Would you turn in your tags?

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Sep 29, 2016
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Ok guys here is the scenario. I broke my ankle Memorial Day weekend (dirt bike wreck). I drew 3 Utah archery tags! I am going into my 5th season bowhunting and haven’t killed a big game animal yet. The first tag up is black bear August 6th to September 7th. Limited entry elk August 18th to September 14th, and general season mule deer August 18th to September 14th. So it’s been a little over 3 weeks since the injury. I am done with crutches and now walking on a boot cast. I have that on for about 2 more weeks and then I can most likely walk without it. Thankfully no surgery was needed. I’m not in much pain when I walk. The doctor said it should be healed by hunting season but I have heard it takes a whole year to get the ankle strong again. Right now I’m leaning towards surrendering my limited entry elk tag and keeping the bear and deer tags. There is a really good chance to draw the elk tag next year. I just don’t want to waste it because it may only happen every 15 years. I’m nervous about carrying bait for the bear hunt but once I get it set maybe I can take it easy and use a tree stand? Also the deadline to surrender tags is 30 days before the season starts. Would you heal up and hunt and risk going into hunting season not quite 100%, or play it safe, surrender the tags and wait an excruciatingly long year and hope to draw it next season?


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Joined
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I am dealing with a bad injury, broken tibia and wrecked a bunch of ligaments in my ankle, needed surgery with hardware and a total reattachment of a bunch of ligaments in my foot/ankle. It’s been ~8 months for me and I am maybe 65-70% with tons of PT really working on it. With that said, you sound like you are way better than I was, as I wasn’t off crutches for 8 weeks or so. I would keep the tags, but don’t skip PT, work on all the balance and strengthening stuff they show you and use it as motivation. With no surgery I think you will have time in July and August to heal and get back up to speed. But I’m no doc.
 
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Its depends on certain factors.
#1 I would turn in the bear even if not hurt to concentrate on the other tags, but bear is way low priority to me.
Also in my state once ur drawn your points are gone. So if your state will give you your points back I'd be inclined to do so.

At a min are you going to at least have help packing meat?
You will prob br fine getting yourself around. But what about packout?
Also it's been a pretty bad snow year so are the animals going to be there this year and will the quality be what you expect.

Man to me points are precious and I would only wanna let them go if I knew I would be in the best shape to capitalize.
But like I said no turn back here so my train of thought is off probably.
Good luck ether way.
 

Fitzwho

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I had my latest ACL reconstruction August 15, 2015. I made a pronghorn hunt in early October just a week or two off of crutches and an Alberta moose hunt that Thanksgiving. Not quite the same, and unfortunately I’m a bit of a pro when it comes to recovering from knee surgery.

Me personally, I would give it as long as I could wait. So once you’re out of the boot see how it feels. The seasons you have are long, so that gives you some tie to work on that ankle. Might sound crazy, but you might think about a yoga class once you’re free of the boot as well.
 
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Did you draw LE elk with max points ?
If you got lucky with a random tag it could be years or decades until youll draw the tag again.
 
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I broke mine racing dirt bikes 8 years ago, mine required a plate, screws, and tie wires though. I was 8 weeks on crutches and the muscles had atrophied so much it was hard to walk on it when I was allowed to. I’m headed to Colorado this fall and still worried about it, as it gets painful when I abuse it. Glucosamine Chondritin has been very helpful though, I started giving it to my dog first and saw the effects. I notice when I forget to take it.

Everything I’ve seen and heard says the bone takes 8 weeks to heal. Once that’s done it’s really just a question of muscle strength and flexibility in your case without the hardware.

If all the tags are for the same unit you plan to hunt, I’d keep them and take whatever gives you the opportunity. If you’re talking about 3 different hunts, that’s going to be a lot.

I’d use trekking poles for sure though, ultra light day pack, and have a plan to get the meat out if you’re successful.
 
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Joined
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I had my latest ACL reconstruction August 15, 2015. I made a pronghorn hunt in early October just a week or two off of crutches and an Alberta moose hunt that Thanksgiving. Not quite the same, and unfortunately I’m a bit of a pro when it comes to recovering from knee surgery.

Me personally, I would give it as long as I could wait. So once you’re out of the boot see how it feels. The seasons you have are long, so that gives you some tie to work on that ankle. Might sound crazy, but you might think about a yoga class once you’re free of the boot as well.

Yoga isnt crazy at all. I fought more issues with my hamstrings, hips, and low back during my recovery. Everything is connected and I was too focused on my leg and ankle and the other stuff started getting tight and it has taken months to get everything to calm down.

