2024 dreams and plans

[44hunter45]

I thought I'd start this thread now before we descend into the off season crabbiness.


Post tags you have put in for or plan to.
Booked hunts or adventures.
Back pack or fishing trips.

I'm rethinking my resident Idaho hunts this year. I'm going to stop putting in for moose. Applying for any of the big 3 in Idaho locks you out from a lot of other draws thank I think I've been missing out on. My job change has also made it impossible to get dedicated blocks of time off from November 15 through January 15.

I have been in a 4 year slump and I need to forget the glory tags for a while and fill the freezer. I feel like I'm being sent to the minors for a refresher, but I need to focus on the fundamentals for a couple of seasons. Call it injured reserve. Got the MRI yesterday on knee #1. Waiting for the sawbones to call me about the followup. As soon as knee #1 is squared away, its time for knee #2.

I remembered how many cool and productive hunts I could be doing right here near home instead of big out of state trips. I don't have a wad of points burning a hole in my wallet in another state. So why not?

I did apply for some 2025 Alaska draw hunts today. Wanting to take my granddaughter to SEAK for a summer fishing trip this year. It's it so much easier logistically than a hunting trip.

 

[sclancy27]

Hunt a couple states for mule deer, maybe get lucky in some draws. Hunt 5-6 weeks again.

 

[BirdManMike]

I foresee more bird-on-bird violence in my future with a new feather-y friend.

 

[TheTone]

I’m going to stick with Idaho moose for who knows how many years now, I may switch up units but still undecided

Going back to the Arizona desert in a couple weeks for maybe my favorite hunt with good friends

Going to switch up my Arizona elk application and instead of two long shots put one long shot and a hunt I think I’d be more than happy with

If/when Arizona elk doesn’t come through I’ll try and find a way to burn double digit Wyoming antelope points

Total backup idea if point creep gets me in Wyoming is to hunt Idaho elk with my with wife somewhere besides where we live. She’s getting to be fed up with thick brush and wants to do something besides day hunt

 

[Mountain Man]

My main focus in 2024 will be a moose hunt up in Alaska. It is a gift to myself for my retirement from the military and has been a bucket list experience since I was a teenager.

I honestly don’t know which (if any) additional hunts I will be able to pull off. I’ll be a resident of CO for one final year before becoming a resident of MT. I’ll try to burn some CO points to maximize their value before becoming a NR. That said, I also have to get another job and it will be challenging to take any time off while starting with a new company.

My ideal scenario is to start a new job in November, spend September/October hunting multiple states, and still be married after all that.

 

[Pewpew82]

I'm hoping to take some of the excess space in my freezer with deer and maybe some small game as well.

Probably stick around local and scout MUCH more than 23.

 

[Dougfirtree]

I think I'm going to return to the elk woods for the first time in a while. Waffling between a certain rifle tag vs. a certain muzzleloader tag. They're in different states, so I may have a workable strategy where I apply for them both and then decide based on the first draw...

 

[Irrelevant]

1. Pasayten Backpacker (Summer); Entiat backpacker (fishing; fall)
2. Greece
3. Pronghorn WY
4. Maybe cow elk WY or WT WY

I'm already thinking about 2025. Bigger and better plans.

 

[trb]

Sequentially:
1) Turkeys in CO and maybe another state depending on draw luck
2) Extending my record of failure as a spring bear hunter (semi-scouting trip for my general deer tag)
3) Hoping to get lucky on a river permit or two over the summer
4) Significant amounts of backpack scouting for high country deer
5) CO September alpine deer tag of one kind or another
6) October general deer tag in ID (my first NR deer tag)
7) Maybe cashing in WY elk points for a limited tag I've been eyeing for a while

 

[44hunter45]

1. Pasayten Backpacker (Summer); Entiat backpacker (fishing; fall)
2. Greece
3. Pronghorn WY
4. Maybe cow elk WY or WT WY

I'm already thinking about 2025. Bigger and better plans.

I'm hooked on the ALW now. Most of the east and south end trailheads are an easy drive for me. If the legs behave, I definitely want to hit some of the less accessible lakes.
That son has been wanting me to do a Wenaha trip with him too.

