Top 5 tags to start applying for NOW (10-20 year hunting plan)

Hey Guys,

I am a new guy around here, so please forgive me is this has been asked/answered elsewhere.

I am a 30 year old Texan who wants to get into western hunting. I am going to be applying for Unit 15 Elk muzzle-loader in New Mexico for 2017 (with 2 other choices in the same unit). If I do not draw in NM I will more than likely do a muzzle-loader/rifle in CO. But the question I have been asking myself is how to set myself up for long term hunting plans by accruing points now.

What game/State/unit do I want to start applying for now so that in 10-20-30 years I stand a chance to get drawn (An example may be Colorado Bighorn, Alaskan Buffalo, Montana Goat, etc.) This would preferably be in a state that gives preference points so that each year your chance of success rises.
There are a few I want to start applying for now if possible as they are bucket list items (below.) However, ya’lls experience could easily point me in another direction.

Bucket List -
Rocky Mountain Bighorn
Desert Bighorn
Sitka Deer
Roosevelt Elk

Sad to say, but if you are already 30 years old with no preference points, your odds for those coveted tags won't increase every year. There are plenty your age with 10 points already that will remain ahead of you for as long as you are alive. Random draws are your friend.... I came to this unfortunate realization about the time I hit 30 years old. But, if you want a chance, you need to apply.

There is a good chance you may never draw any of those if you are just getting into the game now. Also, being 30, if the trends continue the way they have, when you do draw, you may not be physically able to do some of them. You may be better off just saving money up and going on guided hunt up North rather than sticking money into a point scheme with no guaranteed result. I'm not trying to be a Debbie downer but it is just a reality. If you do jump into the point game, good luck and I hope you draw! There is always a chance.

Apply for sheep in Idaho every year.

Good news is 2 of your bucket list animals are OTC...Roosevelt elk and Sitka Blacktails.

The others have it right, just apply and hope you pull a random tag. Keep in mind that bonus points and preference points are 2 different things.

I've been pretty lucky over the years with random tags. I've drawn moose, goat, desert sheep, oryx, and musk ox on random tags.

Unless you have a pile of cash, the only way to ever hunt some of those things is to just apply and cross your fingers.

One thing to keep in mind with regard to age when you draw say, a sheep tag. Your financial situation will likely change, and there may be ways to hunt sheep even when you're old. May have to hire a guide, hire a couple packers, etc. Point is, the WAY you hunt those tags when you draw may change over time.

Stay the course and stay positive...good things happen.

You could try to completely ignore hunting, spend all your time and effort trying to get rich, then buy an auction tag or a ton of raffle tickets for those sheep tags.

Yeah I know I am getting in late. I make good money now and just am getting to where I can hunt outside of 300 acres of West Texas I hunt every year. So I may be late but still want to try. I would really like some specific input here as there are some hunts that young guys need to know to start applying for now, so they are in a better situation than me

BuzzH said:

Good news is 2 of your bucket list animals are OTC...Roosevelt elk and Sitka Blacktails.

The others have it right, just apply and hope you pull a random tag. Keep in mind that bonus points and preference points are 2 different things.

I've been pretty lucky over the years with random tags. I've drawn moose, goat, desert sheep, oryx, and musk ox on random tags.

Unless you have a pile of cash, the only way to ever hunt some of those things is to just apply and cross your fingers.

One thing to keep in mind with regard to age when you draw say, a sheep tag. Your financial situation will likely change, and there may be ways to hunt sheep even when you're old. May have to hire a guide, hire a couple packers, etc. Point is, the WAY you hunt those tags when you draw may change over time.

Stay the course and stay positive...good things happen.

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What state/unit did you draw your sheep tag in? Was it a non-resident? This gives me a little hope past shelling out 20k to buy one.

Save some cash up and go outfitted on the sheep tags somewhere. Otherwise it's spray and pray for most sheep tags. The deer and elk are very doable on your own as there are OTC tags for those.

You have much better chance of being struck by lightning than drawing a sheep tag in the breaks for example.

