Guide

How much is an elk tag in Montana? 2026 costs

Updated October 30, 2026

$38. That is what a resident adult pays for a Montana elk tag in 2026 once the required licenses are added. A nonresident pays $1,184.50 for the Elk Combination and $1,384.50 for the Big Game Combination, both before a single preference point. Every one of those licenses buys the same thing statewide: a chance at an elk in a state where elk hunters killed one at a pooled 2021–2025 rate of 20.9%. Here is where each dollar goes.

$38

resident adult General Elk License with required licenses

$1,184.50

nonresident Elk Combination with required add-ons, before points

$100

nonresident preference point, sold through December 31

What a resident pays

The General Elk License is $20 for residents ages 18 to 61 and $10 for residents 62 and older and for youth ages 12 to 17. It is not sold alone. Every resident hunter also needs a Conservation License, $8 for adults and $4 for youth ages 12 to 17 and residents 62 and older, and pays the $10 Base Hunting License fee, an annual fee charged at your first hunting license purchase of the year. For an adult that comes to $8 + $10 + $20 = $38.

The 2026 regulations charge youth and seniors the same $10 base fee, so a resident 62 or older or a youth ages 12 to 17 pays $4 + $10 + $10 = $24.

The other way in is the Sportsman's License, which bundles the General Elk License with a General Deer License, an upland game bird license, and a season fishing license. For ages 18 to 61 it is $64.50 without bear and $79.50 with bear, up from $62 and $77 in 2025. Residents 62 and older and youth ages 12 to 17 pay $32.25 without bear. The conservation license, the $10 base fee, and the $2 Angler AIS Prevention Pass are bought on top, so an adult Sportsman's License comes to $84.50 without bear and $99.50 with bear.

If you fish, add the $2 resident Angler AIS Prevention Pass. A resident who only hunts does not need it.

What a nonresident pays

Most nonresidents cannot buy a general elk license over the counter. You get one by drawing a combination license, with applications open March 1, 2026 at 5:00 a.m. MST and due April 1, 2026 at 11:45 p.m. MST. The drawing itself, the shared quota, and how points work are in the Montana nonresident guide.

The General Elk Combination is $1,112. The General Big Game Combination, which adds a general deer license, is $1,312. The General Deer Combination is $760, for reference. All three include a season fishing license and an upland game bird license.

The combination price is not the total. Every nonresident also buys:

• A Conservation License, $10.
• The Base Hunting License fee, $50. It was $15 before the 2026 license year began on March 1, 2026, so totals on older pages are short by $35.
• An Angler AIS Prevention Pass, $7.50, required because the combination includes a fishing license.
• A $5 application fee, nonrefundable.

That puts the Elk Combination at $1,184.50 and the Big Game Combination at $1,384.50.

A preference point is $100 more. You buy it with your application, or, if you are not applying this year, over the counter from July 1 through December 31. You may hold at most three. Outfitter clients may buy a second $100 point that is valid only when hunting with an outfitter. Applying with one point brings the Elk Combination to $1,284.50.

Discounted combinations

Four nonresident programs sell the same combinations for half price: the Big Game Combination at $656, the Elk Combination at $556, and the Deer Combination at $380.

• Youth: by drawing, and also over the counter.
• Come Home to Hunt: by drawing.
• College Student: over the counter.
• Nonresident Native: over the counter.

Each program has its own eligibility rules, and FWP sets them. Read the program's page on FWP's site before you count on the discount. FWP's note that the conservation license, the $50 base fee, and the Angler AIS Prevention Pass are bought separately covers every combination license, so the same add-ons apply on top of the discounted price.

What a permit or B license adds

An elk permit is not a separate license. It must be used with a valid General Elk License, and residents must hold a General Elk License before they apply. Permit applications are due April 1. The 2026 regulations list an elk permit at $9 for residents and nonresidents alike, and elk permits are nonrefundable. A bonus point adds $2 for a resident or $20 for a nonresident when you buy it with the application. If you don't apply, you can buy one from July 1 through September 30 for $15 as a resident or $25 as a nonresident.

HD 217 shows what that means. The general license there covers antlerless elk only, and a brow-tined bull takes drawn permit 217-10. HD 217 posts 20.3%, and that number counts the permit holders and the antlerless hunters together. Which districts take a permit for a bull, and which have no general season at all, is in Montana's general elk license vs. permits.

