Tag application budget ?

[Deleted member 28227]

I disagree that folks are idiots for doing it. Plans change as life goes on. I for one never expected to meet the folks in WY that I did. Never even knew about some of their programs for disabled Vets. Now that I am retiring and qualify for them it has thrown my plan all to hell. But, I have points in 3 states that I set up to do a rotating hunt schedule. I have come to really enjoy WY and with a donated tag it’s hard to justify not going. When you can only do one trip, what am I to do? Decline a donated tag in a place I know and love for a hunt in a different state. Or just keep building points for a great hunt some day. Or cut my losses and give up those points.

I can honestly say I am struggling with that right now, doesn’t make me a idiot.

I don't qualify what you did as not having a plan... now some guy who has 7 bear points in Colorado, who bought them every year just because there was an option to buy bear points on the website, and didn't realize that there is basically only one unit in the state that requires more than 1pt and that point creep on that unit is so bad if you didn't put in the first year you will never draw it... that guy is an idiot.

 

[LopeHunter]

I am out about $3000 for application fees, mandatory licenses, miscellaneous permits for conservation or whatever and credit card service fees from the state. I have up to $25,000 on deposit with various states at the peak then the refunds roll in. I do $1500 or so of Super Tag stuff in addition to the regular tag applications. I usually get drawn for a tag or three so that is usually around $1000 for each tag and $2500 more in hunt costs if go unguided by driving to the hunt and add another $2500 if fly. I tear up things so figure another $1000 a year on replacing gear I destroy.

Not a game I could have played with two young kids at home but am an old guy so minimal pain in the above expenses and cash flow requirements. Heck, if I draw an elk hunt where the elk will fall more than one ridge from my truck then I spend another $5000 to hire a guide so I do not pack an elk out on my back ever again. Been there, done that and have nothing to prove by hurting every morning for two weeks after the pack out ends. I am still decent at the finding and shooting and quartering. I can still pack out a deer, goat, sheep or pronghorn. Packing out a bull elk or moose is no longer a good idea. Clint said it, a man has to know his limitations.

 

[Bullshot]

I kept extremely close track of my application expenses for the first time and was shocked at what I spent...with only one tag to show for it that I didn't even score until mid August as a reissue. This year I will spend approximately $1,000 less and already know I'll have two tags to show for it. So it pays to be more strategic than merely hopeful. One thing I will never do again is apply for WY moose. That one alone wasted over $200 of my hard earned money, CC fees are high and they hit you for a $150 PP fee (a PP that I will never need or get to take advantage of). Some dreams are better left for dead!

 

[Trial153]

I plead the 5th.

 

[geetar]

I kept extremely close track of my application expenses for the first time and was shocked at what I spent...with only one tag to show for it that I didn't even score until mid August as a reissue. This year I will spend approximately $1,000 less and already know I'll have two tags to show for it. So it pays to be more strategic than merely hopeful. One thing I will never do again is apply for WY moose. That one alone wasted over $200 of my hard earned money, CC fees are high and they hit you for a $150 PP fee (a PP that I will never need or get to take advantage of). Some dreams are better left for dead!

Canadian Moose hunts in the more eastern provinces are too good of prices right now to spend 150 on a preference point. Can’t blame you for bowing out on that one.

 

[Big Fin]

My current situation is not very applicable to this discussion, given how much we have to invest to get the tags we need for the video platforms. But, before this enterprise, I used my sharp accountant's pencil to make sure I was investing the money wisely.

That is why I dropped out of WY moose, goat, sheep when they raised the PP fee back in 2007 (?). I walked away from points for me and my son. I projected how long it would take to plow through the NR point layers ahead of me. I used that money to build points in other places or in the case of WY, step up to the Special draw from the Regular draw and increase my drawing odds. (Note - I hate a two-tiered system tied only to who can afford it, but such is the law).

I sat down and did some long-term projects of total costs to build points in each state, likelihood of ever getting a return on that investment, and prioritizing what states have the best ROI for a non-resident interested in the states and species I was/am interested in. As Mrs. Fin loosened her monthly budget, I added states and species where I could.

That analysis also had some blind spots in my projections. In 1996, I projected CO moose/goat/sheep as a lower ROI long-term investment for having to send all the money up front. I passed every year and used my limited funds elsewhere. Now, I am still at zero points for those three species in CO due to making a decision I would rather build antelope and elk points in other states and hunt more often. With the benefit of hindsight and seeing how CO had done a good job with those species and the points I would now be at, maybe I made a mistake. But, I did hunt a LOT of antelope and elk as an alternative.

I wanted to hunt bison more than anything. So, I analyzed Utah as the best option at that time. Given I was making that decision, knowing the long-term returns were likely low, I also built points for anything else they would let me, an option that changed in 2009, when NRs could suddenly build points for all species. That is how I got to fill my dream of hunting Henry Mtn bison. And along the way drew an archery elk tag and an Oak Creek-Filmore archery deer tag, two bonuses that improved the ROI on the Utah investment. I am sitting on max pronghorn points I intend to burn this year and will then make a decision if UT is worth continuing to build points for general deer, sheep, moose, and the few elk/deer points I've build since getting out of the waiting period.

I might walk away from my UT points and invest my money in more AZ Super Raffle tags for antelope, sheep raffle tags, or Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society raffle tags. Those options, however low, appeal to me more than what would be left in UT.

Point of adding a few of my lessons is that it is not always building the points, but also the total long and short-term return you will get on the investments you make in these efforts. I have hunted more pronghorn than I ever dreamed of. I attribute part of that to building a plan of how I was going to do it and knowing I would forego some other possible tags. It has been so much fun, I'd make the same decision today if I was doing the same analysis.

