Shunned again.

[modified5]

Or I guess I could call this "Not hunting with cb's.....again."
Once again NV took my money and both myself and my wife failed to draw on any of the 9 hunts we applied for. :(
We do have a second draw that we will be looking into.
On the bright side my father in law drew a bull elk tag that he has been putting in for 30 years!
He also drew a muzzleloader cow elk tag so hopefully there will be some meat in the freezer!
I am truly excited for him.
Just a little bitter about our lottery system system.

[44man]

Have to move! Come here. Buy a license and all the tags allowed, then over 65 you don't even need a license. If you hunt your own land you need NOTHING.

[quilbilly]

Sorry to hear about not drawing. You didn't say for deer or elk. I helped a friend draw last year for deer after a dozen years of trying and he had the hunt of a lifetime ending with a 5x5 scoring in the high 160's with a muzzleloader. I helped his brother this spring so hope to hear soon. Of course they both have/had a lot of points.

[pull the trigger]

44 man, what state is that? Good jobs there?

[Ural Driver]

Sorry that y'all got skunked in the lottery. If I may offer a bit of advice.....if the sportsmen of any State are truly interested in changing the system.... they need to stop funding it. A lottery only works if people buy into it. If you want to see some changes...... then stop feeding the beast. It will probably take a couple-a-three years, but when the herds get to a certain size, the State will have to open up the regs just to get them back down to a manageable size. In the short term it will suck.......but hey, y'all are paying to not hunt now, aren't ya?
Here's hoping Dad has good luck with his hunt.:popcorn:

[44man]

I am in WV. Don't know about jobs, am retired. From Ohio, auto and truck mechanic, then 42 years with United Airlines. Hopkins and Dulles.

[modified5]

We put in for deer, bull and cow elk, antelope using muzzleloader, rifle, butter knife, you name it.
My FIL boss drew a muzzleloader cow elk tag again. He gets it every year. I asked him at the last RMEF dinner who he was paying off so I could send my donation. :-)
I seriously have considered moving but we just took over the in-laws 18 acre ranch that my wife grew up on.
I love the property and don't really want to move again.
My wife is a little attached to it too. :-)

[richhodg66]

Kansas is pretty easy to get as many deer tags as I feel I need, just can't shoot more than one buck per year.

Where I grew up in S.C., I really don't know why they bothered to ever close the season and there weren't limits in most counties. The season ran for about four months, needless to say, there were a lot of deer, just not many trophies. I like Kansas' system better.

[quilbilly]

I believe he is in Nevada where the competition is tough for deer tags. The deer herds really declined after the introduction of elk and their subsequent spread over the last three decades. That is why Nevada is now offering a lot more elk tags (either sex) in hopes to bring back their once world famous mule deer herds in response to Nevadans who want their deer back. I once knew the wildlife biologist who introduced the elk at the behest of the RMEF after he retired to my area. He said that introducing elk into Nevada was the thing he most regretted in his career but that was politics and big money then (still is). Desert bighorns don't compete well with wild burros or horses either in Nevada so when the wild horse fanatics stopped any controls over those burros especially, the desert bighorns were almost lost.

[44man]

I have been admonished about politics but it still rears it's ugly head, that and money.
Ran into it in PA when gun hunting, could never get a doe tag. I found clubs bought them all and tossed them so there was a doe behind every tree but it did nothing for buck season. Easy to count 80 or more doe in herds without a single horn. Range was eaten to dirt. Hunters are also the problem steering the laws.
What is it about protecting wild horses and burros? They are intrusive species and are MEAT. Nothing worse then a tree hugger, the horse is NOT native to the US. Stink bugs.
But fellas, hunters also want more then the land can support.

[dk17hmr]

Wyoming posts the drawing odds for previous years and I study the heck out of them before I put in for my tags. My buddies always ask how I get lucky and hunt so much every year. I put in for tags no one wants. Areas with alot of private lands, weapon specific areas, doe and cow tags. I would rather hunt every year than once every 10 years. I would wager that when I do actually hunt a trophy area I'm a better hunter than the guys that only hunts trophy areas, because I get to practice every year unlike the guy that might get a tag every 5 or 10 years.

