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

[SteelheadTed]

Rosie tags are OTC in Washington and I believe the same in Oregon. In Washington there are special tags available for elk but there is so much good hunting available with a general season OTC tag. There is lots of public land to hunt. Of the bucket list hunts you mentioned the Rosie is something you could do this year.

Especially for residents of Washington I don't know why so many folks leave the state to hunt. If it is to get into new country and terrain, I get that, but if it is for a lack of opportunities that just isn't the case here. We have RM elk and Rosies, BT, WT and Mule deer, three species of turkeys, moose, sheep, goats, cougars, bears and all kinds of small game. Not to mention salmon and steelhead. There are places in Washington where you could shoot a deer, an elk and catch multiple species of salmon all in the same day within just miles of each other! What a day that would be.

 

[Zim]

Hyian,
It's not really possible to make any sort of 10-20 year plan anymore, anywhere. Reason being all the western states threw out ethics about ten years ago. Their new business is profiting on selling dreams. So when you target a ten or twenty point hunt, guaranteed your hard earned points will be cheapened by watering down NR quotas one way or another. That's just what they do. But you don't know when the goal posts will move. They make it a legislative guessing game. This is a fact not an opinion.

You are much better off targeting 3-5 point hunts you can hunt and learn on a cycle. And this way you are less likely to get screwed like has happened to me in every state I waited beyond 15 years. It's not a matter of if, but when. Not funny getting the rug pulled out from under you on a hunt you waited 15 years for, and auctions for $18,000. Been there done that, multiple times.

More than one of the tags I targeted 20 years ago now are actually auctioned themselves now! Nice huh?