I'm a Utah Resident. I decided many years ago I wanted to hunt more than I cared about the antler size, so long as I was able to hunt a unit that had a higher percentage of branch antlered animals I wouldn't hold out for the very best unit draws.
As a result, I've drawn:
1 Limited Entry Mule Deer Tag in Utah
1 CWMU Mule Deer Tag in Utah
1 Expo Limited Entry Mule Deer Tag in Utah
2 CWMU Any Bull Elk Tags in Utah
1 Antelope Tag in Utah
1 Moose Tag in Utah (it took 19 points)
1 Cougar Tag in Utah
If I had decided I wanted a better chance at a larger bull elk I would have most likely only drawn a single tag and maybe not even that, as some of you are still applying, since the beginning.
Out of State draws: (I've been fortunate enough to draw a few tags, I most likely could have drawn more but I had to balance my limited income with the cost to travel out of State to hunt, and raising kids, buying a home, planning for some kind of retirement etc.)
1 Mule Deer Tag in Arizona
1 Mule Deer Tag in Nevada
1 Bull Elk Tag in Colorado
1 Bull Elk Tag in Arizona
1 Bull Elk Tag in New Mexico
1 Antelope Tag in Wyoming
I currently have:
9 points for Mule Deer in Utah
0 points for Any Bull Elk in Utah
6 points for Mt Goats in Utah
2 points for Sheep in Utah
9 points for Black Bear in Utah
2 points for Bison in Utah
2 points for Cougar in Utah
Max points (10 I think) for Deer in Wyoming
One off Max points (9) for Antelope in Wyoming
16 points for Moose in Wyoming
10 points for Deer in Colorado
I figure I've gotten pretty much what I expected from the Draw systems around the West. Not tons of hunts but more than some because I "settled" for hunts on Units that were not in as high demand as some are. But........I got what I wanted out of the system, such as it is.
I've stopped applying in as many States, I figure at age 69 I've got one good hunt antelope hunting coming somewhere in Wyoming, one good deer hunts somewhere in Wyoming, one good deer hunt some where in Colorado, one good bear hunt in Utah, one decent Moose hunt in Wyoming, and one more good deer hunt in Utah. If I do one of these a year, that will put me at 75 year old. To me that seems like a pretty good way to finish out my hunting adventures. I will buy regular season tags when and where possible as long as I can walk and see. I will go an plenty of hunts with son and grandsons, and any grand daughters that take up the live style. I think I've got at least 5 of those kinds of outings schedules for this fall, one Any bull in NMex with a son, one Antelope in Ariz with another son, and at least three deer hunts here in Utah with Grandsons, maybe more.
I'll hunt pheasants some where either here in Utah or in Nebraska with a third son.
I love to fish, so there will be many fishing trips worked in between now and freeze up this fall.
I will spend many many days scouting, for my own hunts and for the pure pleasure of being on the mountain, as the sun comes up and as the sun goes down. I sacrificed a good deal of potential income, in my younger years, to make a home at the base of a rural mountain range, and now that I'm retire, I can be glassing critters 10 minutes from my home, on any give day, summer or winter. In retrospect I'm really thankful that things worked out the way they have.
To the younger generation, don't you believe there is any lack of opportunity to hunt and fish. If you are committed to the lifestyle, above other lifestyles, you can still fill every available day in the field, hunting, fishing and living in the great outdoors. If golf, or back packing, riding motor cycles, racing cars, rodeoing, physical fitness, rock climbing, making money, gardening, sky diving, water skiing, playing musical instruments etc are more important to you, that's great, they are all worthwhile activities, but don't assume that just because there has been point creep, and big point creep for the best units, that you can't hunt, and hunt a lot and hunt every year. Like you would, if you were focused on rodeoing or making huge amounts of money, etc., learn to evolve with the system, stay close to it, leverage what ever the system is, to get the most you can out of it. Nothing in life, worth having, is generally going to get handed to you, time after time. At some point, if your going to get the most out if it, you have to put a great deal into it, regardless of what it is.
Have a great weekend, remember our Veterans and all they have made possible for us in this amazing land of America.
DC