I haven't looked into Nevada's system but you might consider collecting points in other western States. Colorado has over the counter elk tags, Wyoming has left over tags, Utah has points.

[modified5]

I have considered out of state hunts but right now the vast majority of my cash flow is going towards eliminating the mortgage.
Without getting political, and with my being 49, my goal is to get debt free as fast as I can s I can scale back my hours and possibly change careers to something less physically demanding than fixing cars. 20+ years of that is taking a toll on my body and I'm in good shape.
I am also concerned about the national debt, SS, etc.
Again , not trying to start a debate. :-)
Anyway here's a sad but true story about how the wild horse, burro person o please feel about them.
5 years ago my wife and I adopted a 2 .month old boy who is now our middle child.
During the finalization process we had a social worker come visit every month for six months.
At an RMEF event there was a wild horse adoption booth.
I asked the nice lady behind the table what the process was.
After you adopt a horse your property has to have shelter for the horse.
Because there are horse hotels on the range. ;-)
And a social worker will come visit every month for a year.
A human child only requires six months but a horse a year.
Got to love the "animals are more important than humans" mentality.
Anyway, we will see what's available in the second draw.
At least I will get to go on a couple of hunts for sure. Just don't get to pull the trigger.

[44man]

I have a hard time with trophy hunters. Don't shoot the 8 pt but shoot the "CULL" deer. WHAT IS THAT? Might have ran into a tree with velvet. Let the buck go another few years but you will not eat that thing so you have a rack and tossed the meat. Do not ever tell me you had good meat from an 8 year old buck. Don't blow smoke. Would you eat lamb or mutton? Do you buy old milk cow meat or veal?
Getting off course a little but why put in for a tag for one sex?
It is the western thing to get a lottery for a tag. Years of not hunting while you wait for a chance for a huge rack but can't shoot less.or a cow.

[modified5]

44man. I assume you are talking to Doug.
I will shoot anything I can legally get a tag for.
A few years ago we got archery cow elk tags up near the Idaho border.
Of course that happened to be the odd year that they got their spring first and all the elk stayed there instead of coming south. :-)
Saw a whopping 8 cows. Never got close enough to shoot.
If we had doe tags I would apply.
About the only either sex tags are for the junior hunts and that is still 3 years away.
I think tag soup tastes just as bad as antler soup. ;-)

[toallmy]

Here in Northampton county Virginia , they are mostly small but it's all you want just buy more tags . 2-4 will put a 100 lb in the freezer . And they taste great .

[modified5]

Sometimes I wish I could live back in the Midwest or further.
Size to me doesn't matter. Would I shoot a big trophy buck?
Heck yes!!!
I wouldn't pick the smallest out of a group but rarely will pass on a buck.
Tags are too hard to get out here! :-)
If I have an ethical shot I take it.
Anyway, we will see what the second draw brings.
Hopefully not just more money thrown at the system and no tags.

[dk17hmr]

I have considered out of state hunts but right now the vast majority of my cash flow is going towards eliminating the mortgage.
Without getting political, and with my being 49, my goal is to get debt free as fast as I can s I can scale back my hours and possibly change careers to something less physically demanding than fixing cars. 20+ years of that is taking a toll on my body and I'm in good shape.
I am also concerned about the national debt, SS, etc.
Again , not trying to start a debate. :-).

Sounds like you listen to Dave Ramsey...... (High five)

It's only an 8 hour run from Vegas to SW Wyoming and antelope doe tags can be had for a non resident for less than $50.

44man, having grown up in the east I can tell you just about everything involving hunting in the west is different, from the acquisition of tags to herd management to where and how you can hunt. It's the game you have to play if you want to hunt in the west. My hunting season starts within weeks of punching my last tag for the previous year. My 2016 season started in December of 2015, because that's when my research started. In Michigan my hunting season started that in late summer because the deer tag I bought two weeks before season was good for the whole state on public and private lands.

