Against all odds: my 2023 season

[Khunter]

My wife is not near as understanding as she was when all this started. So working on lining up some family help for her.

My buddies are pumped.

Im spending as much time trying to manipulate my pto as I can at the moment…

May be time to up and quit job on way out of town and worry about getting a new job when you return...I know a guy who did that when a Boss was failing to 'get it' that a once in a lifetime and life affirming sheep hunt opportunity was afoot and not to be denied.

I sure hope you are into taking lots of photos when you hunt and sharing same cuz this will be an incredible ride to enjoy. Get your digiscoping gear together if not already. The Ollin stuff is fantastic.

 

[TheTone]

So I just drew a Colorado moose with 3 + 6 points in unit 15. This fall just got even wilder.

Ugh?!?

Happy for you but geeze this makes me continue to hate my awful luck in draws

 

[RyGuy]

@txco, are you catfishing us?? This seems too good to be true…

 

[rmyoung1]

Holy smokes. That’s incredible. Enjoy it!

 

[txco]

Fixed it for ya. No telling how much 'worse' this will get. LOL

Ive had to explain that yes theres still one more out there…

 

[txco]

May be time to up and quit job on way out of town and worry about getting a new job when you return...I know a guy who did that when a Boss was failing to 'get it' that a once in a lifetime and life affirming sheep hunt opportunity was afoot and not to be denied.

I sure hope you are into taking lots of photos when you hunt and sharing same cuz this will be an incredible ride to enjoy. Get your digiscoping gear together if not already. The Ollin stuff is fantastic.

Ive got an iphone xr, razor hd 65 and a sony a6000. I may make some upgrades ahead of this season. Good to know about the ollin stuff.

 

[WildWill]

you sir are on a heater, I sure hope you have an understanding wife, a $hit load on PTO, & some great hunting buddies who want to tag along on 3 OIL hunts.
Good Luck!!!!

 

[DFS]

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Absolutely!! At this point I think you have to quit your job and leave your family, if it’s meant to be they will be waiting for you when it’s over. Joking!! Kind of. I have had some luck at drawing multiple tags in one year. Good luck it’s a tough task to juggle.

 

[CouesKelly]

When it rains, it pours! Congrats on the unbelievable luck this year. Hope you share it all here so we can follow along!

 

[MT_Fin]

Congrats! Look forward to the updates.

I’m in the opposite position, I have tons of PTO and flexible schedule but didn’t draw anything……..

 

[Bambistew]

That's a lot of luck...

Personally I'd turn in one of the moose tags, you could easily end up with no moose trying to stretch it out, and half-ass both of them. That's a solid 20 days of time investment to have a good chance of filling both, especially when you add in travel time and weather delays. I'd much rather spend 10-12 days focusing on a single hunt than 7-8 days on each trying to do two. YMMV.

Easy-come, easy-go. I'd give away both moose tags and keep the deer if it came down to it. Moose are cool (you can hunt them every year in Canada and AK, for way less than a divorce will cost you ), but a SW deer tag in CO? Truly a OIL tag.

I couldn't consciously be gone that long from a my family, especially young kids.

 

[TheJason]

Personally I'd turn in one of the moose tags,

Exactly my first thought.

 

[mtmuley]

but a SW deer tag in CO? Truly a OIL tag.

Yep. mtmuley

 

[DFS]

I had a great Montana moose tag and a great Idaho elk tag. I shot nice animals with both tags. I wish I would have had more time for both tags. I wish I would have taken more time off or quit my job if they wouldn’t have approved it. The deer tag imo is the best tag you are holding.

 

[rtraverdavis]

@txco, I can’t even fathom what that much unbelievable luck would be like. As another guy with two young kids and a wife that works full time as well, I know for sure I couldn’t do all that. I would wreck the rest of my life if I tried doing justice to all three tags. I wish you the best of luck in all aspects, no matter what you decide to do with this insane abundance. I completely agree with others that the deer tag is the 20ct diamond in this pot of gold. It would have my absolute priority.

 

[txco]

Thanks folks. Truly unbelievable and not easy to think about. The reality is no matter how much Id love to take off and hunt all fall on just one, its not in the cards for my family or work. My wife and I had a tough conversation tonight, including possibly returning a tag. I dont think were going to do it but instead pull some levers and make some sacrifices to make it happen. I think the biggest thing is setting realistic expectations for myself on whats possible and reasonable.

 

[WildWill]

As problems go pretty good one to have. No way I could've done it when my kids where that age still don't know if I could get that much time away to do that many primo tags justice.

 

[huntandfly]

I would be thinking real hard about getting a guide for one of those hunts if you don’t plan to turn a tag in. I personally prefer to hunt DIY on anything I can, but if you want to have a better chance at success in shortened time windows, local knowledge will likely be very critical.

 

[BackofBeyond]

If you end up hunting both moose tags, better add in the cost of another freezer into the math.

But you’re on a hell of a hot streak.

 

[Mica Man]

Hunt all your tags and have fun. Personally I wouldn't turn any of them back. If you only get to spend a couple days hunting moose in Idaho or Colorado so be it as it's still going to be more days of moose hunting than the rest of us will do this year or even in a lifetime.

A few years back I re-enrolled in school which definitely limited my time to hunt in the fall. Low and behold that year I finally drew a sheep tag and two of my kids drew moose tags here in Idaho. We didn't turn back any of the tags, filled all three, and I still passed school. Memories made and experiences I wouldn't trade for anything.

Go hunt and have fun!