Anybody else feel like they just got kicked in the junk by a Wyoming pronghorn?

[MaxPower]

I put 7 as my 3rd choice this year as a resident. It's historically been 100% draw odds for a resident 3rd choice, this year it was 0% and only 5 residents who put it as their 2nd choice drew.

 

[brownbear932008]

It's a lot of money, but when you're looking at a $3-5k for a 100 acre deer lease at home it starts to make sense!

Well that's just insane also I would hang up the rifle first. We are our own worst enemies it seems with pricing our fellow hunters out by paying such prices and trying to justify such.

 

[dcopas78]

We didn't really expect to draw due to reduced tag numbers. It did take nearly 2 more points to draw the unit we put in for than what it did last year, but we figured as much. Just thought we might get luck in random. Looks like I'm going to Arizona again in January. I was actually kinda hoping this would happen anyways since I had such a good time when we were there the last time.

 

[JohnBud]

Point creep seemed unreal this year for Wyoming pronghorn. Unit 7 which up until just 2 years ago was a guaranteed draw with 2 points was up to 4, and 9, which I drew with 0.5 point just two years ago was up to 2! Was there a substantial reduction in tags due to the draught? Or does this just point to more applicants. Having a hard time wrapping my head around saving 5 points just to hunt in unit 7 in the future.

In 2019 I drew Wyoming Unit 7 as a second choice (special) and also drew a doe tag. Had a blast in 7 and filled both those tags. Guess I had deluded myself into thinking that 7 was going to be a good second choice for future draws. Reality sucks!

 

[JohnBud]

I blame everyone on here spreading the word around about how good the prime rib at the pizza barn in Newcastle is

You are spot on! Someone needs to take ownership on that. You know who you are.

 

[Dsnow9]

My unit has gone to second choice every year till now, 30 percent chance at that same tag this year. Doe tags went from sure thing to 50 percent chance. I guess I don’t get to play the zero point, NR, 3 pronghorn tags a year in wyoming game anymore

 

[TexanSam]

Well that's just insane also I would hang up the rifle first. We are our own worst enemies it seems with pricing our fellow hunters out by paying such prices and trying to justify such.

That's part of why I was so willing to move away from Texas. The public land where I'm at now isn't great but it ain't bad and I don't have to compete with oil barons to hunt private

 

[SaskHunter]

You are spot on! Someone needs to take ownership on that. You know who you are.

Welcome to Hunt Talk

 

[HONEYBADGER]

All the social media and commercial people monetizing hunting have pushed interest in hunting to levels never seen. Wyoming used to be where everyone could start out on an easy western hunt for antelope, but not anymore. Maybe the interest will die off once they learn they will have to wait 2-3 years to spend $600 on a marginal antelope tag unless the random gods bless them.

 

[SaskHunter]

View attachment 186046
My unit has gone to second choice every year till now, 30 percent chance at that same tag this year. Doe tags went from sure thing to 50 percent chance. I guess I don’t get to play the zero point, NR, 3 pronghorn tags a year in wyoming game anymore

To think that out of the 6 antelope doe tags I've drawn in 18,19 and 20, that I've only filled 1 and didn't fill them for lack of opportunities...

 

[Dsnow9]

To think that out of the 6 antelope doe tags I've drawn in 18,19 and 20, that I've only filled 1 and didn't fill them for lack of opportunities...

I don’t think my wife would stay with me if I did that. If I told her I passed up an opportunity at an antelope the results would not be pretty.

 

[RobertD]

It's really interesting, there is a lot of depressing point creep and it's clear that the middle tier in quality is getting more difficult to reach.

There are also a lot of things that can change that will make the challenge more or less severe: Population, allocation, tag price, etc.

It makes it very difficult to predict odds year to year. I still feel like there is a good way to get the most out of what's available, though. And I'm already hooked anyways, so might as well stay positive.

 

[YZF-88]

Someone above mentioned social media and the commercialization contributions to point creep.

I agree and think it’s way worse than we realize. Just look at the Muley Freak douche that has been convicted of poaching and trespassing more that once. He got a hall pass by whining to the wildlife board and is now hunting, pimping sponsor gear and posting videos again. I didn’t watch his last elk hunt where he made 2 horrible shots but OVER 20k people have!!! When folks like this are allowed to make a living exploiting wildlife and negligent viewers patronize them...it will continue. Heck, now we have Instagram hero’s posting themselves violating a Utah baiting ban and nothing happens except their personal bank accounts going up along with the demand for tags.

Sorry, rant over.