Nevada units

[sf jakey]

I hope this doesn’t break the rules. I am looking at a few units in Nevada to apply for. I have 15 points. I am looking at an archery hunt only. I don’t want to go to 231, it’s high profile and loaded with big money guys on landowner tags trying to get on the cover of a magazine.
I am considering 051 hunting the Santa Rosa range. Seems to have decent deer numbers, but maybe not great trophy potential, although I consider a 160 archery buck a trophy! My hesitation here is I may be undercutting my options with 15 points.
My other consideration I have found is area 131. Seems like good numbers of deer and good quality, HOWEVER, everything I read is 3 plus years old info. Tag allocations were cut dramatically in 2020 like 70 resident tags down to only 8. My gut tells me there is a major problem with this herd and to avoid it.
Any advice if possible, especially through PM is appreciated. If this violates the rules also, I’m sorry and delete it. Just hard to find the info I’m looking for.
Oh, I do not plan to hire a guide, if that matters.

 

[David Gough]

PM me if you'd like.

 

[HONEYBADGER]

I hope this doesn’t break the rules. I am looking at a few units in Nevada to apply for. I have 15 points. I am looking at an archery hunt only. I don’t want to go to 231, it’s high profile and loaded with big money guys on landowner tags trying to get on the cover of a magazine.
I am considering 051 hunting the Santa Rosa range. Seems to have decent deer numbers, but maybe not great trophy potential, although I consider a 160 archery buck a trophy! My hesitation here is I may be undercutting my options with 15 points.
My other consideration I have found is area 131. Seems like good numbers of deer and good quality, HOWEVER, everything I read is 3 plus years old info. Tag allocations were cut dramatically in 2020 like 70 resident tags down to only 8. My gut tells me there is a major problem with this herd and to avoid it.
Any advice if possible, especially through PM is appreciated. If this violates the rules also, I’m sorry and delete it. Just hard to find the info I’m looking for.
Oh, I do not plan to hire a guide, if that matters.

Your summary of 231 is dead on. My dad had that tag a few years ago. Guides all over that unit with big $ clients and big $ tags. Way too much competition. There are some good units nearby that dont get that much attention and have similar quality deer.

 

[LostWapiti]

This year expect to reduced numbers in certain(many) units due to winter kill in the winter of 2023. This is also reflected in the tag allocations. Based on the conditions we have had I would expect to see good healthy and heavy horned deer this year. They had great forage last summer and this year has also been pretty wet but not too cold so animals should be in really good shape. I would also recommend waiting until tag allocations are finalized on May 4th to help inform your decisions on where to apply as some things may be changing a lot especially for number of archery tags issued. You can also update your choices until the deadline if you have already applied.