Aside from Colorado, Montana offers more non-resident mountain goat tags than any state in the Lower 48, making it an important state to include in your application strategy if you hope to draw a mountain goat tag. For 2026, Montana FWP is proposing 178 goat tags be issued statewide. Last year, 3,801 non-residents participated in the draw. Of those, fourteen were awarded a tag. This year, all but 26 of the state’s goat tags are going to be issued in Region 3. Units 314 and 323 will offer more than one non-resident tag. Goats were introduced into Region 3 in the mid 1900’s, and populations continue to thrive. The goats in this part of the state have had high reproduction rates, and goat numbers have been holding steady. In the rest of the state’s native mountain goat ranges, populations continue to struggle.

If you’re after the best hunt in the state, there’s only one choice: 393-20 in the Bridger Mountains. The goat population is doing great in this area, and there are plenty of mature billies available. In this herd, 10” horns with 5 5/8” bases are common among billies, and there’s potential for bigger. Like most years, a couple of great goats were taken here in 2025.

Montana is a great state for someone who is looking to do a self-guided mountain goat hunt. Almost every one of Montana’s mountain goat units will offer a great opportunity at an above average goat with 9” or better potential. Most goat country is going to be reached via backpacking or horseback. Keep in mind that most of the available goat units are in prime grizzly country, though you will have a much lower chance of running into a conflict if hunting in units 313 and 393. Remember that mountain goats live in big, steep, rocky country, so be mentally and physically prepared before you apply for your hunt. If you want to harvest a truly giant billy, you can expect to find them in the most remote, hard-to-reach sections of the units. If you don’t mind a shorter-haired goat, we recommend you hunt early before the snow piles up. Over the years, many hunters have been completely snowed out of their high-country units as they waited for good hair, heading home instead with an unnotched tag.

In places that are often as challenging to navigate as they are beautiful, the pursuit of a great billy can be a true test of desire. From the less difficult hunt in the Bridgers to the incredibly challenging Two Sisters hunt or something in between, use our table to choose the hunt that is right for you. As usual, Montana has changed some of the units that non-residents are able to apply for, and we have included all non-resident goat hunts available in 2026. If you are a Montana resident and would like to talk about the other units available to you, give us a call. There will be up to sixteen non-residents hunting mountain goat in Montana this year; one of them might as well be you!

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