Hello Steve,
I’m just going to write this blog post like it’s a normal email to you. As real as it gets. I’ve been doing an average of one hour per day of hunt prep. I’d offer updates on all different aspects of my efforts, but it would probably appear too scattered to be useful. Instead I’ll tell you my #1 focus and that is ironing out our application strategy. Because we are going to try for elk tags, our application will be due Jan 31 instead of May 31 if we were just doing deer or pronghorn. Non-resident schedule in the second table HERE.
Given that deadline, we have to be 100% sure of where we want to hunt and more importantly how we want to fill out the application. You and I have used mytopo, gohunt, and Wyoming DNR resources to narrow down where we think we are going so that part is in good shape. We can sort out camping sites, glassing tips, and trails after we get our tags. The big question is how to apply our points. Ive been studying up and I have a strategy to propose. I better break up our application strategy into two sections.
Mule Deer
With our current deer Preference Points we can both draw archery tags this year if we want, but next year we would each have about a 50% chance. Instead of us hunting every-other-year, I’m thinking you should put in for the tag as your first choice and know you will be our go-to guy for stalking mule deer. I will put in for something like area 119 where there was one Random Draw tag for 77 applicants. This should preserve my points and still give me a 40% chance of getting a tag for our area this year. Next year I will plan to cash in my points and you will be trying for the lottery win. This should ensure at least one of us can hunt deer every year.
So it would look like this for 2018:
Steve #1 – archery tag, you would get this based on points.
Steve #2 – doesn’t matter, see #1
Steve #3 – doesn’t matter, see #1
Thom #1 – some impossible to draw tag, will preserve points.
Thom #2 – same tag as your #1, I will not draw with points. 40% odds I get one on luck.
Thom #3 – point only
Then in 2019 it would be like this:
Thom #1 -archery tag, I would get this based on points.
Thom #2 – doesn’t matter, see #1
Thom #3 – doesn’t matter, see #1
Steve #1 – same tag as my #1, you will not draw with points. 40% odds you get one on luck. You will get a point if you don’t get it.
Steve #2 – point only
Steve #3 – point only
If things stay about the same with tag allocations and point creep, we could plan on 2020 working like 2018.
Elk
This plays into the elk situation. If we want to hunt elk in that area we both can get a cow tag, or I could get a bull tag on preference points. I think I want to go for a one-in-a-million tag as my first choice to preserve points. My second choice will put me into a random drawing for one of only a few bull tags, low odds but why not?
So it would look like this for 2018:
Steve #1 – Our unit for Any Elk. You won’t have enough points to draw, but you will have a 1% chance to get a tag good for bull. At least you will get a point when you don’t hit this one.
Steve #2 – point only
Steve #3 – NA see #2
Steve Type 6 – cow/calf tag for our area. You will get this one.
Thom #1 – some impossible to draw tag, will preserve points.
Thom #2 – Our unit for Any Elk, again a 1% chance to hunt a bull.
Thom #3 – point only
Thom Type 6 – cow/calf tag for our area. I will get this one.
Then in 2019 it could be like this:
Thom #1 -Our unit for Any Elk. I will get it on preference points.
Thom #2 – doesn’t matter, see #1
Thom #3 – doesn’t matter, see #1
Steve #1 – Same as my #1, your odds will be about 1%. You will get a point when you don’t draw which should be enough to get you a bull tag in 2020 with your existing points.
Steve #2 – point only
Steve #3 – NA see #2
Steve Type 6 – Cow/calf the same unit. You will get this one.
So to summarize this strategy:
- We will trade off the opportunity to hunt deer every other year.
- We can both get a cow elk tag every year if we want it.
- We will get a bull tag every 4 or 5 years, or we can build points and go for a big trophy potential unit down the road.
With the strategy set, we will submit for drawing at the end of the month. Then I can double down on other gear and logistics in update #2. All my best!
Thom