Wyoming point creep. How bad will it be for the NR elk draw this year?

I found this funny. The worst thing that could happen for the friend is one day there are elk there.

that's why it's impossible to convince him it's bad hunting.

he's been hunting since legal age, for around 16 years or something. only bull elk hunting. he's put down three just by generally hiking in and out of the the same general area and sitting the same general parks and meadows for that entire time. the concept of glassing was odd to him when i went mule deer hunting with him once. his binoculars were nearly useless too.

so, i guess in his mind those bulls were what he considered successful hunting.

IMO that's about what you'd be able to predict for any person who sits the same spot every year for 1.5 decades... i just call it statistics 🤷‍♂️
 
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Maybe. But I think Residents of most states would gladly pay more to increase their share of tags...and I think 0-5% will be the new standard NR quota before long. Additionally, we've seen no evidence of any NR prices hitting a limit that hunters won't pay. I think in WY - they could cut quotas to 5% and just charge 2x more for tags and be revenue neutral and still sell every single tag. When it gets to be powerball like odds for NR draw tags...not thinking too many folks will need these services.
State wildlife agencies would have to raise resident license costs quite a bit to make up for dropping NR’s 0-5%. I don’t think residents would like to see that $$ increase.
 
the concept of glassing was odd to him when i went mule deer hunting with him. his binoculars were nearly useless too.
At least he had binos. Took a friend on a mule deer hunt and told him to glass some cover that had does to see if there were any bucks worth the hike. Response was “I left them in the truck”. It’s right up there with “I just use the rifle scope.”
 
Sitting in the right spot can be productive. I have a friend in Colorado who sits water during archery season. He killed elk 4 years in a row. I don’t have the patience for it.
 
that's why it's impossible to convince him it's bad hunting.

he's been hunting since legal age, for around 16 years or something. only bull elk hunting. he's put down three just by generally hiking in and out of the the same general area and sitting the same general parks and meadows for that entire time. the concept of glassing was odd to him when i went mule deer hunting with him once. his binoculars were nearly useless too.

so, i guess in his mind those bulls were what he considered successful hunting.

IMO that's about what you'd be able to predict for any person who sits the same spot every year for 1.5 decades... i just call it statistics 🤷‍♂️

Three bulls in 16 years? I would guess he's ahead of the national average.

QQ
 
I figure by the time I get sick of the game, I'll be plumb happy to enjoy cheap/easy hunts that don't relate to great big antlers - or maybe just some coyotes. People will still buy the points, and some apply, regardless of the changes likely coming.
 
I know a rock in the flattops that if a person sat there from sun up to sun down the entire first rifle season they would have a shot at a legal bull every single year.

Know a guy who hunted it for years and he killed 13 bulls in 14 seasons from that rock. He swears he hit that other bull but he never found him or it would have been 14 for 14.. Lol

He aged out. I always wanted to hunt that rock. Never did.
 
Give it 20 years and it'll be all 80 year olds hunting. I guess that'll beef up the trophies for the next generation coming in at 90
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Here's the problem, when most of the point systems were created there was a far more distinct population pyramid than there is today.

Since the 90s the population of hunters 49+ with money, kids out of the house, and therefore the ability to hunt out of state has exploded.

This demographic reality isn't likely to change for a while.

Add to that a 30% increase in population, and therefore degradation of habitat throughout the west.

Add to that a dramatic increase in predators.

Demand has exploded, supply is tanking, and we are only making things worse.
 
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Here's the problem, when most of the point systems were created there was a far more distinct population pyramid than there is today.

Since the 90s the population of hunters 49+ with money, kids out of the house, and therefore the ability to hunt out of state has exploded.

This demographic reality isn't likely to change for a while.

Add to that a 30% increase in population, and therefore degradation of habitat throughout the west.

Add to that a dramatic increase in predators.

Demand has exploded, supply is tanking, and we are only making things worse.
And people call babies miracles. 8 billion and counting, at some point it's not a miracle anymore. We regulate all other species but our own for the majority of countries.
 
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