Anyone regret their point situation?

[Beendare]

....but no one's going to convince me the juice is worth the squeeze. .

WORTH THE SQUEEZE ..... love that line Big D .....
but also spoken like a guy that has never hunted areas like the San Juan in Utah... or the Grand Canyon unit 9 in AZ. I can assure you that you would think you died and went to Hunting Heaven. Units where you can see multiple legit Boone and Crockett animals. Its unbelievable.


The info is out there for a guy to make a educated decision.... and there are lots of hunts a guy can do every year if you can get over the “huge antler” mentality.

..

 

[Takem]

i'm saving a few points for when my kid gets older so we can do a mentor hunt. aside from that, you can't eat the points, nor can you eat the antlers. i enjoy the opportunity hunts and my cow meat hunts.

How does the mentor hunt work?

 

[Sled]

How does the mentor hunt work?

https://wildlife.utah.gov/plan-your...nting/1332-utah-hunter-mentoring-program.html

basically they get to hunt on your tag with you present.

 

[realunlucky]

WORTH THE SQUEEZE ..... love that line Big D .....
but also spoken like a guy that has never hunted areas like the San Juan in Utah... or the Grand Canyon unit 9 in AZ. I can assure you that you would think you died and went to Hunting Heaven. Units where you can see multiple legit Boone and Crockett animals. Its unbelievable.


The info is out there for a guy to make a educated decision.... and there are lots of hunts a guy can do every year if you can get over the “huge antler” mentality.

..

I hunted a unit in Utah that easily had 5 times the number guides to tag holders on it. Took half my lifetime to draw. It was awesome but not worth half a life time. My oldest was old enough to apply last year and was pissed when I wouldn't apply her there. Crunching the numbers right now she'll never live to make the max point pool. La Sal's or Fish lake from now on. Hell i hope she'll draw one of those before I die

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

[Fitzwho]

I’m skipping Nevada this year. Luckily only have two points. Even if I end up losing them it’s not like there’s really any noticeable difference between having 0 points and have 6-7, or 20 for that matter. I will hunt there some day, it just might be for chukar.

I haven’t been doing this long, the fact I’ll be 34 this year and I won’t have any more than 4 points in any state after this year’s apps. One of my few regrets about applications is not starting a few of the states sooner. AZ, UT, and a few other states are “cheap” enough that I could have started buying points 10 years ago when I got out of college.

I apply in 9-10 states, for at least deer, elk, and Pronghorn. I may end up with 20 points in a few places someday, but that will purely be from those just not lining up with my schedule and with drawing other cool 5 point or less tags.

 

[Takem]

https://wildlife.utah.gov/plan-your...nting/1332-utah-hunter-mentoring-program.html

basically they get to hunt on your tag with you present.

Thanks. I could draw a Books Cliff archery deer hunt if I wanted it. With 9 year and 6 year old I may have to think about it, this would be a great way to get them on a draw hunt.

 

[Mike 338]

No regrets here. A guy could spend a lifetime exploring his own back yard. It would take a thousand lifetime's exploring my State. No personal need to develop points to when I haven't even scratched the surface here.

 

[robby denning]

The point game is starting to suck, but like horses and guns, I'd rather have them and not need them than need them and not have them.

 

[204guy]

Agreed Robby, I just don't see much of a way out of it. As was mentioned earlier it's like SS people are financially invested there's no way to just eliminate it. Only path out that I see (compromise) is to go to a straight bonus system with no squaring or cubing. Straight preference or 75% preference like CO and WY is unconscionable for new hunters entering the system.

 

[LaGriz]

I regret that about 10 years back Colorado offered a one time draw opportunity to draw a tag in a LE unit, and they would only take the points needed and leave the balance in your account. I could have drawn a LE 61 hunt that season but had other plans. in 2012 I ended up burning my 17 elk points on a 61 Archery hunt. It had become evident I would not ever catch up and draw a Muzzy or Early Rifle tag in 2,10,or 201 due to point creep. I'm now in a similar situation in Utah with 11 NR Elk Points.

One factor that has only been touched on, is the aging NR with all these points. I'm about to turn 64. Have had by-pass surgery and recently suffered a broken shoulder. I'm still going to draw a tag at some point, but many in my age group may never draw a tag due to failing health. Our lives are busy, complicated, and decisions on when to hunt a prime unit are often effected by work or family circumstances. Have a friend that would have preferred to draw in the last few years but did not apply because he is the major caregiver for his wife. I think I will start applying to some prime units and hope near-max point holders are not yet ready to attempt to draw. If you could research it deeply enough it could be found that 20% + of the high point holders will never end up drawing a tag.
LaGriz

 

[bsnedeker]

I'm just getting into the point game myself, but I do not plan on trying to collect loads of points for "trophy units". I'm collecting points in MT (soon to be my home state!) and WY. I'm collecting points in Montana because it will only cost me $15 a year and I should be able to hunt a decent unit (Missouri Breaks Archery for example) every 2-4 years and hunt the general every year. Since I'll be next door to WY I would like to be able to hunt a general unit there every 3-5 years.

