2024 - Season of Good Fortune and Financial Ruin

[Clarq]

For those of you who don't know me, you can refer to my two-part sheep hunting story last year if you want a flavor for my style, and what this thread might turn into.

https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/dear-missouri-breaks-im-ready-for-ewe.321001/
https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/oh-no-ewe-arent-humbled-by-the-breaks.321918/

In summary, I'm a fairly young, novice, and unskilled hunter whose ambition is sometimes enough to overpower his common sense. The good side to that is that I've gone on quite a few awesome adventures in my young big game hunting career. The bad side to that is that I can sometimes get in a little over my head.

I had a scare of sorts last year. I met a woman who I thought I might end up marrying. That ultimately didn't work out (and I can see now that's for the best), but it got me thinking a lot about what life is going to look like if/when the day comes that I tie the knot and start a family. Good, I hope, but obviously very different. It would probably be a lot harder to hunt like I've been hunting the past few years. With that on my mind as application season arrived, I applied very aggressively throughout the west in hopes of setting myself up for a few more adventures while I was in a time in life when it's a little easier to pull that off. I considered the odds of drawing too many tags, and they appeared acceptably low. I felt good about my strategy and waited anxiously for results to come back.

I used the guide draw in New Mexico to secure a hunt there in December for barbary sheep ewe. A fairly expensive ewe hunt, to be sure, but it still seemed reasonable compared to any other ranch hunt options I could find. I was happy to put that on the calendar.

As other results started to trickle in, though, I became rather impressed by the sheer magnitude of my bad luck. I wasn't seeing luck in any long-shot draws, as expected, but I was also in for multiple hunts with 40% - 60% odds, and wasn't having luck on any of those, either. The real kicker was my general archery deer tag in my home state. I had a 70% chance of success on that one, but didn't pull that off either. I ended up with a guaranteed second choice archery tag in a hard unit.

By the time early June came around, I had a bad Utah general archery deer tag and a New Mexico barbary sheep ewe hunt with a 2 day season. Certainly a lot to be grateful for, but not the outcome I had hoped for. I figured I was all set for a rough deer season and a lot of waterfowl hunting.

My oh my, it's funny how things can change...

 

[mtmuley]

For those of you who don't know me, you can refer to my two-part sheep hunting story last year if you want a flavor for my style, and what this thread might turn into.

https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/dear-missouri-breaks-im-ready-for-ewe.321001/
https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/oh-no-ewe-arent-humbled-by-the-breaks.321918/

In summary, I'm a fairly young, novice, and unskilled hunter whose ambition is sometimes enough to overpower his common sense. The good side to that is that I've gone on quite a few awesome adventures in my young big game hunting career. The bad side to that is that I can sometimes get in a little over my head.

I had a scare of sorts last year. I met a woman who I thought I might end up marrying. That ultimately didn't work out (and I can see now that's for the best), but it got me thinking a lot about what life is going to look like if/when the day comes that I tie the knot and start a family. Good, I hope, but obviously very different. It would probably be a lot harder to hunt like I've been hunting the past few years. With that on my mind as application season arrived, I applied very aggressively throughout the west in hopes of setting myself up for a few more adventures while I was in a time in life when it's a little easier to pull that off. I considered the odds of drawing too many tags, and they appeared acceptably low. I felt good about my strategy and waited anxiously for results to come back.

I used the guide draw in New Mexico to secure a hunt there in December for barbary sheep ewe. A fairly expensive ewe hunt, to be sure, but it still seemed reasonable compared to any other ranch hunt options I could find. I was happy to put that on the calendar.

As other results started to trickle in, though, I became rather impressed by the sheer magnitude of my bad luck. I wasn't seeing luck in any long-shot draws, as expected, but I was also in for multiple hunts with 40% - 60% odds, and wasn't having luck on any of those, either. The real kicker was my general archery deer tag in my home state. I had a 70% chance of success on that one, but didn't pull that off either. I ended up with a guaranteed second choice archery tag in a hard unit.

By the time early June came around, I had a bad Utah general archery deer tag and a New Mexico barbary sheep ewe hunt with a 2 day season. Certainly a lot to be grateful for, but not the outcome I had hoped for. I figured I was all set for a rough deer season and a lot of waterfowl hunting.