[warboar_21]

Modified i'm right there with you. I have lived here since 2004 full time and have drawn the middle finger from NDOW each year. I didn't put in in 2010 since my son was due close to hunting seasons. I have put in for darn near every species with every type of legal weapon with the exception of bow. I haven't drawn a darn thing. Last year I was going to Idaho to hunt but a few weeks prior to the hunt I had to have emergency surgery and that pretty much ruined that hunt for me.
My wife is taking hunter's safety this year so we can double our chances. We are also considering moving out of NV. A company that I used to work for is really looking to hire me up in WA. I really do like it up there, politics aside.

[white eagle]

Modified sorry to hear of your bad draw luck
I live in Wisconsin and deer hunt every year the only draw I have been in here is for black bear
Been out west hunting in different states as well
hope your luck turns around for you I know the "need to hunt" runs deep in some of us
best of luck

[44man]

Not to any of us. The biologists know but those in power don't listen so they upset nature. They listen to who votes.

[T Herder]

169317This thread answers the mystery of why there have been a lot of Nevada residents hunting in California. We've seen dramatic a increase the last few years. Hopefully they have been as successful hunting as we have. The zone we hunt very year the tags are over the counter and they have never sold out. But it's the old story of how bad CA is in regards to hunting. This is last years buck. All I've hunted with for 20 years is a muzzleloader with patched round ball. The buck before this one was a very large 4x5. We do find it highly amusing about the continual bad mouthing of CA hunting. When they see that I have a standing depredation permit for 40 hogs, any method, any means, even at night the first thing said is "Need any help?" If you want to get a nice buck try CA tag D3-5 which allows you to hunt in any of the three zones.
Best regards,
T Herder

[35 Whelen]

Sorry that y'all got skunked in the lottery. If I may offer a bit of advice.....if the sportsmen of any State are truly interested in changing the system.... they need to stop funding it. A lottery only works if people buy into it. If you want to see some changes...... then stop feeding the beast. It will probably take a couple-a-three years, but when the herds get to a certain size, the State will have to open up the regs just to get them back down to a manageable size. In the short term it will suck.......but hey, y'all are paying to not hunt now, aren't ya?
Here's hoping Dad has good luck with his hunt.:popcorn:

This is where I am with New Mexico's lottery system. Non-guided non-residents get a paltry 6% of the tags. Last I checked, the unit in which I hunted 1st season had 75 bull tags, so unguided non-residents get all of 4.5 tags. It's no wonder so much of the state resembles a 3rd World Country.
Anyhow, I stopped feeding the beast!

35W W

[9.3X62AL]

T-Herder......shut the heck up about CA's D-Zones. THANK YOU! As if the Rose Parade and the winter weather didn't already attract way too many Rust Belt refugees.......

[warboar_21]

Well It looks as if I spoke to soon. I did draw a tag for antlered mule deer. I didn't remember putting in for mid season in area 10 but apparently I did and my buddy pointed it out this morning. I checked all the areas that I knew I put in for every year and didn't see my name. Then I went to unsuccessful and found my name all over. I was on cloud nine this morning.

[modified5]

THereder. I drew way more tags when I lived in way northern CA than here. I hunted almost every year in the x zones. Most of the time was archery but killed with a rifle too. Who would have thought those were the "good old days" ��

[ammohead]

dk17hmr makes a good point about studying the previous years draw odds. Nevada has all of that information available going back for quite a few years. Some late cow tags are almost 1 to 1 odds. Yep, they are tough hunts, some on wilderness only land where walking or horses are the only method allowed but my boys and I get tags nearly every year. And now you can put in for bull and cow in the same year so you don't loose bonus points. Another avenue is doe antelope and ewe. Much easier to draw than the male versions and still fun to hunt.

[lightload]

If wild horse herds and donkeys could be culled to keep their populations in line with their particular environment's carrying capacity, then they would not reach pest status.

[modified5]

lightload. That is true but the wild horse and burro folks see even the round ups as inhumane.
It is illegal as I understand it to interfere with them in the wild at all.
If you were to see a mare severely wounded and she had a foal you could not put her out of her misery and save the foal. You have to let nature take its course. Period.
Like I said earlier, not much common sense happening here.