What's your "didn't draw" backup plan?

[Fetty Wapiti]

As a Wyoming resident, drawing tags has become so difficult that plan A is a general hunt and plan B is hoping to draw a decent tag. I have never had the opportunity to explore plan B and don't expect to ever have that opportunity. The good news is that most of our neighboring states have good draw systems in place to allow a top tier hunt every few years. Thanks to Colorado, Montana, and Nebraska I have had some incredible opportunities! After the better part of a lifetime here I am starting to question why it is worth living in a state with a high cost of living and a terrible job market, when you can't hunt where you live.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

As a Wyoming resident, drawing tags has become so difficult that plan A is a general hunt and plan B is hoping to draw a decent tag. I have never had the opportunity to explore plan B and don't expect to ever have that opportunity. The good news is that most of our neighboring states have good draw systems in place to allow a top tier hunt every few years. Thanks to Colorado, Montana, and Nebraska I have had some incredible opportunities! After the better part of a lifetime here I am starting to question why it is worth living in a state with a high cost of living and a terrible job market, when you can't hunt where you live.

Are you joking? You’re general tags are higher quality hunts than most of the draw tags in CO/ID/MT combined

 

[Fetty Wapiti]

Are you joking? You’re general tags are higher quality hunts than most of the draw tags in CO/ID/MT combined

I wish I was joking!

 

[HuntHarder]

Poverty draw MD tag in Montana. Probably swing over to ND for a bow whitetail and maybe a few dux n geese.

 

[TheGrayRider]

Alaska dall sheep hunt (Brooks Range) in 38 days, 5 hours, and 10 minutes - 2nd attempt for a dall ram as we bumped a legal ram back in August 2020.

I signed this hunt contract in January 2022 so I have waited 5 years to return to hunt dall sheep in Alaska again. Demand is certainly outweighing supply.

Luckily, in the interim, I drew a nonresident Arizona desert bighorn sheep tag in 2022 (13 points) in the Kofa’s and was permanently kicked out of the “<1 Club.” I am forever blessed, grateful, and thankful for that opportunity and experience.

Don’t get bit by the sheep bug! It’ll cost you. Good luck and happy hunting to all, TheGrayRider a/k/a Tom.

 

[Scottyboy]

Backup plan is Alabama whitetail for a nice winter break, hopefully some day a pig down there too.

 

[jtevanMT]

My plan A is always OTC elk and deer and adjust based on draw. I drew an archery antelope tag and an Elk B (second tag) that I can also use during December late season muzzleloader. Thus, I will start on Aug 15 with archery antelope and hunt until December 22 or the freezer is full. Mostly long weekend hunts with a full week vacation for each archery elk and late season elk/deer.

 

[bbrown]

As a Wyoming resident, drawing tags has become so difficult that plan A is a general hunt and plan B is hoping to draw a decent tag. I have never had the opportunity to explore plan B and don't expect to ever have that opportunity. The good news is that most of our neighboring states have good draw systems in place to allow a top tier hunt every few years. Thanks to Colorado, Montana, and Nebraska I have had some incredible opportunities! After the better part of a lifetime here I am starting to question why it is worth living in a state with a high cost of living and a terrible job market, when you can't hunt where you live.

Ha! You should definitely move to Colorado for all those “great” tags, “affordable” housing and “high paying” jobs. At least the wilderness is open for all to access here!

 

[K9kodi]

When I see all those pretty pictures from out west or west of the Mississippi I wish to one day hunt out there. But I will relish in my current situation which seems lucky, 6 deer tags, bear and ducks and coyotes , and 2000 acres of private farm. Sometimes you don’t realize how good you have it

 

[Pharmseller]

If I don’t draw for Mule deer I might buy an OTC Blacktail tag, or just fish the ocean more.

Probably fish more. Easy to fill the freezer.

 

[NWBLKTAIL]

OTC blacktail and Roosevelt until the day I cannot make it up the mountain

 

[willfrye027]

Ideally ive got a sequence of draws where you have multiple chances to draw something almost guaranteed mixed in with some long shots.

I guess if my plans failed I would trophy hunt my own state..hunt more pigs..hunt more waterfowl.

So far that has not happened yet with multi year strategies and contingency plans to always have a mule deer tag somewhere

 

[Wheels092303]

If I don’t draw here in SD we still have archery OTC so I focus on filling that tag. After that is filled I’ll go out and help guys that did get drawn.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Fetty Wapiti]

Ha! You should definitely move to Colorado for all those “great” tags, “affordable” housing and “high paying” jobs. At least the wilderness is open for all to access here!

Oh hell no! That state is cooked. I will keep hunting it though. I would never move there.

 

[K9kodi]

My good buddy wanted to move to Colorado for the longest time. I warned him against it, right before Bidens last tenure he went. I checked up w him towards the end of Bidens tenure, he’s on 200 plus acres outside Colorado Springs, he said he won’t let his wife and kids go into Denver w out him. No thanks

 

[thinhorn_AK]

bears and aoudad are the easy button

If I lived in NM I’d be hunting those aoudad every year anyways. Awesome hunting, even if they aren’t as big and numerous as the ones next door in Texas.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

At some point, there is going to be a joker that decides it would be easier to just go poaching than play the whole Ponzi scheme / points / point creep game across multiple states.

That “some point” has been happening for a long time. I used to hear stories of guys that would access the outer edges of the Indian reservations in their jeeps to changer and elk, the law enforcement down in the southwest didn’t really use airplanes or drones or any high tech stuff so they would almost never get caught. Just drive in, shoot, load it up and festive home casually.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I applied for a bunch of do tags but if I don’t draw, I’ll still hunt sheep, goat, moose, possibly caribou and bears. That’s the benefit of living in AK.

 

[K9kodi]

At some point, there is going to be a joker that decides it would be easier to just go poaching than play the whole Ponzi scheme / points / point creep game across multiple states.

Happppppens alll the time