Wyoming Elk 2026 - Will 6 points guarantee a west region general tag?

[wapitibob]

is that a regulation? genuinely curious as I'm almost in that no mans land as are a few buddies

Ha no, my rule. He went with me when I used my points and got spoiled, didn't want a Gen license, and now has too many to go back. I had 1 less than max, spent 17 days there Elk and Pronghorn hunting, nobody around, called in 16 or 17 Bulls.

 

[Mdfowlman2]

Ha no, my rule. He went with me when I used my points and got spoiled, didn't want a Gen license, and now has too many to go back. I had 1 less than max, spent 17 days there Elk and Pronghorn hunting, nobody around, called in 16 or 17 Bulls.

AHHH makes sense. Unfortunately I don't think at 10 pts it will make sense to save even one more point. We had a unit in mind that took 9 pts in 21, last year it took 15, this year should be 16. Most units are looking like this, almost impossible to catch them. Ill likely burn mine on a general just to start building up for a second general tag

 

[Maverick1]

Ha no, my rule. He went with me when I used my points and got spoiled, didn't want a Gen license, and now has too many to go back. I had 1 less than max, spent 17 days there Elk and Pronghorn hunting, nobody around, called in 16 or 17 Bulls.

Remember the good old days??? First year, apply for a kill tag in unit XYZ, got kill tag. Several subsequent years, drew a general tag as a second choice?! Oh, how things have changed....

 

[Coveyleader]

Those 10--12 point guys have options going special…… some good ones .

 

[Don Qui Puncher]

I hope it is and stays that way. Im fine rotating species and getting a tag every couple years. Im not going down the double digit point rabbit hole. Im fone eating the occasional tag as long as I'm playing the game. I wouldn't like waiting 10-15 years for a tag and eat it.

It’s hard to keep up with everything. Last time I hunted WY was 2020 and I drew a general tag with 2 points.

 

[Mdfowlman2]

Those 10--12 point guys have options going special…… some good ones .

one would think that, however its just not the case at least not for the units I've compared so far. Most guys who have put in 10-12yrs worth of building points are willing to go special and the odds are barely better. I looked at 15 or so units on Friday and built a spreadsheet to compare the special to the regular draw and most of those units were 2-3% better odds on the special.

 

[Indian Summer]

I spoke to fish and game last week, they said 5.5 points is guaranteed for general west and 5 points is 45%. I’m rolling the dice with 5.

Those were last year’s odds. You can add about a half point to that.

 

[Mdfowlman2]

Remember the good old days??? First year, apply for a kill tag in unit XYZ, got kill tag. Several subsequent years, drew a general tag as a second choice?! Oh, how things have changed....

Wyoming general was always a great option, its soon going to be a once every 7-8yrs, hell I can draw Arizona every 7-8yrs. They need to do something about the creep.
Id love to see that say if you have more than 6 pts, you have to apply or lose your points, you can apply for a tag with terrible odds but you MUST apply. IMO this would help lower the number of guys buying points when they have to but the license every year to get them. I hate to spend more but the creep is getting out of hand. Most units I was looking at are 1.5pts per year average in the last 5 years

 

[wapitibob]

one would think that, however its just not the case at least not for the units I've compared so far. Most guys who have put in 10-12yrs worth of building points are willing to go special and the odds are barely better. I looked at 15 or so units on Friday and built a spreadsheet to compare the special to the regular draw and most of those units were 2-3% better odds on the special.

Yep, only a point or two better in special. When LO tags are $8000+, 2k for a WY license isn't a bad deal at all.
The biggest issue is when you got started, either birth year or when you decided to come out west to hunt. That can't be fixed, if you're 10 points behind max, which is 20 this year, you only have a few options; lesser quality Bull hunts, the random side of the draws at 25% of the nr quota, or antlerless.

 

[wapitibob]

Wyoming general was always a great option, its soon going to be a once every 7-8yrs, hell I can draw Arizona every 7-8yrs. They need to do something about the creep.
Id love to see that say if you have more than 6 pts, you have to apply or lose your points, you can apply for a tag with terrible odds but you MUST apply. IMO this would help lower the number of guys buying points when they have to but the license every year to get them. I hate to spend more but the creep is getting out of hand. Most units I was looking at are 1.5pts per year average in the last 5 years

Less than half the people with points apply for a hunt, I think you want them staying on the sidelines.

 

[Mdfowlman2]

Less than half the people with points apply for a hunt, I think you want them staying on the sidelines.

less and less are staying on the sidelines, Hence the creep. Guys all yell that the covid affect has driven guys to western hunting. Id agree slightly however no one that started in the points game during covid has enough to draw a general tag, its the guys that are holding and deciding to jump in when they have more points than needed. Not sure there is any way to fix the issue but dam it sure is frustrating