shrapnel
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I have seen times I couldn't get what I needed to fill all my tags but never a big one. Last fall a friend had a moose permit and didn't get his moose, so I found this for him...
Tag Soup How Many Have Had It
- Thread starter shrapnel
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littlebighorn
Well-known member
I once chewed on Stone Sheep tag Jerky for three years! It was nasty!
I did finally get the taste out of my mouth when I was able to go again, with another outfitter, and found the sweet flavor of success.
I did finally get the taste out of my mouth when I was able to go again, with another outfitter, and found the sweet flavor of success.
BAKPAKR
Well-known member
I struck out on two bighorn tags…
The Hedgehog
Well-known member
I have a taste for bitter mule deer tag soup. 4 Wyoming permits, a Colorado 66 permit, and the foulest of all- an Arizona strip permit.
DANGLER
Well-known member
Have eaten a caribou and a moose tag in AK but those were DIY so financially not as painful.
Worst was a B.C. Grizzly tag I had to eat.... I didn't pay for it but the sticker price was for sure north of $20k.
Worst was a B.C. Grizzly tag I had to eat.... I didn't pay for it but the sticker price was for sure north of $20k.
Chad Gus
Well-known member
None for the big 3, but a pile of rifle deer tags and 3 bear tags, here locally.
2 wyoming antelope tags, got a call when i was a couple hours from my hunt area, that my dad died. Turned around and headed home.
Utah antelope tag, major vehicle trouble on my way to Utah, never made it out there.
Kansas deer tag, my wife's nephew was killed in a car crash the day before i was supposed to leave.
2 wyoming antelope tags, got a call when i was a couple hours from my hunt area, that my dad died. Turned around and headed home.
Utah antelope tag, major vehicle trouble on my way to Utah, never made it out there.
Kansas deer tag, my wife's nephew was killed in a car crash the day before i was supposed to leave.
Mallardsx2
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I have eaten it a few times. Every single time it was my fault in one form or another. Lol
I went moose hunting 3 years in a row for a total of 45 days in Ontario and never saw a moose…..that’s the definition of being stubborn. Lol
I went moose hunting 3 years in a row for a total of 45 days in Ontario and never saw a moose…..that’s the definition of being stubborn. Lol
shrapnel
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I do buy a bear and a wolf tag every year, hoping I will see one when I am hunting, but they go into the cupboard for soup later in the winter..
MarvB
Well-known member
I sip a little broth from deer, elk, and bear tags on a semi-regular basis. Definitely an acquired taste. Did have to gag down some lion soup once when I spent $ to enlist some hounds when I saw the writing on the Oregon wall with Measure 18…course we got zero snow and only turned up bcats.
BigHornRam
Well-known member
Still have my mint condition goat, sheep, and wolf tags from a 2002 British Columbia hunt. $200 for goat, $400 for sheep, and $25 for wolf. Saw lots of goats, but was there to get a stone sheep first. Saw lots of sheep, but none of them full curl. Saw some grizzlies, but no wolf. Still had a great time, in some great country, and gave it my best. Glad I got to do it. No regrets.
NEWHunter
Well-known member
I have never had tag soup for any of the big three, but I have had draw soup many times. Draw soup isn’t quite as bitter tasting as tag soup from what I’ve heard.
I have tag soup here in Montana annually, especially with antelope. The other thread about keeping track of our animals made me realize I've only killed four antelope bucks in over 20 years of hunting in Montana. I can only remember not drawing a permit once or twice so that's a lot of unfilled antelope tags.
The unfilled out of state tags hurt the most - a Wyoming mule deer tag, Kaibab archery tag, Arizona coues tag, and I also came home from a coues hunt in Sonora empty handed. On the other hand, there have been a couple hunts where I lowered my standards at the end of the hunt and filled my tag. Those sometimes bother me just as much as tag soup.
The unfilled out of state tags hurt the most - a Wyoming mule deer tag, Kaibab archery tag, Arizona coues tag, and I also came home from a coues hunt in Sonora empty handed. On the other hand, there have been a couple hunts where I lowered my standards at the end of the hunt and filled my tag. Those sometimes bother me just as much as tag soup.
BuzzH
Well-known member
Every year I buy tags that I probably won't use, some I know from the get-go I'm not going to use them.
buffybr
Well-known member
Over the years, I've had a whole freezer full of them...
When I first started hunting here in Montana, we could buy an OTC grizzly tag for $25. I bought one every year hoping to find a bear on my elk gut piles, like a co-worker in Eureka did. I didn't.
I ate my first mountain goat tag after I got snowed out on my first trip hunting one and thought I would come back after it quit snowing. It didn't.
For many years I bought a mountain lion tag (and wolf tags) hoping to see one while out hunting deer or elk. I've even seen lions and 2 wolves from my home, but never out when I was hunting. I finally booked a Colorado hunt with a guide with dogs and got one.