Hunting Arizona sounds like fun but it just seems like too big of an investment when I will be able to hunt elk every year in my home state. I'd much rather save $1000 a year to be able to afford a landowner tag in Utah for that once-in-a-lifetime bull in 10-15 years as my long-term strategy.

 

[robby denning]

The point game is starting to suck, but like horses and guns, I'd rather have them and not need them than need them and not have them.

Dang, I re-read my post and noticed I typed "hores" instead of horses! Fixed before the wife gets on here

 

[mooretitan]

The one thing I do worry about is letting the points get to high in state and then being worried that the hunt wont live up to the points invested to get it. I guess thats more of thing I have to get over in my mind. Just enjoying a hunt with family, not seeing many hunters and taking a 170ish type buck might just be worth 10 plus years of waiting. As long as I am cashing in other points and hunting every year out of state letting them build doesnt look to bad.

 

[bigdesert10]

WORTH THE SQUEEZE ..... love that line Big D .....
but also spoken like a guy that has never hunted areas like the San Juan in Utah... or the Grand Canyon unit 9 in AZ. I can assure you that you would think you died and went to Hunting Heaven. Units where you can see multiple legit Boone and Crockett animals. Its unbelievable.


The info is out there for a guy to make a educated decision.... and there are lots of hunts a guy can do every year if you can get over the “huge antler” mentality.

..

I've seen my fair share of impressive critters in amazing places and I'll excuse your condescending tone, considering it seems you missed the thrust of my point. I don't disagree that these experiences are worth a good portion of patience and treasure - on that we can agree. My comment was more directed at point systems in general. I don't think the eventual guarantee of drawing those tags for those that got into the game early (the juice) is worth the nasty side effects of point systems - point creep, alienation of young incoming hunters, etc (the squeeze).

 

[ChrisS]

I'm never going to do more than one out of state hunt per year and there are a lot I want to do. I don't mind picking up points for states I want to hunt. I'll probably kick myself for not starting collecting AZ points, but there are enough states for me to get up to 1-3 points hunt it, and start over. Some years I might try for two or more species in one year, but until then I have enough states and species to keep me occupied for the foreseeable future.

 

[5MilesBack]

If you could research it deeply enough it could be found that 20% + of the high point holders will never end up drawing a tag.

Well, that's up to them and only their fault if they never draw a tag with their points. It's real easy in CO to study the stats and see how many applicants there are above you and how many years it should take until you draw. Throw in a few high flyers that are only putting in for points or changed their plans, and you still have an idea. If that plan isn't going to work out, then you go to plan B.......just like hunting, and choose a different unit that takes less points.........and on down the line until you find one that works. That's the one good thing about an only points system........you know when you should draw. As opposed to the lottery draw systems where you could go a lifetime without drawing ever.

 

[LostArra]

I haven't thought through all the possible problems but I've wondered if a state could allow transfer of points. I would be more likely to stay in the game if my child could inherit the points I accumulate. It would give the points some actual value.

 

[hutty]

Can't eat points, hang them on the wall, or talk about them over a beer with a hunting buddy. I enjoy the hunt way more than the "unit" I'm hunting. Life is short.

 

[LaGriz]

5Mileback said "Well, that's up to them and only their fault if they never draw a tag with their points. It's real easy in CO to study the stats and see how many applicants there are above you and how many years it should take until you draw." "That's the one good thing about an only points system........you know when you should draw."

I'm not knocking anything about the system with my comments. I'm just saying that a lot of the NR with near-max points are getting up in age, and you can't know how many will be apply in a given year. Many will not ever be able to draw and will drop off or even die before applying. I looked at a particular deer unit in the drawing odds for example. 5 NR tags went out to guys with 22, 21 and 20 points. The next guy down the list had eleven points and nearly got drawn. NR may look at this stat next season and the number of applicants may go up. I'm 63 with 20 deer points, but if I apply to another state next year, or choose to hunt elk with friends OTC no one will know this. Life gets busy and shit happens that we only wish we could control. My friend that cares for a sick wife is healthy enough to hunt but can't swing the time away right now. I guess you can dismiss that as "only his own fault if he never draws a tag" but like my friend others may have work related issues, issues with a small business, or who knows what's going on stopping them from entering the draw. We can't assume everyone will be active in the draw or they won't opt to draw to a lesser unit because they don't want to play anymore. Because of this uncertainty, I think some NR with less points may have a shot at drawing sooner in some rare cases. This will be completely hit or miss as the number of applicants will be un-know when you file. LaGriz

 

[Bailer]

I’m getting myself into a no mans land with Az deer. I had some other plans last year so I got one more point. This year I got an archery buck in January so I have to apply for a point again. Next year I’m not going to have nearly enough for late kaibab or strip, but too many for just about anything else.