Will 2pts get me a descent Co bow hunt?

[DouglasR]

Gonna ask this very broad hunting related questions since you guys don’t seem to be able to stay on topic anymore.
I came here to talk about hunting and on your own adventuring/sending licks on pub, not politics.

Anyways, it’s time to start thinking about how in the hell im gonna financially recover from this ski trip and get a big game app turned in for this fall before Amex shuts my shit down.

I’ll prob end up bear hunting again, but I’ve been developing this weird desire to shoot my bow over the past couple weeks and after watching the Alaska episode of destination elk last night, regardless of the ethics of Corey’s shot, holy smokes, calling elk looks fun.

To my point.
I have 2 elk points that I could cash in or I could go otc.
Are there any archery hunts worth using the 2 points on or would you keep saving for a few more years?

I’m not asking for the units or hunt codes here, more of a yes or no.

Hope everyone’s having a lovely Thursday

 

[DouglasR]

My definition of descent is more elk, less people

 

[midwesthunter]

Archery success rates are typ always going to be lower then a firearm. With that being said figure out the type of hunt you want to have, see what units offer that hunt and if you can draw. I would say there are OTC options out there that are better then some of the 2-4 point units.

 

[Bambistew]

Plenty of ops to have less people than an OTC unit, as in every other unit.

Everyone has their own definition of worth. They also have their own abilities. I know a couple units that have potential and has fairly regularly, to produce bigger bulls than 99% of the state that require a couple points. Just last year my buddy killed a 350 bull on a return tag in one unit.

 

[TexanSam]

Take a look at how many tags are allocated. I believe that you will find that the hunts that require a pref point or two usually have drastically less than the ones that can be acquired otc or 2nd choice. Less tags mean less people

 

[WildWill]

My definition of descent is more elk, less people

Then don't go OTC. I think you could find something that would be worthwhile. Start checking non OTC units that could be drawn with 1 or 2 points and find one that has the tag numbers, public land access, and success rates you like and go hunting.

 

[Wallydeuce]

Following. Same situation as you. So far, nothing useful.

 

[BlazerBeam]

and after watching the Alaska episode of destination elk last night, regardless of the ethics of Corey’s shot, holy smokes, calling elk looks fun.

aaaaaand another instance of being influenced by the influencer....

 

[LuketheDog]

My definition of descent is more elk, less people

My definition of descent is going down the hill...







See what I did there @wllm1313?

 

[LCH]

Plenty of ops to have less people than an OTC unit, as in every other unit.

Everyone has their own definition of worth. They also have their own abilities. I know a couple units that have potential and has fairly refularly, to produce bigger bulls than 99% of the state that require a couple points. Just last year my buddy killed a 350 bull on a return tag in one unit.

Which units were those? I still have time to modify my application

 

[LCH]

I look at # of tags issued for all species, relative area (square miles) of public land, and lastly success rates.

Between the OTC units I've hunted and the limited entry tags I've held, the difference in pressure has been pretty extreme.

 

[Jason73]

I live in a unit that turned into a draw unit. More hunters now than when it was otc!! My opinion is that once some of these went to a draw it gave people the idea they were better hunting units when in a actuality they became draw to increase herd size. Maybe now that it's been 2 seasons they will have gathered enough data to drop the amount of tags. Ugh. Unfortunately they had no data because the otc tag was good wherever you wanted to go and let's be honest, how many hunters actually told them the correct unit where they harvested??

 

[GrantK]

The majority of the units you're gonna draw with 2 points as a NR aren't gonna be different in any significant way from an OTC tag, a lot of them are OTC for rifle and set the archery tag number at the number of people who applied the first year plus 10% or so, you could have a decent hunt in most of them but it isn't going to be different from OTC in any meaningful way.
taking a quick look I don't see any NR archery tags that take less than 5 that I would consider to be worth dropping points on, who knows how many that would take by the time you finally catch it? if you want to be done with points and get the best value out of 2 I'd probably be looking at first rifle...

OTC isn't all that bad though, get a tag and get after it and you will have chances, better to be hunting elk than not hunting elk...

 

[TheGreek]

That NR CO bear tag will be easiest on the ol’ AMEX after your winters long “Aspen Extreme”-esque excursion outside the People’s Republic of Illinois. The real question is whether JB will allow you back.

 

[Deleted member 40728]

I’ve actually seen less hunting pressure in some otc units than the 1-2 point units. If they issue 700 archery tags for a 1-2 point unit, all 700 hunters are in THAT unit. OTC is an enormous area. You have the potential to find a spot that isn’t over crowded. A few years ago I was hunting archery in a otc unit and never seen a camp on a 20 mile stretch of forest service road for 9 days. I actually started wondering if I was in an area that had recently been closed down or something but that was not the case.

I’d say you would be better to build some more points but unfortunately there seems to be a pretty big void between all those 1-2 point units and the next tier up for archery.

 

[Nick87]

That NR CO bear tag will be easiest on the ol’ AMEX after your winters long “Aspen Extreme”-esque excursion outside the People’s Republic of Illinois. The real question is whether JB will allow you back.

May not have to worry about ol JB all that long, who knows.

 

[ccc23454]

While better units typically mean better results for actual elk hunt but a bad unit is better than no unit (unless your in idaho). I love chasing bugles and all it takes is 1 good day to make whole trip memory of a lifetime. Even if you dont let a arrow fly i bet you dont reget it. If you got the itch, just scratch it and burn all those points!

 

[DouglasR]

That NR CO bear tag will be easiest on the ol’ AMEX after your winters long “Aspen Extreme”-esque excursion outside the People’s Republic of Illinois. The real question is whether JB will allow you back.

It’s kinda like aspen extreme, but I never found Robin, just
T-H-O-T.
If you read my ski story from last year it’s basically the same plot as dumb and dumber.

Do you think JB’s gonna want a little something off the top of what I made out here at the end of the year?

 

[Nick87]

It’s kinda like aspen extreme, but I never found Robin, just
T-H-O-T.
If you read my ski story from last year it’s basically the same plot as dumb and dumber.

Do you think JB’s gonna want a little something off the top of what I made out here at the end of the year?

Whip cream.

 

[DouglasR]

Thank you for the feedback and the pm’s.
I’m gonna start doing some research and looking at different units on my onx system.
Based on where I’m at as a hunter/outdoorsman I’m kinda thinking I might just end up going for the same otc unit I’ve been hunting, hiking and skiing in for the past few years even though it’s a played ass resort town because I have a little bit of an idea of the lay of the land and I have seen elk in 2 different spots here during hunting season and once during the winter.
I also might just be putting the cart way out in front of the horse here because I just finished that destination elk episode and omfg the part where they get cliffed out with loaded packs.
That’s looks terrible!
Elk are huge.
Maybe I’ll just put in for the deer tag again.
Anyways, thanks again for the help!