 

[Sask hunter]

Fingers crossed my GF or I draw a moose tag. If one of us draws that alters plans for fall like maybe not even elk hunt. Debating wether to apply for Mulies or chase them a few days in the OTC archery

 

[Perlodid]

1. SE Oklahoma hogs, probably in March - never hunted them before, and it seems like a fun place to hunt/learn about hogs
2. Idaho spring bear if I can swing it (25% chance at best that I'll have time, but I'd like to believe)
3. BWCA trip in early June for lakers - very excited for this
4. Ozark camping trip in July, gonna check out some caves, maybe try to catch some cool fish species that are new to me
5. MO whitetail again, for the last time in the foreseeable future. Don't expect to still be in the area in 2025
6. Thanksgiving week deer hunting in the Upper Peninsula of MI, like usual


Nothing out west next year unless I can make the spring bear trip happen, just building points and planning for 2025.

 

[seeth07]

Bears...lots of bears.

Drew two tags (my wife and I) in SE AK and that hunt has all the logistics worked out and booked for an 8 day adventure at the end of May.

At home in WI, my wife and I are finally cashing in our 11 bear points for a summer long dedication to feeding them and getting them fat on candy bars, donuts, jelly, etc. Harvesting 4 bears in a year should be fun and interesting!

 

[TOGIE]

i have no idea. everything is up in the air currently. generally speaking we're not, not trying for another kid.

several things i'm applying for no matter what:

1. putting in for some doe white tail tags in wyoming
2. putting in for a certain pronghorn buck tag in wyoming
3. putting in for a colorado pronghorn tag with tiny random odds

the uncertain bucket:

• putting in for some sort of elk tag in colorado - maybe a late cow tag i really want, maybe a 2nd/3rd season bull tag in an area i honed in on some elk a few years ago, maybe none
• putting in for a wyoming cow tag
• dropping a couple points on a mule deer buck tag i want in colorado (50ish% odds of drawing)
• maybe a fall bear tag
• maybe a sage grouse hunt in wyoming
• perhaps get back to wisconsin
• maybe spring turkey? it's always such a low priority for me that i generally let the wife/family dictate the calendar at that time of year.

could be a huge fall, could be a low key fall. time will tell.

2025 should be hopefully be the year of an interesting bull tag in colorado 50/50 odds there too.

 

[BigHornRam]

Start my transition to become a Wyoming resident by putting in a shop, well, and power. 2026 is the goal right now. Sneak over to the unlimiteds for sheep. Meet sister and her family for summer camping trip in bighorns.

 

[F250]

Over the counter Whitetail tags in Vt. and NY. I have 2 points in Kansas so a Whitetail rifle tag should be a slam dunk. Hoping to get back to Saskatchewan for self guided waterfowl in late September. Couple trips to northern Quebec for walleyes.

 

[duckhunt]

I ll be hunting my normal Iowa tags but adding colorado muzzy elk for myself, Wyoming antelope for my boys. This will be my second Elk hunt and my first hunt was cut short so hopefully this works out better. My main goal is to se elk. If I shoot one that's just a bonus.

 

[Idahoarcheryhunter]

Idaho- elk and deer over the counter

Continue to put in for idaho desert bighorns.

Start deciding when to burn points in co and wy.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

1. Some AK hunt with my buddies, hopefully caribou but we shall see what the draw gods have to say.
2. If AK doesn't happen then elk somewhere... maybe even if the AK trip does happen... depends on factors outside of my control
3. Family trip to visit my sister in Kenya, would love to do some DIY camping maybe on the Maasai Mara, and spend some time at the beach.
4. Grouse hunting either local or out of state
5. Get a MI buck

 

[Kiwi]

My son and I are planning a western hunt adventure for the first two weeks of Oct 2024. Our flights to SLC and Turo are already booked and now we just need to draw one of these tags:
- Arizona elk
- New Mexico elk (youth draw)
- Wyoming elk
- Wyoming pronghorn and deer (as a backup)