And here it comes...

[YZF_88]

Often it's just general inquiries about a specific unit that hurts. Said visibility drives tag sales especially for OTC units with limited quotas. Over the course of 5 years, I've seen particular units sell out within two weeks whereas it used to be 20+ weeks. It's just really depressing this year especially since my kid and I missed out on archery tags by a few minutes.

 

[Boxerboxer]

Often it's just general inquiries about a specific unit that hurts. Said visibility drives tag sales especially for OTC units with limited quotas. Over the course of 5 years, I've seen particular units sell out within two weeks whereas it used to be 20+ weeks. It's just really depressing this year especially since my kid and I missed out on archery tags by a few minutes.

Do you have anything proof to back up the theory that this is due to a greenhorn asking about the unit on a forum?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BrentLaBere]

Ive asked plenty of questions about areas through PMs and have had plenty of good responses. Ive done the same with sharing certain information. Doing it on an open forum, where you dont have anything to give in return, is what I dont like. Someone mentioned it before; If you are new to a forum, ask questions and disappear, its not well received.

 

[cnelk]

How do you grumpy fellas feel about Newberg and the gohunt guys? It's not the same, right?

The difference with Newberg is that he isnt relying on his same OTC areas each and every year like most hunters do.
Even if he does hunt his 'honey holes', I bet he smart enough not to give them up on the web.

 

[3forks]

How do you grumpy fellas feel about Newberg and the gohunt guys? It's not the same, right?

I'm not a fan of Gohunt or any service like that.

As for Randy Newberg or Elk Hunting University, in addition to trying to help educate people to be more successful - are they telling people specifically where to go?

I see trying to provide someone with the ability to understand how to hunt elk (or any species) as different from selling someone specific information on where to go or making it generally available on the internet.

I guess if you're going to generalize some of us who have replied in this thread as grumpy, I can make a generalization too... why is it that so far, only you guys from Texas seem to think that we're being unreasonable in regards to wanting to avoid increased pressure on the places we hunt?

 

[Brendan]

How do you grumpy fellas feel about Newberg and the gohunt guys? It's not the same, right?

I think GoHunt is different. It's stats on every unit in every state. Equal opportunity. Plus - oftentimes they say a unit sucks, and you can still find great hunting there - Probably the ones their employees hunt

I don't think Randy really points out OTC areas or units that people should go hunt, certainly not locations within a unit. Although by the nature of what he does (videography) often times you know where he's hunting...

There is an argument for giving advice on draw units that someone could only draw every 5+ years or so being different, because you can't really impact traffic / hunting in that unit. Still probably better that occurs in private.

 

[TauPhi111]

I gotta say, as a rookie I might have shot myself in the foot. I while ago I asked about a cluster of units that was supposed to have draw odds near 100% for even guys with 0 points, a good amount of public land, and good success rates in 1st rifle. And guess what...my group didn't draw. I've gotten good responses before about specific areas on this site, and as a new guy from back east I'd hate to see this site become a bunch of crumugeons guarding our spots, but I guess I'm going to have to be more careful in the future, at least around application time. I agree that if you have done 0 research and simply ask about a spot, you deserve crickets. I think before when I asked it was evident in my post I had done some homework, and I got some feedback. I think questions like about whether you can get access from road X, or whether there is water in a space during some season are good questions. But by god, don't ask "where should I go in unit Z"

 

[BrentLaBere]

Im not sure how people find go hunt helpful. But, like pointed out above, Randy and go hunt seem to lean towards helping people find opportunity.
Randy mentioned SE montana to many people about deer hunting. That is such a small area, no wonder people were upset about the specifics.

 

[Nomad]

Randy promotes gohunt and onX maps on his podcasts, forums, videos, etc. He generally focuses on hunting areas that most people avoid and/or don't even consider due to access issues. I don't like hunting areas like this and I know a lot of others stay away from them as well. However, at some point, people are going to start imitating him... it's the most sincere form of flattery, right?

He's also a big proponent of hunting Colorado due to the ease of obtaining OTC tags. He's not just offering advice on how to hunt elk. Actually, the bulk of his advice IS on the "where"... State/Region/Unit. onX maps is a game changer when attempting to hunt these types of areas. The world is shrinking. Promoting these services and technologies hastens that phenomenon. That's just the way it is.

For the record, I'm not bashing Randy. I enjoy his podcasts and his insight. He continually jokes about how "what I'm about to say is gonna piss off half of X" and talks about all the hate mail he gets. There's a method to his madness though. I didn't understand it myself until I started falling farther down the rabbit hole.

Also, I don't think it's "unreasonable" to not WANT increased pressure on areas anyone hunts. It's just impractical.

At the end of the day, I guess my main point is that Pandora's box has been opened and a thread or two on rokslide should probably be the least of our worries.

 

[ramont]

It seems to me that the only people whining about this are the chest thumpers, the guys that claim that they hike 10 miles in before they make camp and then walk 10's of miles a day to hunt elk - the same guys that always keep stirring the elk around so that guys like me can see 'em from our ground stands while we drink a hot cup of coffee and munch on a snack.

I wont reveal any specific spots, but I have no problem with talking about a general area, if too many people show up then I'll move, it's no big deal to me, it just means that I'll have to explore new country. Montana has enough public lands that I could spend the rest of my life exploring it and never see it all.

Oh and one more thing, since I was realistic enough to recognize that some things are mutually exclusive (like big city amenities and open country living) I chose to live in the open country so it only costs about $48 a year to hunt elk (not counting the expense of gasoline for my 4 wheeler). I can afford to not be successful, when I come home with nothing I'm not out thousands of dollars. Making the choice to live where business, money, and entertainment abounds forces you to have to pay for the opportunity to enjoy the out-of-doors. You have to choose one or the other. If you choose the city life then you'll just have to get used to that feeling that you're always behind and you're being harmed in some way when somebody is given a short cut to success that you didn't get. In the city you are driven to find an edge to win, it's part of the psyche of living in the city. That's where the problem is, it's not that some people are willing to help others.