My oh my, it's funny how things can change...

You either got a great tag, or met a great woman. mtmuley

 

[Clarq]

I turned in my Utah antlerless application. I had a small chance at a cow elk tag and another small chance at a doe pronghorn tag.

Shortly after the Utah antlerless application period closed, I received an email informing me that I'd drawn an archery pronghorn tag in a pretty good unit in the Nevada second draw. I was floored. I'd kind of forgotten I'd even put in for that draw. I'd pretty much written it off as a loss right from the get-go. My season dates were August 1 - 21.

Uh-oh. The Utah doe pronghorn tag I applied for had a season of August 1 - 16. I might have a bit of a tight schedule if I drew that. Oh well! It's not like I'm going to, right? My odds were pretty low (turns out they were 23%). Yet, when my results came through, I was surprised to see that I had indeed drawn a doe pronghorn tag in Utah as well. It sure felt good to be on a little streak of luck.

If you want to hear how those hunts turned out, you'll have to read my thread chronicling those hunts:

https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/august-of-the-antelope.325405/

After drawing those two tags, I thought I had my fall schedule all figured out. Imagine my shock when I received this email from South Dakota on August 6th:



I had beaten roughly 6% odds to pull a bison tag. I had to stare at the email a few times before I actually started to believe it.

And we're not even done yet...

 

[NEWHunter]

I’ll be interested to hear the logistics of the bison hunt. How many points did you have?

 

[duckhunt]

I turned in my Utah antlerless application. I had a small chance at a cow elk tag and another small chance at a doe pronghorn tag.

Shortly after the Utah antlerless application period closed, I received an email informing me that I'd drawn an archery pronghorn tag in a pretty good unit in the Nevada second draw. I was floored. I'd kind of forgotten I'd even put in for that draw. I'd pretty much written it off as a loss right from the get-go. My season dates were August 1 - 21.

Uh-oh. The Utah doe pronghorn tag I applied for had a season of August 1 - 16. I might have a bit of a tight schedule if I drew that. Oh well! It's not like I'm going to, right? My odds were pretty low (turns out they were 23%). Yet, when my results came through, I was surprised to see that I had indeed drawn a doe pronghorn tag in Utah as well. It sure felt good to be on a little streak of luck.

If you want to hear how those hunts turned out, you'll have to read my thread chronicling those hunts:

https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/august-of-the-antelope.325405/

After drawing those two tags, I thought I had my fall schedule all figured out. Imagine my shock when I received this email from South Dakota on August 6th:

View attachment 339425

I had beaten roughly 6% odds to pull a bison tag. I had to stare at the email a few times before I actually started to believe it.

And we're not even done yet...

I got a few points but haven't applied yet for the bison. Hopefully get that tag in the next few years.

 

[Clarq]

I owe my love for hunting to my dad and my grandfather. I drafted some of this post this afternoon while Dad was sitting a few yards away from me, napping under our favorite dove hunting tree. I've been hooked ever since Dad took me hunting as a boy. Grandpa joined us for many adventures as well, and was always the first person wanting to hear how my latest trip went if he didn't come along. We had a great time chasing upland birds and waterfowl when I was a teen. On the other hand, our big game hunting was fairly limited. I got into it more as a young adult, and Dad rediscovered his enthusiasm for it as I dragged him around on some of my adventures.

He's old enough now that he's starting to slow down. This was the first year he didn't apply for deer since we picked it back up. He gave up on elk a few years ago - too big, too much work. His main interest at this point in life is antelope. We've had some good hunts over the years - many ending with him behind the camera as I pose with my "trophies."



My general strategy is to go for hunts I can draw fairly often. I'm not incredibly picky - my time has been limited much of the past decade due to being in school and then getting my career started. I'll give it a good few days on what limited public land exists in the units I hunt, and take what I can get.



Here's one of my most recent trophy bucks.



Delicious!

By contrast, most of Dad's tags have gone unfilled - not for lack of opportunity, but because his hunting style is different. He's content to take his time, be picky, and wait for a big one. He's not threatened by the thought of going home empty-handed.

