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...
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...