Whoa unto me ....point creep ;(

Sooooo, I have been saving CO deer pts for several years now(after this year I am up to 7) and have been coveting a tag that has been going for 8-9 pts. Just looked at the "points to draw" statistics for that unit this year only HALF got drawn at 11POINTS!! OUCH!! Looks like I may have to shift my focus to some other opportunities for my points ......the best laid plans I guess.

I had to check the area I am chasing. In the last 2 years it creeped 3 points in 2016, and dropped 1 point in 2017. I think I already know where I am chasing deer next year, but might start putting in for kill permits in 2019.

I hunted Colorado 4th season last year after 8 years of waiting for a tag. Everyone I talked to during my September scouting trip said it was a great tag and I'd see lots of deer in season when they come down from high country. Well that didn't happen weather was extremely warm but I could have shot a buck but none were what I thought the tag was worth. Came home with an unfilled tag but had a great time. I won't wait 8 years to hunt deer again. Point creep sucks for nonresident hunters even more.��

point creep sucks. It's not just CO either.

I grew up in a really hard to draw unit in CO, last time I checked it was 19pts for 4th season. To be completely honest while I did see good bucks fairly often I never saw a deer in that unit that was worth skipping a bunch of seasons to harvest.

I point chased a unit for mule deer in CO for 4 years, finally I stopped applying to the unit. It seemed that I would have the number of points required for the previous year, I'd apply, and end up being one point behind, it went up 4 years straight. I finally decided I was going to do a ML hunt for mulies and found an outfitter that seems very good. When I first talked with him 2 years ago, you needed 7 points to draw his unit for ML - I had 11 at that point. I booked the hunt for this year and had 13 points going into the draw thinking this was a slam dunk for getting a tag. Well, before the draw happens I see an article where the mule deer got hurt by the late snows this year in MY unit, and they drastically reduced the tags (down about 80%). I waited for the draw on pins and needles and found out that I drew my tag. There was one person with 14 points that drew, I drew with 13, and another guy who had 13 did NOT draw. I can tell you this, I saved the points for years obviously, but would NOT do it again. I just like going, so in the future I'll try for OTC or maybe units that only require a couple points - just being there is fun, especially to a PA guy!

Point scams never solve anything but to make the Max Point Pool applicants a privileged group. Is a bad deal even if something like WY Pronghorn where a significant percentage of applicants can draw a tag each year. Is a very bad deal for something like WY Sheep.

For states that allow Point Savers then the point creep is understated while they build points yet a small ripple in the ecosystem will create turbo point creep. Will WY cut NR allocation of Sheep and Moose in half? Will the fee for points or applying go up dramatically? If so, that changes the cost and risk of waiting for the top few units. Applicants will spill into the next draw rather than stay on the sidelines. The current "Max Pool - 2 points" and lower point guys will be an Oklahoma stampede that will add 3 - 7 points to the creep in a snap of the fingers for the lower end and middling units. Such is all scams but Point Savers mute point creep by reducing the number of actual applicants vying for a tag that year. Nonetheless, the chickens will return home to roost.

If you want a predictable system that offers a fair chance to draw the tag you want then look at ID and NM. Are you willing to take a 1 in 300 roll of the dice on a top unit where may never get the tag but if do then your wildest dreams come true? Step up, put your money down and take your chances. Do you prefer to try for 1 in 10 or better odds? Look for the lower demand units and there may be some you can draw often. If instead you find a point system being launched, your 1 in 300 odds will get better and better over time as will the 1 in 10 odds but once you draw a tag you will find yourself now at the end of the queue looking at 1 in 900 odds and 1 in 30 odds just as everyone that was a year behind you faced starting in Year 2 of the point scam. No additional tags created. A special, one-time E-ticket for only the Year 1 people. Patently unfair. Discriminatory based on age since a person merely one year too young to apply as a point scam is launched is penalized heavily. How anyone thinks loyalty is rewarded or their "bad luck" is evened out is both bad at math and selfish.

Then again, selfish is an easy sell these days.

I agree PaJay. Just being there is fun. Love the smell of sage and juniper. I'll miss it this year, the first time in many but my hunting partners talked me into going to Newfoundland for moose instead. I'll be back next year though.

I hear you LopeHunter I quit the moose draw in Wy with 3 pts. Figured it was best to cut my losses then since I calculated I wouldn't live long enough to draw a tag anyhow.

ol_spark said:

Just being there is fun. Love the smell of sage and juniper.

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ is why I am planning to go back 3 yrs away has been far too long.

I'm in the point chase game in Wyoming for moose, and at this point will be staying in it and keeping my fingers crossed. I have 13 points now as a NR, and watch the moose population dropping along with the number of tags. When I first started applying, something like 7 points were needed and I figured I wasn't that far away. Seems like I'm in a holding pattern about 4 points shy of a license, but one of these years I may get a chance! Never been to Newfoundland, looks like fun as well. Loved everywhere I've been, but Maine was the least favorite sitting over a bait pile for bear until it was dark each night. Up 2x, saw one bear total, that was enough for me. I'll go out west (or mid-west) as often as my wife and funds allow!

Cant think of any GMU worth 7 deer points. Heck I burnt my wife's 13 preference points on a 0 point draw area this year. She never really hunted before last year, and now that she shot her first buck last year, she wants to hunt every year so bye-bye points.

I have 16 elk and 20 antelope points and aint got a clue where to use em. But those two are easy enough to hunt with OTC and leftover tags