Find a good PT, tell them what you are passionate about, and go often. I really wish I would have more diligent about PT earlier on or I probably wouldn’t still be where I am today 8 months later in my recovery.
 
Joined
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What mtnrunner said/asked. Utah draw le odds for non-residents are gnarly and maybe you don't get the tag again, or for many years.

I also personally wouldn't worry about bear at all. I like hunting bears but it doesn't the same priority and you can have good spring bear hunts any spring you want in Montana and Idaho. After living in Utah for a few years I don't think they have a great bear population.
 
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If your pain tolerance is high enough, your doctor gives you a way to walk without substantial risk of re-injuring it, and you have help packing the meat, I say keep the tags and go for it.
 
OP
cody21peterson
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Thanks for the feedback guys! So I am a Utah resident. I drew my limited entry elk tag with 6 points. If I surrender the tag I will get my points back and will probably have a 99% chance to draw it again next year. I’m not worried about the deer tag because Utah has an extended archery season that runs all the way to November 30. Same goes for OTC elk.


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dtrkyman

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Give up the bear, or at least take it easy on the bear hunt, use the extra time to get ready for Elk! If you think you will be hampered during Elk season then give it up and draw next year, if I were expecting close to full recovery by then I would not give that up!
 

CorbLand

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The LE Elk would be my only concern. You dont get your money back on General Season but would get your points. In the area I hunt you generally get a tag every year for archery, so its not worth turning it back in but depending on the amount of points it takes to get that tag, thats how I would decide that.
 

Murdy

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I don't know the particulars of the Utah draw system, but can you turn them in and, if you are in good enough shape to hunt when season rolls around, get something OTC in Utah or elsewhere?
 

CorbLand

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I don't know the particulars of the Utah draw system, but can you turn them in and, if you are in good enough shape to hunt when season rolls around, get something OTC in Utah or elsewhere?

In theory, yes, but OTC opportunity is low in Utah.
 

lilharcher

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If I were you, and if I had the time, I'd plan a 2 - 3 day scouting trip (bear, elk, or deer) for July 14 - 16 weekend and push your cardio a bit to see how your ankle holds up. If you do well, you may consider keeping the ELK tag, otherwise, I wouldn't hesitate to trade it in (on July 17), knowing you can likely draw it again next year. Regardless of how it holds up, I would probably trade it back anyways, because 3 back-to-back hunts is a lot on a recently healed ankle.
 

thinhorn_AK

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Luckily it doesn’t sound like you damaged your ankle too badly if it didn’t need aurgernand you’re only looking at a few weeks off. As somebody who shattered their ankle and had multiple surgeries to correct it, 5 months of zero weight bearing and extensive rehab I have to say I’m jealous.

I’ll also say, don’t get your hopes up too much about what your capabilities will be when you start waking again, that was he biggest shocker to me, I couldn’t take a single step.
 

Poltax

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Keep in mind for your Utah LE Elk tag...... If you decide to keep your tag you will not be able to put in for an LE tag for 5 years. Even if your not successful in a harvest the 5 year rule still applies. Then you start all over in the process of gaining points again after the 5 years.
 

thinhorn_AK

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Keep in mind for your Utah LE Elk tag...... If you decide to keep your tag you will not be able to put in for an LE tag for 5 years. Even if your not successful in a harvest the 5 year rule still applies. Then you start all over in the process of gaining points again after the 5 years.

On that note and knowing how brutal ankle injuries are, I’d turn that tag in, get the points back and go next year.
 

Wapiti1

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I'm kind of a make hay while the sun is shining kind of guy. Tomorrow is guaranteed to no one. There are a couple of sayings that help me make decisions. All I can offer is what I would do.

I'd take those three tags and post them in a place that forced me to look at them at least once a day. Then I would go to a good outdoor store the day my cast got off and buy a solid set of boots and trekking poles (I like BD cork carbon). At that point, re-rehabilitating the ankle would be my focus.

In the end, I would enjoy the season, and deal with whatever issues the ankle gave me.

I've seen comments about it's a dry year, wait til next, or you'll be in better shape next year, etc. Will you? Can you say that with any certainty? Pretty sure you didn't think that you would be in this situation this year, so why is next year different?

Life happens and you make your plans to roll with the punches.

Best of luck whichever way you go. I'm sure you will make a good call based on your situation.

Jeremy
 

sneaky

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My buddy broke his ankle in mid July last year, and killed his first archery bull in Idaho in September. Actually, he broke it at the end of July, 6 weeks to the day he left to come out. Sounds like you have your doubts, only you can decide how bad you want it.

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