Hyian said:

What state/unit did you draw your sheep tag in? Was it a non-resident? This gives me a little hope past shelling out 20k to buy one.

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Drew Arizona as a NR with 11 points (9 years of applications, plus loyalty point and hunters ed point), in the random draw.

Throw a few bucks a year at all the sheep raffle tags you can find. WA, OR, ID, WY, MT, NV, UT, AZ they all have some raffle for sheep.

neffa3 said:

Throw a few bucks a year at all the sheep raffle tags you can find. WA, OR, ID, WY, MT, NV, UT, AZ they all have some raffle for sheep.

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I agree with this! The raffle tags are about as good of odds as state draw random tags. U can also apply for sheep in UT and AZ pretty cheap if u are already applying there for other species.

The raffle is a great way to increase your odds. SCI chapters hold raffles, Wyoming does one, AZ Big game raffle is another. I know a old timer who spends about a couple grand a year on just raffles and has been lucky enough to get drawn for once in a lifetime hunts.

Other note is you ever want to hunt Utah for elk as a non-resident, start applying now b/c that'll take about 10-15 pref. pts.

As the one guy said, Stay the course and stay positive. I looked into Henry Mountain mule deer tags and when I was told I could apply every year for 40 years and still not draw it put a damper on my hopes. Apply every year and hope for the best. Sheep tags are hard to draw but I wonder if any tag would be more rewarding? Good luck to you. I hope you beat the odds and pull every one you go for.

If you can afford it I think a fair strategy for sheep....

bank $1000/year. That's less than $100 a month.

Put some money toward raffle tags. I spend about $500 on them a year. Within 20 years I'm going on a darn good sheep hunt, whether its paying for it or winning it.

well i hate to put this one out there for everyone to ponder as it decreases my odds but Pennsylvania & Kentucky have elk seasons. I believe KY does the same as PA: every year you enter your name is put into the hat one more time, no real preference like out west.

I think in PA my name was entered 7 times for the 2016 elk hunt, it's nice in my opinion as you can get drawn your first year.

Presuming you can spend around $3,000 on application fees and required licenses and can tie up around $20,000 at a time as wait for refunds then you have options and would not limit to 5 tags. DO not limit yourself when you cumulatively will be less than 1 in 100 odds for sheep if you apply for sheep in CO (dead first 3 years as build points, btw), ID, NV, MT, AZ, NM and UT.

Put in for the TX draws each year. You build points. You can drive to a tag. I am a non-resident of TX and drew alligator, turkey and Devil's River for aoudad and goat.

Start building points in WY and CO. CO is the easier drive for you. WY is an additional day of driving but nice country. You have some change in your pocket so no issues floating the upfront money required by WY and CO. In 4 years you will have a chance in CO for sheep, goat and moose. If you read up on how CO draws tags for the Big 3...you have about as good a chance in Year 4 as in Year 5.

Also in CO, in 10 years, you can draw a decent elk and deer and pronghorn and bear. You could draw sooner for those depending on trophy vs. harvest. vs. public land, etc.

WY is less likely to get you a Big 3 tag. Around 25% of the non-resident allocation for sheep and moose is random so you will have a chance even in Year 1. Mountain goat is all random. You should also build points for elk, deer and pronghorn. I think in 10 years you will have a better tag than in CO and in WY there is a chance you draw a very good tag through random. There is also a bison draw.

If still have some money jingling around, ID sheep or moose or goat. Would be a 2 or 3 day drive, though. You can only put in for one each year and no point system so are not behind the curve at all. Is a $200 roll of the dice and odds are around the WY random odds for Sheep and Moose.

NM also does not have a point system. You front the money as in CO and WY and ID. You might be able to drive to NM as well. Ibex, Oryx, and bighorn sheep there though tough odds in non-resident pool. Can get into the guided pool for better odds. Tough odds but are not behind the curve. Also, there is aoudad/Barbary sheep. And elk, deer (including Coues) and pronghorn. Tough odds and only the pronghorn tend to get trophy size from what I see.

