Preference points are good if you are patient. The last several years your odds of getting drawn on a deer tag only ($350 license) are about 20%. That means that if you purchased preference points you would more than likely get drawn in 3 years of applying. I appliedfor this a couple years in a row several years ago and didn't get drawn and thenquit applying.

I went ahead and applied for the deer/elk combo license at $650 because your odds of getting drawn are historically around 60% on it. I was lucky enough to apply and get drawn my first year applying for it this year. It's funny because in that other thread the guy is complaining about how expensive the NR tags are and I was willing to pay the extra $300 to have the better odds are getting drawn even though I wasn't planning on hunting elk unless somehow miraculously I got drawn for a rifle hunt in the Missouri breaks.

As far as groups, your odds are the same as a group or individually. The only tricky part with groups is that everyone needs to have the same preference points. I think that would be the way to go if you were doing a father/son type hunt.

The only other thing you might look into is there are some cheaper options and I think better drawing odds on some youth licenses. I haven't ever looked into that very closely.

I've applied for a Wyoming elk license this year so I won't be applying in Montana unless I don't get drawn in Wyoming.

Good Luck!