Wyoming 2018

[mixedbag]

So I looked up next year's license increase in Wyoming today and was curious to what others on here will do.The antelope tags are $326/$614,deer $374/$662,and elk $692/$1268.The numbers quoted are regular/special draw numbers.
So how many of you guys are going to pay the special tag fees if it saves you a year or two in the draws??That $1268 special draw elk tag has me on the fence.I think it will increase my odds a bit over next few years,similar to Montanas increase a few years back,but" WOW" that's alot for just and elk tag.I know I know you have to pay to play,but most of us have families too.So have any of you decided to change plans on Wyoming;not applying,going back to just regular draw,stop buying points??Curious of other people's thoughts.I love hunting there but I use to do my entire trip for $1300 including license in past with a couple hunting partners

 

[Kiwi]

My situation is a little different to most but I will keep buying WY Points and tags, including the special draw if I need to. The tags are expensive no doubt but it's were I like hunting and it's a fairly small cost increase considering the cost of getting over from New Zealand.

 

[WapitiBob]

I can draw in either provided nothing changes by more than a cpl applicants but that isn't much of a cushion.

 

[Bigjay73]

I just started trying to decipher the Wy regs. What is the difference in the 2 draws?

 

[mixedbag]

It's the same tag,but by using the special,more expensive draw,you can usually draw a tag a little quicker.It's not always the case though so after you figure out what tag you want you can go on their website and see the points it took to draw in both.Example would be the general elk tag.It took 2 points to guarantee drawing that tag in regular draw,but no points to draw in the special draw.So you can hunt every year with a general tag by entering the special draw.But,you'll be hunting every 3 years in Wyoming if you go the regular draw route

 

[Bigjay73]

Roger. Ill have to go back and look at the odds. I dont remember seeing special draw odds, but my head was spinning after a few hrs of deciphering everything

 

[HighDesertSage]

I'm in for special elk and deer this year. WY rocks, I'll put in until they tell me I can't. My prediction is that draw odds will slightly increase this year, then gradually see it creep down again when guys get over it and start applying again.

 

[Trigger50]

Most of the glory units actually have similar draw odds between the regular draw and special draw. Western hunting is just getting costly period..no way around it. Either you bite the bullet or stay home. I wish it was different too.

 

[Trial153]

A point of negative returns will hit at some point. However it maybe too late by the time we hit it. Hunters are conservation and by pushing them out of hunting you price them out of conservation. If it was just Wyoming it would be a different issue, however this isn’t a vacuum. These type of increases are happening across many states. We are looking at our own slow drain circle.

 

[3855WIN]

I dropped Moose and Sheep several years ago. We’ll see on the rest of it. Frustrating that hunters are getting priced out of being able to enjoy the public land that they own. NRs will be less supportive of Keep it Public, etc when they are only allowed to hike on the land.

 

[JWP58]

I dropped Moose and Sheep several years ago. We’ll see on the rest of it. Frustrating that hunters are getting priced out of being able to enjoy the public land that they own. NRs will be less supportive of Keep it Public, etc when they are only allowed to hike on the land.

You don't have to have a tag to enjoy public land. What you want usfw to issue tags?

 

[Bydand]

Keep in mind there's no guarantee that the special draw will actually improve your odds. This is just my advice for anyone looking to apply in Wyoming. Apply for the regular draw, and look up units that have good odds (perhaps based on your accumulated points, or perhaps good odds for 0 or 1 points). There are some great units for deer and elk that are easy to draw if you're willing to put in the work to get away from the pressure. For antelope, if you want a "trophy" unit, it's going to probably take a few points to draw, but personally, I probably wouldn't recommend messing with the special draw.

That said, I'd always recommend buying points even if it may be a few years before you're going to come out here to hunt. Today was the cutoff for points, so probably too late for that...

 

[3855WIN]

You don't have to have a tag to enjoy public land. What you want usfw to issue tags?

Hunters want to hunt. When hunters can no longer hunt, their support of keeping vast public lands available for the wealthy to hunt won’t be there. I want tags to be reasonable prices. A $3,000 NR tag for sheep in New Mexico pushes the regular guy out.

 

[JWP58]

How many years do you suppose it would take of applying to draw a NM bighorn tag? I'd suggest saving until you draw, then that 3k might be easy to come by in 15yrs.

Or move to new mexico.

I don't understand why folks try to tie tag fees into public land usage.

 

[MN Public Hunter]

I see it this way right now. I have 4 deer and 4 lope points. I will NOT be buying anymore point in WY at the price increase as they are making hunting for a NR a rich mans sport. I'm not poor, but I'm unwilling to pay the over the top prices to hunt anymore so I have 2 years to use the points I have and I will just pick units I can draw for sure with my points. Another option which will save me even more money and put less into the economy is to just let my points go as that means I would loose $300 instead of paying over $3000-$4000 to hunt both over the next two years.

Yep, WY and many other western states are getting far to costly to hunt for the regular person. I would never pay double for the special tag.

 

[Duck-Slayer]

My wife and I have 6 WY lope points and I have 1 deer. We will be using these up in the next 2 years and will also say goodbye to hunting WY........ I can hunt NV or buy second tags here in Idaho for a heck of a lot less $$$.
Matt

 

[3855WIN]

How many years do you suppose it would take of applying to draw a NM bighorn tag? I'd suggest saving until you draw, then that 3k might be easy to come by in 15yrs.

Or move to new mexico.

I don't understand why folks try to tie tag fees into public land usage.

Because it is limiting what some people like to do. Hunt. And those people own the land.

 

[Gut Shot]

It's getting expensive for us peasants to hunt the king's game.

 

[JWP58]

Because it is limiting what some people like to do. Hunt. And those people own the land.

So does tag allocation numbers upset you as well? I mean why not make them all dirt cheap and otc? Unlimited everything, we don't want to limit opportunity.

 

[3855WIN]

So does tag allocation numbers upset you as well? I mean why not make them all dirt cheap and otc? Unlimited everything, we don't want to limit opportunity.

No.

Most everyone is a non resident at some point. It might be as simple as a person moved a state away and wants to return to hunt with family. No problem with it costing more, but things like $2,000-$3,000 tags are ridiculous. That only allows the wealthy to hunt.