It would be nice to have a budget to do it all; licenses, tags, points, raffles, you name it. I'll never be in that situation, though such is my aspiration when I grow up.

 

[geetar]

My current situation is not very applicable to this discussion, given how much we have to invest to get the tags we need for the video platforms. But, before this enterprise, I used my sharp accountant's pencil to make sure I was investing the money wisely.

That is why I dropped out of WY moose, goat, sheep when they raised the PP fee back in 2007 (?). I walked away from points for me and my son. I projected how long it would take to plow through the NR point layers ahead of me. I used that money to build points in other places or in the case of WY, step up to the Special draw from the Regular draw and increase my drawing odds. (Note - I hate a two-tiered system tied only to who can afford it, but such is the law).

I sat down and did some long-term projects of total costs to build points in each state, likelihood of ever getting a return on that investment, and prioritizing what states have the best ROI for a non-resident interested in the states and species I was/am interested in. As Mrs. Fin loosened her monthly budget, I added states and species where I could.

That analysis also had some blind spots in my projections. In 1996, I projected CO moose/goat/sheep as a lower ROI long-term investment for having to send all the money up front. I passed every year and used my limited funds elsewhere. Now, I am still at zero points for those three species in CO due to making a decision I would rather build antelope and elk points in other states and hunt more often. With the benefit of hindsight and seeing how CO had done a good job with those species and the points I would now be at, maybe I made a mistake. But, I did hunt a LOT of antelope and elk as an alternative.

I wanted to hunt bison more than anything. So, I analyzed Utah as the best option at that time. Given I was making that decision, knowing the long-term returns were likely low, I also built points for anything else they would let me, an option that changed in 2009, when NRs could suddenly build points for all species. That is how I got to fill my dream of hunting Henry Mtn bison. And along the way drew an archery elk tag and an Oak Creek-Filmore archery deer tag, two bonuses that improved the ROI on the Utah investment. I am sitting on max pronghorn points I intend to burn this year and will then make a decision if UT is worth continuing to build points for general deer, sheep, moose, and the few elk/deer points I've build since getting out of the waiting period.

I might walk away from my UT points and invest my money in more AZ Super Raffle tags for antelope, sheep raffle tags, or Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society raffle tags. Those options, however low, appeal to me more than what would be left in UT.

Point of adding a few of my lessons is that it is not always building the points, but also the total long and short-term return you will get on the investments you make in these efforts. I have hunted more pronghorn than I ever dreamed of. I attribute part of that to building a plan of how I was going to do it and knowing I would forego some other possible tags. It has been so much fun, I'd make the same decision today if I was doing the same analysis.

It would be nice to have a budget to do it all; licenses, tags, points, raffles, you name it. I'll never be in that situation, though such is my aspiration when I grow up.

Thanks for your input Randy. It is appreciated. I’m 28 and only in my second year of building points for the species and hunts that interest me so I’ve got a lot to learn. ( Should have started 10 or more years ago instead of the dumb stuff I spent money on as a teenager )

 

[MTGomer]

How much do you guys normally spend on tags and applications per year?

Well, how much do ya got!?

 

[geetar]

Well, how much do ya got!?

I reckon they’d take it all wouldn’t they. Just enough to apply a few states with hopes of drawing one good tag before I die and a few average limited entry tags while I wait on the big ones.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Thanks for your input Randy. It is appreciated. I’m 28 and only in my second year of building points for the species and hunts that interest me so I’ve got a lot to learn. ( Should have started 10 or more years ago instead of the dumb stuff I spent money on as a teenager

I started hunting at 24... I’ve yet to draw a tag with points, every hunt I’ve done was OTC or 75% or so draw odds with no points. I feel like I’ve done some amazing hunts, I’ve posted a number of them.

If you never bought a single point you could still fill your fall with great adventures.

 

[Buffs35]

This thread reminds me of the old adage: My biggest fear is that if i die first, my wife will sell my hunting gear for what i told her i paid for it.

 

[geetar]

This thread reminds me of the old adage: My biggest fear is that if i die first, my wife will sell my hunting gear for what i told her i paid for it.

If I die first my wife’s new boyfriend will draw the tag I’d been building points for

 

[HandgunHunter]

Budget?

I just decided to move to the state I wanted to hunt....that cost a crap ton of money to move all my shops machines and stuff....I busted the budget wide open.

 

[Edwin]

~$550/yr for points. This covers 24 different point categories across 6 states. Actual applications inflates this a bit, but refunded if not drawn. Depending on state sometimes a few hundred $$ are lost into the abyss

 

[Kiwi]

I don't qualify what you did as not having a plan... now some guy who has 7 bear points in Colorado, who bought them every year just because there was an option to buy bear points on the website, and didn't realize that there is basically only one unit in the state that requires more than 1pt and that point creep on that unit is so bad if you didn't put in the first year you will never draw it... that guy is an idiot.

Now you tell me lol

 

[rtraverdavis]

Having young kids and a job that makes getting time off in the fall fairly tough, I’m able to get in one big hunt every year. So each year my application strategy focuses on the sure thing. I go through the list of hunts I’m 100% (or pretty close to it) sure I can draw, choose one, and go for it. In the meantime, I build points for down the road and apply for other stuff that, were I to draw, would take precedent over what I originally planned. If point creep or something drops a turd in my spaghetti, and I draw nothing, then there are plenty of OTC opportunities that I’d like to explore.

I spend about $600 every year on applications and points. I’ll likely be applying for deer in the special draw in Wyoming this year, and my sphincter’s already clenched at the thought of that bill.