Nevada - Is it Worth it?

Honestly if a buddy asked me how to hunt ELK every year on any kind of budget i would tell him MT/WY rotation with CO on the years you dont draw one of other 2. Get to know a unit or 2 in CO really good and enjoy otc while you can, rest of west is a lottery and unrepeatable. Find spots and focus on getting good at hunting those spots every couple years. If money isnt issue i would just buy tags in NM every year and outfitter in MT.
Yes that’s what I mean too. Going to have to lean on CO, WY, AZ and ID for the rotation pieces for elk then mix in a some random/unexpected hunts over time.
 
Also, just to be clear, I consider other states, like UT, rotation pieces because you can hunt cows on a consistent repeatable basis. I’m a meat hunter so not looking for exclusively bull hunts.
 
I love how you jump to accusing me of lying.

Two of those four tags have full reports and photos on this forum. I guess I fabricated all of that, from start to finish, even asking for advice. One of them I killed before I was on HT, and the other I just killed last season and didn't put a photo up yet...so here it is.

Yeah, I'm making all this up.View attachment 313413
Actually, I did not include the ewe sheep hunt in the 7 I know must be <1% odds, because I don’t apply for those. I most definitely did not call you a liar. There are other factors that could include typos, forgetfulness, blunt brain trauma, or like that dementia stuff Joe Biden has. None of which would be your fault.

When I look at your lists it just boggles my mind. I have a few buddies with more points than you three and none of them have hit on any tags either. Not even one. Yet you score SEVEN. 😯
 
Last edited:
Actually, I did not include the ewe sheep hunt in the 7 I know must be <1% odds, because I don’t apply for those. I most definitely did not call you a liar. There are other factors that could include typos, forgetfulness, blunt brain trauma, or like that dementia stuff Joe Biden has. None of which would be your fault.

When I look at your lists it just boggles my mind. I have a few buddies with more points than you and none of them have hit on any tags either. Not even one.
They should quit while they are behind
 
As a resident I think it's worthwhile if a group of buddies puts in for everything every year. Someone will get lucky eventually, and someone else after that. Last year I had zero points for pronghorn and drew a rifle tag that had a 0.44% chance of drawing. Drawn a deer tag with less than 1% odds and several other tags under 5% odds. For the most part it's the land of quality hunts, not opportunity. Can't win if you don't play the game.

That being said, Nevada deer are getting their ass kicked. There's no longer a draw hunt in the state for doe deer.
 
There is good advice on here.

NV is a hail mary state. The potential return is high, but cost is also high, and striking out a long time is possible.

It definitely isn't a state to use to rely on a tag.

From what I'm reading, my advice would be to put in where you can afford, but your best bet for hunting and killing elk regularly is going back to the same place every year, or other year or every three years. There are opportunities to do that in other states.
 
As a resident I think it's worthwhile if a group of buddies puts in for everything every year. Someone will get lucky eventually, and someone else after that. Last year I had zero points for pronghorn and drew a rifle tag that had a 0.44% chance of drawing. Drawn a deer tag with less than 1% odds and several other tags under 5% odds. For the most part it's the land of quality hunts, not opportunity. Can't win if you don't play the game.

That being said, Nevada deer are getting their ass kicked. There's no longer a draw hunt in the state for doe deer.
Weather is kicking the deer’s ass in Nevada?
 
Weather is kicking the deer’s ass in Nevada?
Weather last winter was a little bit rough. But one of the biggest issues that is well documented in NDOW presentations is the problem with feral horses and their negative affects on all native wildlife.
Last winter was really hard on the deer populations, especially around the Rubies and other herds that migrate long distances. Lot's of deer were trapped and starved to death. Deer have been on the decline in Nevada since the 80s and last year was a hard kick in the nuts.

Feral horses and burrows are one of the main problems. There's at least as many of them as deer in Nevada, probably more. Pinyon-juniper encroachment and cheatgrass taking over winter range are also contributing to their population decline.

It seems Nevada has also had some over hunting in certain areas. NDOW has tried to provide for opportunity, but Nevada is a quantity over quality state. Too many people in Nevada want to hunt their home state every year and refuse to look at opportunities in adjacent states.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DFS
Thanks for the replies. Very interesting to me and how each state is struggling in their own way.
 
So Desk Pop, Were you able to lay some coin on the 2025 Bears? Sure hope so.
 
Sorry in advance this is for your own good...