One of the last items on Dad's hunting bucket list is a true trophy antelope hunt - the kind where you can believe you've got a realistic chance of laying eyes on a record book animal at some point in the hunt. He did his research, and we identified an area that meets his requirements. He's been applying for it for several years. In all probability, he'll never draw it before his hunting days are over. I'm not going to name this particular area, but suffice it to say, it's no secret. It's a place known for top-end pronghorn bucks.

A few weeks ago, I was over for Sunday dinner and talking hunting with my dad and grandfather. Grandpa is in his 90s now. He had a rough medical episode earlier this year, and we were told it was all but certain he wouldn't make it. He surprised everyone and recovered after being sent home on hospice. I'm beyond fortunate to have had as much time with him as I have, and even though I was well-prepared to wish him goodbye, that whole episode got me thinking even more about what really matters. In the end, I think that relationships and memories are what really count. I was grateful to have a long list of good experiences and shared memories to retell and laugh about with Grandpa during what I thought were his final days. Knowing that I'd spent some great times with him and tried to be a good grandson really made the pain of the whole ordeal more bearable.

All that being the case, I have even more of the "do it while you can" mentality now than I did when application season started. As we were talking together after a nice meal, I decided I was going to see what I could do about making Dad's dream hunt a reality.

 

[Clarq]

Earlier this week, I pulled it off. I secured buck pronghorn tags for both myself and my Dad in his preferred hunt area. For this year. It's an area where a hunt can be had for the right amount of money. However, it takes the right amount of money and a cancellation to book one on such short notice. I got lucky with the timing of a few things and was able to jump in line. Otherwise, we'd have had to add ourselves to a long waiting list. I can't help but wonder what happened to those who cancelled - hopefully nothing bad.

I'm not going to name the hunt area here. If you figure it out, I'd appreciate it if you keep your questions or conjecture to PM. I may try to get us back here one more time in the future.

My hunt schedule in mid-June:

• General archery deer - UT - mid August to mid September
• Barbary sheep ewe - NM - late December:

My hunt schedule now (including hunts that have already occurred - and a few bird permits I drew in July that I neglected to mention earlier):

• Doe pronghorn - UT - early August
• Archery buck pronghorn - NV - early/mid August
• General archery deer - UT - mid August to mid September
• Buck pronghorn for me and Dad - upcoming
• Sandhill crane - UT - September to October
• Bison - SD - late October
• Swan - UT - November
• Barbary sheep ewe - NM - late December

I went from wondering what I'd be doing all fall to wondering how on earth I'll pull everything off! Crazy how things changed, especially so late in the year.

A wise person once said, "Hunt while you can, because you'll run out of health before you run out of money." We're about to put that claim to the test!

 

[Clarq]

I’ll be interested to hear the logistics of the bison hunt. How many points did you have?

I drew with 8 points.

I'm in the thick of logistical planning as we speak. I was asked to send 3 preferred hunt dates to the manager, who then put the schedule together and sent me the date and time of my hunt (I was given my first choice). I'll meet up with a park representative and be escorted from there. He will provide instruction on which animal(s) meet the criteria for a non-trophy animal.

The Custer hunt is far simpler than most free-range bison hunting opportunities. They will help with field dressing and deliver the bison to my vehicle, at which point, everything else is on me. It will be a task to deal with an animal of that size. I'm in the market for a new freezer as we speak. I'll probably need to rent a utility trailer to transport it.

I thought a lot about how to handle meat processing. Dad and I typically tackle it ourselves with smaller game animals, but I determined that it didn't seem reasonable to ask Dad to help with a task of that size. I'm also not sure I will have the time to devote to it on top of everything else going on. I'm going to get some help this time.

Then, there's the question of how to preserve the memory. Shoulder mount, euro, rug? I'm still thinking that one through. Getting a bison hide tanned is not cheap...

 

[NEWHunter]

Thanks for the info on the bison. I’ll have 10 points going in to next year. Eventually I hope to draw both the trophy and non-trophy. Although the cubed points is making it a bit more problematic. If it all worked out and I get my turn, I was planning on trying to locate a processor in the area and spend some time in the hills while they work on it. Euro and tanned hide for me if all goes well. Good luck to you!