2025-26 Season plans?

[Lostinthewoods]

What states and tags are you planning to hunt or apply for this 2025-26 season?

 

[Lostinthewoods]

This is going to be a weird season for me so I am going to have to scatter hunts verse doing larger chunks.

That being said:

Kansas deer (if I draw)
Kentucky deer
Missouri deer
Going to apply for NM as always, but shoot for rifle hunts instead of bow. (Kind of interested in this. I’ve never killed a bull with a rifle) I’m also not fully sold on this…. I may do my go to elk units for first season and just not be picky.

Then I think I may cash in my Wyoming antelope points. I’ve got 10 and it’s probably time to go kill one. They are too tasty and I haven’t killed an antelope since 2022.

A long shots will be Maine moose.

Everything else will probably just be point building.

 

[WildWill]

I'm so torn between what I want to do and what I should do.

Had lots of plans for 2025-26 season.
1) Try and draw the same NM deer tag for the 3rd year in a row or at least a tag in that unit.
2) Burn almost a decades worth of elk points for a CO muzzleloader tag.
3) Pronghorn hunt in WY
4) Cow elk WY
5) SD blackhills whitetail


Then I got my wife pregnant. With a new baby no way I'm getting even close to that amount of trips. I really went hard this year with 5 out of state trips although one was a mini family vacation. The wife and I have agreed on 1 1/2 trips. Have a opportunity to hunt mule deer on private that's pretty close to home next season should only take a couple days thus the half. Pretty excited for the opportunity to get a mature muley. Still haven't decided what else to do really don’t have the time to do a elk hunt plus I just put a WY cow in the freezer. As of now I'm gonna apply for a long shot type 1 in WY and some cherry tags in NM except deer I think I'll stick with my unit. See where the chips fall after that but CO is probably getting a pass this year. WY pronghorn or SD deer will be my last minute backup tags if I still haven't drawn. I have a feeling there maybe a few lean years for my western adventures coming up.

 

[Sask hunter]

Hopefully draw a Sask moose tag. If I don’t draw I’ll probably save my elk tag for rifle season and force myself to learn how to hunt elk in the thick timber during rifle season. Pretty sure if I don’t shoot an elk this upcoming fall we won’t starve. Freezers should be in good shape still. If I draw moose I’ll skip elk hunting. Other then that I’ll be chasing the usuals like WT bear and birds

 

[jpc01101]

The big rock for me this year is Africa with the family. 7 days hunting and 3 in Krueger Natl. Park. Very excited to get to experience that with my wife/kids/parents/siblings and their families but it will eat 2 full weeks of time away from work. I am going to apply for some low odds tags in AZ, NM, NV as usual and will try to get a big game combo in Montana as well. I am going to prioritize hunting at home for deer next year, I missed all early archery and rifle season this year being out west. Either way it'll be a memorable year.

Almost forgot Dad and I should draw Coues tags for Dec rifle hunt. Need to get him a coues!

 

[duckhunt]

Hunts are Iowa early muzzleloader deer and Colorado muzzleloader elk, also possibly South Dakota pheasant.

Points for Colorado deer and antelope, also Wyoming deer, elk, and antelope. Almost forgot South Dakota deer west river and blackhills.

 

[Nick87]

Applying for
resident special hunt areas for deer /turkey
NM elk
AZ elk
CO points
MT points
WY deer antelope elk

Hopefully fall back on a reduced price cow tag if all else fails.

 

[brymoore]

I’m burning points in 2025.

Wyoming Antelope
Arizona Coues.

I’m planning an Idaho Wilderness November Mule Deer hunt.

OTC Idaho Elk and Bear.

Lots of bird hunting.

I’ll swing at other states I have points.

 

[Kiwi]

My focus for 2025 is Colorado. My son and I have enough points for decent 3rd season deer tags in November.

I may also apply for CO elk this year but more likely I’ll keep my 9 points for a seperate elk hunt another year.

I will probably put my son in for very low odds tags in AZ elk (he has 8 points), WY elk (he has 1 point so would be a hoping to draw in the random) and CO sheep and mountain goat (he has 5 points).

I’ll keep buying points for my son and I in UT and MT.

Here in New Zealand I have the following week long hunts planned to the South Island:
Velvet antler red stag hunt late Jan.
Hard antler red stag hunt mid Feb.
Red stag roar hunt, early April.
Tahr rut hunt, May. This is a highlight as it’s into the west coast wilderness.

Then I’ll do some day hunts closer to home for fallow bucks and red deer meat hunts.

 

[jt13]

I'm hunting sea ducks and fishing for striped bass on the Chesapeake in a few days. Canada and snow goose hunting should get pretty good locally through the tail-end of January. A few days of offshore fishing and iguana hunting in south FL in Feb. Some trout fishing in NC in April. Another trout trip in early June in NY. Hopefully, a trip to labor and delivery around July 4th for the wife to drop off the new kid. Not much set in stone after that, maybe grouse hunting in Maine again or maybe the tag draw fairies will have other plans.

 

[Nick87]

Shit I almost forgot. Scrap all that, I'm gonna get a wyoming commissioners tag.

 

[sigpros]

Out of state turkey hunt with my son
sage grouse hunt with the family
Going to try for a type 1 wyoming elk tag in the random with no points
And if I do not find anything else non trophy bison in south dakota

 

[Dave N]

Guess I'm going to try for Wyoming elk. Other than that the guy that rents the farm is looking at getting me a spot for whitetails here around home.

 

[Clarq]

I've got 8 CO deer points I would really like to use. I've been chasing a hunt for a few years but not catching up in the points race, so I'm trying to figure out a different unit. I've also got 9 WY elk points burning a hole in my pocket, and I'm taking a hard look at using those.

Beyond that, I'll be shooting for tags I don't have much chance of drawing. If we get to the late stages of the application season and I don't have a full schedule, I will be looking seriously at UT cow elk and/or WY deer (9 points). Should be a good year!

 

[WVmike]

Bow hunting/rifle whitetail in WV.
WV turkey in the spring
CO elk points
WY elk points
MT elk points
PA elk points (which honestly is a shot in the dark but relatively cheap compared to western states)

I wouldn't be opposed to trying for point for mule deer either. I've never mule deer hunted but after going to CO for elk this year, we saw quite a few and it intrigued me.

 

[jvanhoy]

NM elk
Wy elk
CO elk
OH deer
VA turkey deer and bear

 

[Rie Bread]

I’m really excited to get back out to the whitetail woods of central and eastern Montana. It’s was so relaxing and a pace of hunt I need more of.

I’ll apply to Wyoming pronghorn
New Mexico mule deer
Build points in Colorado and of all places California!

 

[Mallardsx2]

Hopefully my wife and I get to take our kid elk and bear hunting again.

Points for everywhere for my wife and I until the kiddo can’t get youth licenses anymore.

 

[mtmuley]

Sheep tag where Buzz was. mtmuley

 

[JohnCushman]

I can't seem to kill anything I have tags for, so I'll get them all again and see if I go 0-3 next year