You know how when people say "I do not mean any disrespect" or "please don't take this the wrong way' they are going to say something really disrespectful - this is one of those times. I do not mean any disrespect but if you received a raise at work and one of your bright ideas is to consider adding Wyoming moose at $150 per preference point to your application strategy you must not be required to do math at work. The moose population is low and trending down - they offered very few tags and just cut that number even lower. Look at the number of non-resident point holders above you! Over the next 30 years it will cost you more than $5,000 to build points (the cost of the points, the future increased cost of the point, which is certain to happen, the opportunity cost of that money) and after 30 years you will not have drawn a tag, and you never will. If you want to be that idiot that says they have random tags with odds of 1:6000 then go ahead. You would be better off taking $5,000 and playing roulette hoping to double your money then go to Alaska. If you lose it, you are not out any more than your idea to start applying for Wyoming moose. I got out two years ago and I had 15 points. A better idea would be to do some research and buy stock that could win big - again even if you lose it all better option than Wyoming moose points.

OK, now that I got that out of my system. I took the $150 I theoretically was going to use in Wyoming and started to apply in Idaho. Still not a perfect option but a much better use of roughly $150. I also went to Alaska moose hunting last year and had a dream moose hunt. I wasted more money than I want to think about building those 15 moose points and they are worthless - at least I was smart enough to get out once they increase the cost of the point to $150. At one point they would have been enough for a cow tag - now those are 20+ points and climbing

12,151 non-resident moose point holders with a total of 1,661 of them having 20+ points - with 95% of them likely never drawing. It will take roughly 1,000 years to get through the point holders unless there are even more tag cuts.

DO NOT USE YOUR BUDGET TO APPLY FOR WYOMING MOOSE OR BUILD POINTS.


I think Wyoming moose points are near the top of the most worthless non-resident big game points you can have. For those of you with less than 20 points still buying non-resident moose points in Wyoming - stop - you lost - accept it - you were bamboozled - you are only making it worse - you have no chance to ever hunt moose in Wyoming legally :). Nothing to be ashamed of there were thousands of us.
 
Sorry in advance this is for your own good...

You know how when people say "I do not mean any disrespect" or "please don't take this the wrong way' they are going to say something really disrespectful - this is one of those times. I do not mean any disrespect but if you received a raise at work and one of your bright ideas is to consider adding Wyoming moose at $150 per preference point to your application strategy you must not be required to do math at work. The moose population is low and trending down - they offered very few tags and just cut that number even lower. Look at the number of non-resident point holders above you! Over the next 30 years it will cost you more than $5,000 to build points (the cost of the points, the future increased cost of the point, which is certain to happen, the opportunity cost of that money) and after 30 years you will not have drawn a tag, and you never will. If you want to be that idiot that says they have random tags with odds of 1:6000 then go ahead. You would be better off taking $5,000 and playing roulette hoping to double your money then go to Alaska. If you lose it, you are not out any more than your idea to start applying for Wyoming moose. I got out two years ago and I had 15 points. A better idea would be to do some research and buy stock that could win big - again even if you lose it all better option than Wyoming moose points.

OK, now that I got that out of my system. I took the $150 I theoretically was going to use in Wyoming and started to apply in Idaho. Still not a perfect option but a much better use of roughly $150. I also went to Alaska moose hunting last year and had a dream moose hunt. I wasted more money than I want to think about building those 15 moose points and they are worthless - at least I was smart enough to get out once they increase the cost of the point to $150. At one point they would have been enough for a cow tag - now those are 20+ points and climbing

12,151 non-resident moose point holders with a total of 1,661 of them having 20+ points - with 95% of them likely never drawing. It will take roughly 1,000 years to get through the point holders unless there are even more tag cuts.

DO NOT USE YOUR BUDGET TO APPLY FOR WYOMING MOOSE OR BUILD POINTS.


I think Wyoming moose points are near the top of the most worthless non-resident big game points you can have. For those of you with less than 20 points still buying non-resident moose points in Wyoming - stop - you lost - accept it - you were bamboozled - you are only making it worse - you have no chance to ever hunt moose in Wyoming legally :). Nothing to be ashamed of there were thousands of us.
Is everything alright at home sir?

Totally agree with you which is I am not going to do Moose in Wyoming. My money would be better used in ID or put towards a guided moose hunt in the future. I appreciate you responding.
 
I hope @Zim continues to convince the rest of you every year that this isn't worth it. It ups my Nevada odds even if only a minuscule amount.
Typically, he spends his year trying to dissuade people from applying to Nevada, then sends out a reminder thread the night before apps are due...

Always good for a chuckle.
 
Last edited:
Is everything alright at home sir?

Totally agree with you which is I am not going to do Moose in Wyoming. My money would be better used in ID or put towards a guided moose hunt in the future. I appreciate you responding.
Idaho is full of wolves and wintered killed herds.
 
Ollin Magnetic Digiscoping Systems

Forum statistics

Threads
113,656
Messages
2,028,677
Members
36,274
Latest member
johnw3474
Back
Top