NV is a tough state to be behind the curve since you fall further and further behind for any specie that does not grant tags in about 5 years or less to applicants. Don't want to get all math heavy but say only 20 guys just 1 year ahead of you in Year 1 and they grant 1 tag a year. In your first year, you get 1 ball in the hopper. The other guys each get 2 balls. NV gives you a ball for the current year and squares your prior years. So you have 1 of 41 balls in the hopper. One guy draws in your Year 1. Your Year 2 you have 2 balls (yippee) but the other 19 have 5 each so you have 2 of 96. Dang it. Maybe next year. You have 5 of 180. So, your odds improve but not much and there are additional guys entering after you so mostly are treading water until you get to be the median point holder (half have more points than you and half have less). You may be retired then when is a sheep draw.

UT is a tough state and has a culture that takes tags out of the non-resident pool to fund a hobby convention in SLC that brings outfitters and Richie Rich types together to buy up what would have been a tag your could maybe draw.

AZ is a tough state. WA is tougher. OR does not have sheep points so if can roll the dice on $200 then apply for sheep and goat.

I apply in MT for the Big 3 and bison mostly because my in-laws grew up there. Never put pencil to paper to see if odds are on par with other states.

Also, some sheep raffles out there. I only fully trust the ones ran by states but participate in some others as well hoping the organizations are not monkeying around with things as pull the winner's name. In any event, puts money on the ground for sheep.

These are not the good old days for non-residents but if you want a tag you grin and hope the tag gods reward you.

If you start to see your health fade and have the equivalent of 2 to 3 times the average USA annual household earning laying around that you are will to spend then can look to buy a tag in Mexico or Canada or from an Indian Nation or at auction. Or take that money and spend 1/4 each time for a trip to South Africa to shoot some plains game and have Euro mounts done.

I enjoy a spring turkey hunt about as much as chasing a mountain goat around in the thin air. Having a near-death experience or two is more likely on the mountain goat or sheep hunt if in the mountains and that makes it memorable as your take measure of yourself vs. the mountain. A spouse or child may not find humor in how you tumbled off a ledge but will be memorable. Stay safe out there.

Agreed with stay positive and look ahead. In Utah I would recommend focus on building points for once in lifetime, deer and elk.

Once in lifetime bison and goats. Both species are doing well and while we won't have 100's of tags the populations have grown through transplants. If you don't mind chasing cows and nannies those odds are much better.

Deer and elk are doing well and the limited entry units turn out good animals.

Utah draw opens Jan 26. PM me if you need anything.

You want to go on "dream hunts?"

Move to Alaska, Yukon, NWT or BC.

The whole dream tag deal in the L48 is just a dream. Odds are you will not draw any of those tags before you're too old to go, or they will even have tags available. Especially 15+ years behind in points.

All the strategies people have are fun to see, but for tags like sheep you are dreaming if you think you have a shot at drawing one in 20 or even 30 years. I live the confidance guys have though... There is about 40 sheep tags available to "random" NR hunters, and about 20,000 applying for them.

Sure someone has to draw, and many are willing to die befor it happens. I wasn't, and will be hunting my 9th sheep season this fall on an OTC tag.

I dumped all the points I had and quit applying for random states. The only exception is CO deer, but i cant seem to make time to go. In the meantime ill go after sheep, moose, caribou, grizz, etc. every year on OTC tags...

I can go on a fly out hunt for the cost of non-refundable "fees" I was paying. Not a tough choice, go hunt or dream about it.

Good luck in the draws and raffles, you'll need it.

tim629 said:

well i hate to put this one out there for everyone to ponder as it decreases my odds but Pennsylvania & Kentucky have elk seasons. I believe KY does the same as PA: every year you enter your name is put into the hat one more time, no real preference like out west.

I think in PA my name was entered 7 times for the 2016 elk hunt, it's nice in my opinion as you can get drawn your first year.

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Tim - At first I misread your post but this is true, KY does no PP system or anything close. Best Non-resident odds are Archery Cow which used to be about 1:76 chance. Resident for the same tag I dare to say was 1:12. This year KY has lowered the number of tags so i'm staying out of the draw, but best of luck to you if you get in! I can't speak for PA, but both states have great elk opportunities.