An Elk B license is antlerless only. Over the counter it is $20 for residents and $270 for nonresidents. By drawing, with a June 1 deadline, it is $25 and $275, which includes the $5 nonrefundable application fee. Nonresident Youth and College Student Elk B licenses are $135. You don't need a General Elk License or a combination license to hold an Elk B: FWP says a hunter without a General Elk License can hold up to three. You still need the conservation license and the base fee, which the regulations list as prerequisites for every license.

What you get back if you don't draw

The $5 application fee is nonrefundable, and so are elk permits. If you don't draw a combination license, your preference points stay on your record: FWP says you lose them only when you draw a combination license or when you don't apply in consecutive years.

If you apply for a combination license and an elk permit together, you can choose the 80 percent refund option. If you then draw the combination license but miss the elk permit, FWP refunds 80 percent of the license fee and resets your preference points to 0.

If you don't draw at all, the Alternate's List and Elk B licenses are the two doors still open, both covered in the Montana nonresident guide.

What the money buys

The price is the same in every district. The success rate is not. These are Montana's top five elk districts by pooled 2021–2025 rate, against a statewide rate of 20.9%:

1. HD 455 49.7%
2. HD 360 40.3%
3. HD 445 39.3%
4. HD 580 39.1%
5. HD 417 38.4%

See the full ranking: Best elk hunting units in Montana

The same $38 or $1,184.50 gets you very different hunts. HD 360, the Madison Range, posts 40.3% and is a general bull district: a brow-tined bull or antlerless elk on the General Elk License, with the general season running October 24 to November 29, 2026. HD 455 posts 49.7%, but FWP heads its elk section "ELK hunting by drawing only." The general license alone doesn't put you there: you need a drawn Elk B license or a drawn elk permit, and the permits must be used with a valid General Elk License.

The 2026 regulations include a branch-antlered bull on the General Elk License in 114 districts. To see only those, open the Montana planner with "General license includes bull elk" turned on, or switch it to Nonresident to see which of them you would have to draw. If a pooled rate is new to you, read How to read hunting success rates, and for the full process of choosing a district, read How to pick an elk unit.

If you are weighing Idaho instead, the Idaho nonresident guide adds up the same costs there.

Sources

1. Montana FWP — Resident License Fees — the General Elk License, Sportsman's License, and resident Elk B prices, what the Sportsman's License includes, and the $5 nonrefundable application fee. Accessed October 2026.
2. Montana FWP — Nonresident License Fees — the Elk, Big Game, and Deer Combination prices, the discounted combination prices, the nonresident Elk B prices, the $100 preference point, the $5 application fee, and the March 1 to April 1, 2026 application window. Accessed October 2026.
3. Montana FWP — Hunting Requirements — the resident and nonresident Conservation License and Base Hunting License fees. Accessed October 2026.
4. Montana FWP — New license year news release — the March 1, 2026 license year start, the nonresident base hunting license increase from $15 to $50, and the 2026 Sportsman's License prices. Accessed October 2026.
5. Montana FWP — Aquatic Invasive Species Prevention Pass — the $2 resident and $7.50 nonresident Angler AISPP. Accessed October 2026.
6. Montana FWP — Bonus and Preference Points — the preference point purchase window, the three-point cap, the outfitter-client second point, when points are lost, and the 80 percent refund option. Accessed October 2026.
7. Montana FWP — License and Permit FAQ — that a hunter without a General Elk License can hold up to three Elk B licenses. Accessed October 2026.
8. Montana FWP — Hunt by Species: Elk — that most nonresidents cannot buy a general elk license over the counter. Accessed October 2026.
9. Montana FWP — 2026 Deer, Elk, and Antelope Regulations (PDF) — the resident and nonresident price charts, including the youth and senior base fee, the $9 elk permit, drawn Elk B prices, and the Sportsman's add-ons (pp. 12–13), the General Elk License rules (p. 16), bonus point fees (p. 17), and the district sections for HD 217 (p. 62), HD 360 (p. 84), and HD 455 (p. 106). Accessed October 2026.
10. Montana FWP — Harvest Reports — the hunter and harvest counts behind every Montana rate. Accessed October 2026. See the Data page for the per-unit sources.

Glass Montana elk or Glass Montana as a nonresident