Point Creep Got Me

[Mw01313]

I have 8 points in Wyoming, so I thought I would be good to draw one of the lower point LQ units for 2024. Saw the new odds today with 2023 info, and it looks like I will be one point shy of drawing the unit I had planned on hunting. I am looking at another of the lower tier LQ units. It's looking like it will take 5 points to be 100% odds. My questions are:
1) Is a 5 pt LQ unit noticeably better than a General tag? My thought was if there isn't a huge difference in hunt quality, a General may be better with the ability to move around. I may be way off here though.
2) Is there any reason to hunt another state this year and keep accumulating WY points? I never intended to have 8 points anywhere. I had planned to just hunt general and burn them every 4 or so years. Other hunts and life just kept getting in the way.

What do the RS folks think?

 

[matthewmt]

A buddy of mine drew a WY mule deer tag this last season. Not sure the unit but it sounded like it used to hold some nice bucks.

He ended up shooting a small buck and based on what he said everyone else hunting that unit said they hadn't seen anything worth shooting. I don't hunt wy but it sounds like some of those units have been hit hard by one thing or another.


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[MallardSX2]

Burn your points on a general tag!

 

[ElkNut1]

One point shy? Buy/Add the Special & your chances are good you can draw your unit you hoped for!

ElkNut

 

[Mw01313]

One point shy? Buy/Add the Special & your chances are good you can draw your unit you hoped for!

ElkNut

I thought about that briefly. But a $2k tag is more than i am willing to do. (for the opportunity that tag would get me anyway)

 

[Mw01313]

Burn your points on a general tag!

That's how i am leaning

 

[Stache Attack]

Go with the 5 point unit or send it and hope for that 9 point one, others may see the same and reroute. I think 5 would be a good improvement. Elk made it through winter well from what I was told there and some great bulls got killed in general tags in Wyo or 1-2 point units…

 

[realunlucky]

Go with the 5 point unit or send it and hope for that 9 point one, others may see the same and reroute. I think 5 would be a good improvement. Elk made it through winter well from what I was told there and some great bulls got killed in general tags in Wyo or 1-2 point units…

Tell me more about these 1 and 2 point units

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[tntrker]

I have 5 as well. When I started planning, 5 would have been "overkill" for general but I wanted to be sure I'd draw when 24 came. NOW, with the new non-res price hike for the special draw starting, I'm not sure 5 will get it done in the regular draw. I'm sure I'm not the only one that refuses to pay he $2000+ for an elk tag...

 

[Mw01313]

Go with the 5 point unit or send it and hope for that 9 point one, others may see the same and reroute. I think 5 would be a good improvement. Elk made it through winter well from what I was told there and some great bulls got killed in general tags in Wyo or 1-2 point units…

So you would go with the 5 point unit over the Gen.? After I posted this last night, I did some reading on the unit that I had in mind. The reviews were not encouraging.

 

[Dos Perros]

I kinda think the general is a sucker's tag now. I get the concept of being able to hunt it more regularly so you can gain knowledge of an area to be applied on future hunts, but the way creep is going on the general that seems to be a tall order. You burn those points now on a general you won't be back for 5 or 7 years. Maybe more.

 

[Mw01313]

I have 5 as well. When I started planning, 5 would have been "overkill" for general but I wanted to be sure I'd draw when 24 came. NOW, with the new non-res price hike for the special draw starting, I'm not sure 5 will get it done in the regular draw. I'm sure I'm not the only one that refuses to pay he $2000+ for an elk tag...

There are probably some tags I would pay that for. A 9 to 10 pt tag aint it. Be interesting to see how many people that throws back into regular.

 

[tntrker]

There are probably some tags I would pay that for. A 9 to 10 pt tag aint it. Be interesting to see how many people that throws back into regular.

yea I agree with that statement but I was just planning on a general, nothing special..

 

[Mw01313]

I kinda think the general is a sucker's tag now. I get the concept of being able to hunt it more regularly so you can gain knowledge of an area to be applied on future hunts, but the way creep is going on the general that seems to be a tall order. You burn those points now on a general you won't be back for 5 or 7 years. Maybe more.

When I started building the points that was my plan. Use at as a way to hunt the generals more often. So, if general was off the table, would you draw the low point LQ or just go point route and hunt somewhere else this year?

 

[PredatoronthePrairie]

After u posted this I figured I'd take a quick look. Kinda what I expected. Ebbs and flows throughout all units. With wild PC in select units. Saw one that jumped 4pnts. Think a guy has to look at odds and guess where the masses are going to shift and just go for it at some point.

 

[RyanT26]

Just speculation, but I would bet there’s gonna be a quite an increase in applicants in the regular draw in 24.
As Dos stated above, I think you’re gonna be damn lucky if you can draw a general tag every 5 to 7 years. The rate that point creep is getting with that tag it could be much longer. Maybe one day. We’ll get back to a time when you can draw a general tag with one or two points but we’re definitely going in the other direction right now.

 

[Dos Perros]

When I started building the points that was my plan. Use at as a way to hunt the generals more often. So, if general was off the table, would you draw the low point LQ or just go point route and hunt somewhere else this year?

Tough to say, because you can't really make that decision in a vacuum. It would be dependent on what options I had in other states. If it was Colorado OTC and build points vs burn them on the general, I'd probably pick the general.

I once hunted a low point LQ unit in WY and had a good hunt. Was into elk every day, had chances at good 6 points. Ended up killing a 270 ish 6 point on my last evening. It was a cool experience. But I kinda wish I had saved those points for a higher point unit and had a chance at some larger bulls in more remote county with less people. Could be a grass is greener kind of psychology I guess.

 

[Stache Attack]

Tell me more about these 1 and 2 point units

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Pm sent

 

[Mw01313]

Tough to say, because you can't really make that decision in a vacuum. It would be dependent on what options I had in other states. If it was Colorado OTC and build points vs burn them on the general, I'd probably pick the general.

I once hunted a low point LQ unit in WY and had a good hunt. Was into elk every day, had chances at good 6 points. Ended up killing a 270 ish 6 point on my last evening. It was a cool experience. But I kinda wish I had saved those points for a higher point unit and had a chance at some larger bulls in more remote county with less people. Could be a grass is greener kind of psychology I guess.

I have 5 points in Co. A quick scan last night made it seem I had good odds to draw some decent tags ( to me) outside of the OTC stuff. So my decision isn't OTC vs. General. Guess I should also add, I am not too concerned with the size of the bulls in a given area. Mainly looking for an opportunity without being over run with other hunters.

 

[Mojave]

You are never going to get a higher point unit tag. Creep will insure that.

The random is your friend.

You can apply for whatever you want, anything that takes from 5-8 points guess will take 8 next year.