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Utah Done

Here I go. Have done it to myself again.

Round 1. bonus points all. don’t want conflicts with my Wyoming app.
Round 2. Maybe an elk app. Or the sheep. Ok, moose too. Not putting in for deer tag though, bonus only. Hell, why not add a pref point for general too.
Round 3. I can’t afford a moose or sheep tag if I draw. Back to bonus points it is.
Round 4. Definitely need to change that elk choice from SJ to something I can actually draw.
Round 5. While I’m at it, might as well put in for sheep and moose after all.
Round 6. Hell with it, putting in Henries deer too.

Tomorrow: WHAT WAS I THINKING??? Total conflict with my WY elk app if I ever were to draw. Should I risk losing my points on that?? Can’t do two hunts. Plus the money…. I put in the special dammit! Probably should withdraw (but…. really, not gonna draw a UT tag anyway…..right). And fees are going up next year…..Decisions, Decisions.

Next Year: Repeat!
 
I applied again for everything across the board with 5 points. Not sure why. I gotta pull the plug on Utah. I’m never gonna draw a limited entry tag and i don’t think the general deer is worth it compared to CO, especially seeing as I’ll be a R in Colorado next year. Probably gonna keep applying until I burn my general deer points on a hunt and then get out of the Utah game.
I have been debating with myself whether or not I should continue with Utah. I think I have 12 points so I am behind the huge bubble at 14 points. It is hard to walk away after 12 years, but I am also mindful of the sunk cost fallacy. I was also planning on hunting general deer every few years once I moved back to CO. Now that I am moving to MT, that is a longer drive and might not be that appealing. I applied for points again this year and will re-evaluate things once I get settled and have some semblance of a normal routine In 2024.
 
I drew a LE elk tag in 2020 w/ 7 or 8 points, in the long run that’s likely going to cost me thousands of dollars just hoping something like that happens again instead of quitting while I’m ahead…
 
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I have been debating with myself whether or not I should continue with Utah. I think I have 12 points so I am behind the huge bubble at 14 points. It is hard to walk away after 12 years, but I am also mindful of the sunk cost fallacy.

Yeah, at $120 base license and $15/species (=$225?), you probably should stay in Utah with 12 points even though you missed that important 2009 bubble.

Live in Colorado and only have 5 points? Gotta retire Utah.

Live anywhere and thinking of just starting Utah in 2023? F'n crazy. Do the math on what 30 years of $225 will be worth with just an average rate of return. That's guaranteed money. Why would you waste your money subsidizing Utah preference tags for the high point guys.
 
I love how guys tell other people what to do with their money... like if someone wants to pay $87 for an elk "raffle" ticket ($15 per species plus $72 single year hunting license) for a high quality unit in hopes of hitting the random, let em do it. I get to hunt elk twice a year here in CO, but when I apply to NM and UT it's in hopes of hitting the jackpot and getting to hunt a unit managed for trophy potential. No different than buying raffle tickets for RMBS in hopes of getting a sheep tag.

Supporting conservation... one swing for the fences at a time.
 
I love how guys tell other people what to do with their money... like if someone wants to pay $87 for an elk "raffle" ticket ($15 per species plus $72 single year hunting license) for a high quality unit in hopes of hitting the random, let em do it. I get to hunt elk twice a year here in CO, but when I apply to NM and UT it's in hopes of hitting the jackpot and getting to hunt a unit managed for trophy potential. No different than buying raffle tickets for RMBS in hopes of getting a sheep tag.

Supporting conservation... one swing for the fences at a time.
I hear you, but the license is popping up to $120 starting next year so that impacts the calculation. You are talking about gambling, which is addictive. I agree, gambling is really fun…that doesn’t mean it is a wise financial decision. Nobody is trying to tell others what to do with their money, we are just trying to figure out what we should do ourselves in the future.
 
I drew a LE elk tag in 2020 w/ 7 or 8 points, in the long run that’s likely going to cost me thousands of dollars just hoping something like that happens again instead of quitting while I’m ahead…
I quit while I was ahead in three instances after drawing……….Oregon deer/lope, New Hampshire moose, & Wyoming moose. Those were easy decisions. I rate Utah as the next in line for me to exit when those deer points go, and I’m in that 14 point pool. The only thing that might keep me in would be 5% odds for a low tier elk hunt. Will be decision time.
 
