.00%
2025Resident411100.00%
2025Nonresident landowner122100.00%
2025Resident landowner022100.00%
2025Resident landowner122100.00%
2024Nonresident06116.67%
2024Nonresident1281450.00%
2024Nonresident25360.00%
2024Nonresident33266.67%
2024Nonresident511100.00%
2024Resident01299069.77%
2024Resident113411787.31%
2024Resident2111090.91%
2024Resident322100.00%
2024Nonresident landowner011100.00%
2024Nonresident landowner133100.00%
2024Resident landowner022100.00%
2024Resident landowner144100.00%
2023Nonresident1221777.27%
2023Nonresident222100.00%
2023Nonresident3100.00%
2023Nonresident511100.00%
2023Nonresidentnot stated8225.00%
2023Resident18989100.00%
2023Resident266100.00%
2023Resident322100.00%
2023Residentnot stated118118100.00%
2023Nonresident landowner111100.00%
2023Nonresident landownernot stated22100.00%
2023Resident landowner133100.00%
2023Resident landownernot stated44100.00%
2022Nonresident1211780.95%
2022Nonresident233100.00%
2022Nonresidentnot stated7342.86%
2022Resident18080100.00%
2022Resident21111100.00%
2022Resident311100.00%
2022Residentnot stated115115100.00%
2022Nonresident landowner111100.00%
2022Nonresident landowner211100.00%
2022Resident landowner122100.00%
2022Resident landownernot stated11100.00%

No bonus point level guarantees a licence in Montana, and this page does not publish one. FWP squares your bonus points and adds them to your current application as extra chances — three points give ten chances, ten points give a hundred and one — so the drawing is a weighted lottery and not a queue. More points is better odds every time, and a place in line never.

Not stated is FWP's own blank cell, and it is not the same as nought. The department's reports frequently carry both a nought-point row and a blank one for the same pool in the same year, with different application counts, and both are inside the district total it prints. FWP does not say what separates them, so they are shown apart rather than added together into a "no points" figure it never published.

Sources for this licence

Other licences in these districts

Bonus points are one of Montana's two point systems and the only one that applies here. The other, preference points, exists on nonresident combination licences alone and works in the opposite way. See how these numbers are produced and checked, or the Montana application deadlines.