Hunting in Nevada?

[Trailblazer]

We are looking at retirement property and Nevada is on the possible list. The critical question for me is what kind of deer and elk hunting opportunities are there in Nevada? I was reading about some western states where the residents couldn't count on drawing a tag. I need to be able to hunt where I live. I know there are some big mulies in Nevada and some elk but the main question is are there plenty of resident tags available? Do they sell out every year?

[AZ-Stew]

Contact the folks at the Nevada Department of Wildlife ( http://www.ndow.org/ ) and ask those who's business it is to know about these things. No hear-say. Get it straight from the horse's mouth.

Regards,

Stew

[Trailblazer]

Good idea and I will do that. They do not have the information on their website.

We do have several Nevadans posting here and it is helpful to hear from the hunters in the field.

[NVWalt]

Trailblazer,
IF and sometimes that's a big IF you can draw a tag you can persue big game here in Nevada.
We do have mule deer here but the numbers are way down. The game dept will tell you they are up but I hunt year around here as I am a predator hunter and what I see traveling around the state hunting coyotes, specifically, is that the deer are WAY down. If you do get a deer tag you can get a buck if you spend the time at it. The elk population is pretty good here and IF you draw an elk tag you should be able to get yourself an elk. I know where I live. In the Ely, middle eastern, part of the state there are good populations of elk. The same goes for the antelope. IF you can draw a tag you should be able to get you a speed goat. I do a lot of coyote wacking in and near the antelope herds in the spring when they fawn and the herds seem to be stable but the coyotes keep the numbers down VERY well. They kill most of the fawn crop every year even with guys like me out there and the state trappers working them also. If you got the money you can get sheep and goat tags but again it is IF you can be lucky on the draw. I wouldn't waste my time moving here if the really important reason is to be able to persue big game. To hard for a resident to draw a tag. If you hunt year around like I do for predators than you may find this state pretty good but there are a lot of predator hunters in every little town in this state and the coyotes are pretty sharp if they make it through their first year. You can get two mtn.lion tags a year here over the counter and there is no closed season on them. Those are the only big game type tags you can get easily and then you really need a pack of hounds if you want to persue them and be successful.
Nevada is a great state especially compared to the Workers Paradise that you live in but if it is big game that dictates your reason for retiring here I wouldn't waste my money...Just my two cents on the subject...Walt

[Trailblazer]

Thanks Walt. I was afraid of that. The trouble with dry country is it won't support large big game populations.

We deride Kalifornia but after an elk hunting trip to Colorado I have gained a new appreciation of Kalifornia. There is not a lot of game here either but I can always count on getting two deer tags a year which allow me to deer hunt for 10 weeks if necessary. The Colorado season I hunted was one week long.

The sad thing is that the Kalifornication of the west has accelerated. Mesquite, NV and the St. George and Cedar City, UT areas are becoming one vast sprawl of new development. I stayed in Fruita, CO and the map says it is thirteen miles from Fruita to Grand Junction. You never leave town driving between the two and traffic is every bit as bad as the LA area.

[GLL]

I have worked the geology of east-central Nevada for the past 45 years and you can't complain too much about the urban sprawl beteen Ely, Elko, and Eureka ! :) :)

They have paved a few of those gravel (read muddy) roads here and there though !

Love that state once you leave cities ! Beautiful mountains that most people in this country do not realize exist. Nevada is not the vast desert many seem to picture !

Jerry