I love how guys tell other people what to do with their money... like if someone wants to pay $87 for an elk "raffle" ticket ($15 per species plus $72 single year hunting license) for a high quality unit in hopes of hitting the random, let em do it. I get to hunt elk twice a year here in CO, but when I apply to NM and UT it's in hopes of hitting the jackpot and getting to hunt a unit managed for trophy potential. No different than buying raffle tickets for RMBS in hopes of getting a sheep tag.

Supporting conservation... one swing for the fences at a time.
The difference in Utah being that instead of supporting conservation, we are supporting a corrupt organization & system destroying the NAMWC.
 
I have been debating with myself whether or not I should continue with Utah. I think I have 12 points so I am behind the huge bubble at 14 points. It is hard to walk away after 12 years, but I am also mindful of the sunk cost fallacy. I was also planning on hunting general deer every few years once I moved back to CO. Now that I am moving to MT, that is a longer drive and might not be that appealing. I applied for points again this year and will re-evaluate things once I get settled and have some semblance of a normal routine In 2024.
I drew the random Beaver mountain goat tag with 12 points a few years ago.
 
The difference in Utah being that instead of supporting conservation, we are supporting a corrupt organization & system destroying the NAMWC.

If other states keep hacking away at non res tag quotas, the “ Utah “ system might be the only opportunity hunters will have in the future. I am almost to the point where I will support efforts to get transferable tags in the hands of LO and outfitters. There is no cap on the amount of money I can make and spend. But sure as shit stinks I can’t draw a tags that aren’t there.
 
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I drew the random Beaver mountain goat tag with 12 points a few years ago.

And that kind of thing will still happen, especially because “regular” LE/OIL tags are weighted random (bonus), NOT true/simple random (like NM, ID, AK).

If a young person wants to hunt a mountain goat, put that $225 away for 30 years and put those proceeds towards a goat up north. A more secure money move over subsidizing the TAGS FOR BOOMERS program currently being run by UDWR.

But sure, most of us with existing Utah points should want bad-at-math new entrants as they are heavily subsidizing both the 49.9% preference tags and the 50.1% weighted random tags we are skimming off the top of the pyramid. If they stop entering, UDWR changes the design to increase revenue and all us existing higher point guys stop winning.

Those new entrants hear us all calling those 50.1% of tags, “random” tags. But they are not. They are weighted random (bonus) – weighted heavily towards the very same boomers that are taking all the preference tags.
 
Be honest with you guys a lot of the reason I apply for some of these states is to hunt it some day and what if the issues with them get changed and the points are worth having hard to say what happens in 20 years other than I have a pile of points
 
Be honest with you guys a lot of the reason I apply for some of these states is to hunt it some day and what if the issues with them get changed and the points are worth having hard to say what happens in 20 years other than I have a pile of points
Always hard to know. Guys who keep applying but stopped getting $100 weighted S/G/M points in CO may one day kick themselves if all of the sudden the system goes bonus-squared. Or maybe I'll kick myself if they one day go completely random and erase points.

I put in for what I can afford and hope for the best. So far, I've done well enough to keep coming back.
 
Always hard to know. Guys who keep applying but stopped getting $100 weighted S/G/M points in CO may one day kick themselves if all of the sudden the system goes bonus-squared. Or maybe I'll kick myself if they one day go completely random and erase points.

I put in for what I can afford and hope for the best. So far, I've done well enough to keep coming back.
well stated. In the same boat.
 
Always hard to know. Guys who keep applying but stopped getting $100 weighted S/G/M points in CO may one day kick themselves if all of the sudden the system goes bonus-squared. Or maybe I'll kick myself if they one day go completely random and erase points.
I’ll never kick myself for my decision to stop buying CO sheep points. It was a calculated decision for me based on these state’s past precedent. It could go either way, but history tends to repeat itself. Those $100 now, higher later checks will go to my grandkids.
 
I keep applying just for the chance. If you want to have a busy fall and hunt on quality hunts (or what I myself believe to be quality) - then I believe you have to apply in as many buckets as you can. I submit a whole bunch of applications per year, but most of the time I am lucky enough to get a tag somewhere through a draw.
 
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