When I started buying Unlimited unit bighorn sheep tags they were OTC at FWP offices and you could buy one if you were unsuccessful in the drawings. You could even buy one after the season opened. I know I bought one for at least a dozen years and only filled 3 of them.
Several years ago I booked a moose and woodland caribou hunt in Newfoundland. The biggest bull moose that we saw was about a mile outside of my moose unit, I turned down 3 bull moose we saw inside my unit as their antlers were smaller than the antlers of the Shiras moose that I had shot here in Montana. We didn't see even one caribou.
My first hunt in Mozambique was for leopard and Roosevelt sable. I got my leopard the second night and a day or two later we saw a sable bull that my guide excidedly said was a "monster". I couldn't get a clear shot at him and none of the other bulls that we saw on that hunt even closely compared to him, so I went home empty handed. I went back the next year and got a very good sable bull, but not the monster.
Two years ago I went on a Brown bear and moose hunt in Alaska. I got my bear on the first day but we didn't see a legal moose.
Then there are all of the years that I didn't fill my deer, elk, or antelope tags...
When I first started hunting here in Montana, we could buy an OTC grizzly tag for $25. I bought one every year hoping to find a bear on my elk gut piles, like a co-worker in Eureka did. I didn't.
I ate my first mountain goat tag after I got snowed out on my first trip hunting one and thought I would come back after it quit snowing. It didn't.
For many years I bought a mountain lion tag (and wolf tags) hoping to see one while out hunting deer or elk. I've even seen lions and 2 wolves from my home, but never out when I was hunting. I finally booked a Colorado hunt with a guide with dogs and got one.
When I started buying Unlimited unit bighorn sheep tags they were OTC at FWP offices and you could buy one if you were unsuccessful in the drawings. You could even buy one after the season opened. I know I bought one for at least a dozen years and only filled 3 of them.
Several years ago I booked a moose and woodland caribou hunt in Newfoundland. The biggest bull moose that we saw was about a mile outside of my moose unit, I turned down 3 bull moose we saw inside my unit as their antlers were smaller than the antlers of the Shiras moose that I had shot here in Montana. We didn't see even one caribou.
My first hunt in Mozambique was for leopard and Roosevelt sable. I got my leopard the second night and a day or two later we saw a sable bull that my guide excidedly said was a "monster". I couldn't get a clear shot at him and none of the other bulls that we saw on that hunt even closely compared to him, so I went home empty handed. I went back the next year and got a very good sable bull, but not the monster.
Two years ago I went on a Brown bear and moose hunt in Alaska. I got my bear on the first day but we didn't see a legal moose.
Then there are all of the years that I didn't fill my deer, elk, or antelope tags...
D
Deleted member 48080
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The notable ones for me include-
Breaks rifle bull tag
Central WY bull tag
3 AK deer tags
POW bear tag
And then most recently, a 4th season coues rifle tag that I burned ten points on. That one hurt.
Breaks rifle bull tag
Central WY bull tag
3 AK deer tags
POW bear tag
And then most recently, a 4th season coues rifle tag that I burned ten points on. That one hurt.
shrapnel
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I buy the Waterfowl license every year and I haven't even shot at a duck in over 20 years. I guess the money going to support wildlife is more important. When I was young, a tag was very dear and costly and I made sure I filled them, today it isn't the same sense of urgency...
375H&H
Well-known member
2013 BC hunt for moose and goat for me.
Could have easily killed both animals but had the wrong guide.
Didn’t leave the cabin until an hour after daylight and didn’t go after goats past noon.
I hope to never have the things come out of my mouth again that came out on that trip.
Nearly went back the next year but realized that would have been foolish.
The good thing about that trip was it was the best 12 days I have ever spent with my dad.
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Schaaf
Well-known member
I make a big pot of tag soup each year with MT doe tags I purchased to throw in the garbage.
Mtnhunter1
Well-known member
Tag soup? Yeah, I rank it right up there with tenderloin and backstrap!
As a NR. I've had multiple deer, elk and bear tags go unfilled. Most were archery hunts but a few I could have used a rifle if desired. All were DIY hunts with a few exceptions of hunting with friend and family. I'm not a going with an outfitter kinda hunter. The only unfilled tags that haunt me are AK griz. Just couldn't get it done with a bow and my AK family member became an outfitter.
Here in Montana, I have come to the conclusion that tag soup might now be the only item on the menu.
As a NR. I've had multiple deer, elk and bear tags go unfilled. Most were archery hunts but a few I could have used a rifle if desired. All were DIY hunts with a few exceptions of hunting with friend and family. I'm not a going with an outfitter kinda hunter. The only unfilled tags that haunt me are AK griz. Just couldn't get it done with a bow and my AK family member became an outfitter.
Here in Montana, I have come to the conclusion that tag soup might now be the only item on the menu.