 

[FURMAN]

I would agree with the overriding point in this thread for easy to draw units or otc units. The main point of hunting easy to draw units is to find the places animals are and people are not but I have zero problem helping a guy out in a unit that requires many points to draw. I would only provide that info in a PM though. There are many things a person could provide without giving out the x spot, such as elevations animals like to hang out at at certain times of the year. I have found that animals do different things in different units and even more so in different states. I thought the entire point of a forum was to help others. My favorite thing about Rokslide is the camaraderie. I have helped many people out in forums and many more with more specific info via PM or phone calls. If that makes me a fool so be it. Not every one of us is lucky enough to live in the western states we love to hunt. I try to get as many tags in my pocket as I can every year and I can not possibly scout them all. I do as much homework as I possibly can. That includes scouring maps, calling biologists, and yes, asking questions on forums. I will say that I most likely would avoid anything to specific read on the net because if I read it hundreds of others have too and we all know how that goes.

 

[FURMAN]

Im not sure how people find go hunt helpful. But, like pointed out above, Randy and go hunt seem to lean towards helping people find opportunity.
Randy mentioned SE montana to many people about deer hunting. That is such a small area, no wonder people were upset about the specifics.

I simply do not have the time to find the draw odds, success rates, public land %, some kind of idea of trophy quality, etc of every unit in every state for every animal I wish to apply for. Gohunt saves me 30-40 hours of research every year easily. With many of these tags taking over 10 points to even have a small chance at drawing I have to apply for 10-20 tags a year just to have a chance at drawing a decent tag. Yes I will do OTC when I do not get a tag I want and always try to fill a couple weeks with tags I know I will draw but Gohunt is probably the best $150 I spend every year followed closely by OnX.

 

[BrentLaBere]

I simply do not have the time to find the draw odds, success rates, public land %, some kind of idea of trophy quality, etc of every unit in every state for every animal I wish to apply for. Gohunt saves me 30-40 hours of research every year easily. With many of these tags taking over 10 points to even have a small chance at drawing I have to apply for 10-20 tags a year just to have a chance at drawing a decent tag. Yes I will do OTC when I do not get a tag I want and always try to fill a couple weeks with tags I know I will draw but Gohunt is probably the best $150 I spend every year followed closely by OnX.

Proven wrong. I cant imagine doing homework for that many tags. I have typically concentrated on one tag at a time while building points.
I can say for what I used it for, it wasnt the best tool for the job. plenty of other cases to find it useful.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

Proven wrong. I cant imagine doing homework for that many tags. I have typically concentrated on one tag at a time while building points.
I can say for what I used it for, it wasnt the best tool for the job. plenty of other cases to find it useful.

Yep, when you apply in 6 states it starts getting a little crazy. Only so much time to research each state and each species. I personally have found the "Trophy Quality" feature to be somewhat helpful as well. Not that it's 100% or that I'm a big shot trying to shoot giants or anything, but it's nice to have that little confirmation that the units you're apply to in a state you've never hunted supposedly has some decent sized animals. I'm sure most people on this forum can relate to applying to some unit in a far off state and wondering to yourself if they have anything bigger than a spike.

 

[El General]

I guess if you're going to generalize some of us who have replied in this thread as grumpy, I can make a generalization too... why is it that so far, only you guys from Texas seem to think that we're being unreasonable in regards to wanting to avoid increased pressure on the places we hunt?

My post was pure sarcasm.

 

[swampokie]

Randy is the man!!!!! Everyone knows that hunting is a dying sport and we r getting no recruitment. Randy is just trying to make sure all tags r filled during this void of applicants!

 

[5MilesBack]

How do you grumpy fellas feel about Newberg and the gohunt guys? It's not the same, right?

I'm not a fan of anybody giving out specific location information to the world on any unit or area. Several years ago I showed up to my usual OTC area and there were literally camps set up right along the main road going in there......even miles before I got to it. I finally stopped and asked someone camped "what the heck was going on". They said that Huntin Fool and Eastmans had both listed that unit and area as the best OTC spot for elk in Colorado. My goodness.......Yes, that kind of publicity has consequences.....and it's most definitely never for the better.

However, on a positive note I doubt any one of those 100's of hunters even saw an elk that year, let alone killed one. So I'm sure most of them didn't go back, realizing that (1) it was wayyyyy over-crowded, and (2) it wasn't a duck shoot for a hunt like they anticipated.

 

[mproberts]

I think that is a great policy in general.

I agree to an extent.

If a person draws a super tough tag in a PP area or a once in a lifetime (sheep) I’d be more than happy to share everything I know.
If it is a tag under 8 points to draw, I’d share info via PM only.
The second you tell everyone how great a OTC hunt or 2-3 point draw hunt is, you just hosed yourself and many others.

 

[sneaky]

Often it's just general inquiries about a specific unit that hurts. Said visibility drives tag sales especially for OTC units with limited quotas. Over the course of 5 years, I've seen particular units sell out within two weeks whereas it used to be 20+ weeks. It's just really depressing this year especially since my kid and I missed out on archery tags by a few minutes.

I know which unit you're talking about too lol.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[sneaky]

That, and Eastmans doing an article on the unit. First year I hunted that unit I bought my tag two weeks before the season. Then it was sold out in June... then April... then February.... and this year even earlier.

Do you have anything proof to back up the theory that this is due to a greenhorn asking about the unit on a forum?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk