Az. or Utah

mixedbag

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Nov 22, 2009
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Want to start building points in another state.If you had to chose would it be Arizona or Utah?I'm not sure what the time it takes to draw good tags in either as I'm just starting to look at them.From the looks of it, you could possibly draw on any year for both states.I don't want a state that's going to take 10-20 years to draw a tag;esp. since both charge you a license fee on top of the points/application fees.I don't need to hunt the best unit in the state.Which would offer a great hunt within 5-7 years.Not sure either of them will,but like I said I'm just starting to look into them.Interested in hearingyour opinions
 
There are a lot more out there that know more than I do but my take on it is this:

Utah:
Cheaper to build points in
Gives you a shot at even the best units your first year applying (though very slim)
Will most likely have you waiting a decade or more to draw a tag with your points

Arizona:
Expensive as heck to build points
No chance at most of the very best hunts for MANY years
Allows you to draw a good hunt in 5-7 years
Gives you a chance at drawing a good (but not very top notch) hunt any year

I started building points in both two years ago. I figure I'll be hunting Arizona long before I have a shot at Utah. But, it's not cheap! Utah is one state where I'll apply each year for that long shot chance at a dream hunt.

Wapiti Bob or many others may have some more helpful insight or be able to correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Truth be told, you can kill a n-i-c-e mature bull in any unit of Arizona --- the really big ones just aren't like antelope in Wyoming ;). Your wait will be shorter as a non-resident if you apply for hunt numbers not on the "hot" list. Of course your choice of weapon and season (time of year) can influence your draw success significantly. When you do draw your tag, there are Hunt Talk members from Arizona you can communicate with before your hunt (or even before you apply). I bow to Randy's non-resident experience ...
 
AZ. AZ will once again debate dividing the NR tag pool into two halves so that no more than 50% of the NR tags are awarded in the Preference Point Pass that is now designed to award 20% of all tags (since NR limited to 10% of tags the effect is there are no NR tags aware in the Random 80% Pass for the decent hunts).

UT has so little respect for NR that yanking away 200 NR tags was not only done but renewed and over 90% effectively converted into Resident tags at the silly Expo that is nothing more than a virtual SLC gathering of Residents and a few NR students from local colleges and, of course, a few NR trade show personnel. Easy to verify this...look up how many people applied for the NR-only sheep tag. Now look at how many applied for the other sheep tag. Those two number and 7th grade math lets you know how many R vs NR attended. Huge failure as an economic draw. Huge success as bending over NR.
 
Thanks that's the imfo I needed.Looks like even though the cost is more in Az. my odds will be better a lot quicker.I just can't be waiting 10+ years for a good hunt.Kicking myself for not entering their draws when I started in Co. and Wy
 
I kick myself for not getting lifetime lic. in AZ when I could,but it did not cost near what it does just to keep points.Like now.
I gave up the never reachable point game in both.Granted I did get to hunt Gen deer in UT twice,in 10 yrs.
Good luck,I see decent bucks and bulls in AZ near me.
 
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