Hunt the Female Big 3 or maybe never draw a tag

[OverlordBear]

So I am hunting planning and according to Gohunt I should be a able to draw 100% antlerless moose or a bighorn ewe tag in several units in Colorado. I am debating because the odds get longer and longer to draw a male tag. However it is a lot of money, but hunt opportunity and success is more important to me than sex of the animal. Curious what people’s thoughts are, especially if you have done these hunts. Did you have any regrets? Are the units for ewes prohibitively crowded with non hunters? Lots of stories about ram hunts and I read the story about the kid on a ewe hunt in BIGHORN magazine and it looked really epic. I have summited 20 of the 14ers including Longs Peak so I love that type country. I did harvest a cow moose in Idaho in 20 and it is an awesome freezer filler, so if I pull the trigger I am already leaning towards the ewe hunts, but I am worried about running out of time before wolf introduction which is why I am thinking about Moose. I am nonresident in Colorado by the way. Well any advice would be appreciated.

 

[MTLabrador]

I only put in for moose/sheep/goat in my home state because I have decided that the odds everywhere else are too low for me to bother with. Personally I don’t have any interest in a ewe or cow moose hunt, I’d just rather hunt deer and elk.

But if you really want to hunt a moose or sheep and don’t care about horns or antlers I don’t see why not.

 

[Dsnow9]

I loved my female big nanny tag this fall and made the best of it! Only difference at the end of the day is the head gear, other than that it’s the same hunt! I’m going to hold out for moose and sheep though as of right now as I have 10 points, I’m a resident, and only 35.

Nanny Problems - Oh Yeah, I’ve Got Them (a goat hunt)

This hunt starts back to application season when @wllm1313 and I discussed applying for 3rd and 4th season nanny tags in the same unit, respectively. I figured… I can’t tell the difference anyway so why wait another 10-15 years to hunt mountain goat. Well the draw came up and I was the lucky...

www.hunttalk.com

 

[rtraverdavis]

I’ve been considering the same thing in my home state. If it was once in a lifetime—so, if you kill a ewe you’re done for good—then I don’t know. I think I like headgear too much. But if you could draw a ewe and still apply for a ram tag later and keep the hope alive then I would go for it. I think that’s what I’ll be doing here this year.

 

[BAKPAKR]

I wouldn’t mind shooting an antlerless moose because I really like moose meat and you would still get a lot of meat from a cow moose. Sheep meat is good, too, but ewes are really pretty small so I would pass on a ewe hunt.

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Alternative idea: My wife hunts and is generally more inclined toward meat hunts and less strenuous hunts. I have bought a few points for her toward Montana sheep and Colorado moose that I envision using for a ewe and cow hunt at some point. Kind of the best of both of your original ideas.

QQ

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

So I am hunting planning and according to Gohunt I should be a able to draw 100% antlerless moose or a bighorn ewe tag in several units in Colorado. I am debating because the odds get longer and longer to draw a male tag. However it is a lot of money, but hunt opportunity and success is more important to me than sex of the animal. Curious what people’s thoughts are, especially if you have done these hunts. Did you have any regrets? Are the units for ewes prohibitively crowded with non hunters? Lots of stories about ram hunts and I read the story about the kid on a ewe hunt in BIGHORN magazine and it looked really epic. I have summited 20 of the 14ers including Longs Peak so I love that type country. I did harvest a cow moose in Idaho in 20 and it is an awesome freezer filler, so if I pull the trigger I am already leaning towards the ewe hunts, but I am worried about running out of time before wolf introduction which is why I am thinking about Moose. I am nonresident in Colorado by the way. Well any advice would be appreciated.

My 2cents, the odds for Ewe and Cow tags have gotten worse way faster than Bulls and Rams due to the free point years CPW had. My prediction is that within the next decade many of those hunts will take 3+ maybe 2-5 points to draw as well. There are so many apps for so few bull and ram tags that it could be even worse as folks bail.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the window of getting cow moose tags is closing. Caveat, it's 100% going to close for residents, that ship will most certainly sail, harder to say for NR because of the price... but my gut is that it's going away.

 

[Trial153]

Neither really float my boat. If I don’t draw I figure I just have to keep saving money a get tags in Canada.

 

[OverlordBear]

My 2cents, the odds for Ewe and Cow tags have gotten worse way faster than Bulls and Rams due to the free point years CPW had. My prediction is that within the next decade many of those hunts will take 3+ maybe 2-5 points to draw as well. There are so many apps for so few bull and ram tags that it could be even worse as folks bail.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the window of getting cow moose tags is closing. Caveat, it's 100% going to close for residents, that ship will most certainly sail, harder to say for NR because of the price... but my gut is that it's going away.

Thanks for this insight that is a really good perspective from the resident angle about the rate at which the tags are disappearing. I think with Tags I am all about one in the hand is better than two in the bush.

 

[rwc101]

I think I would consider a cow moose for the meat. You'll probably run into some bulls anyway, and it's always cool seeing them up close. I "hunt" bulls every summer with my camera just for that reason.

 

[dgc1963]

I know the tags are sill expensive but im looking into ewe tags myself been trying for ram tags in Idaho for yrs due to no point state figuring same chance as any NR but changing up things having a ewe tag is still sheep hunting

 

[Cheesehead]

If you can stomach the tag costs, I’d go cow because of the meat. And (purely subjective) I think bighorn rams are the coolest looking animals but when I see someone who has shot a ewe it always makes me think they capped a barnyard animal (+less meat than the cow)

 

[Desk Pop]

If the species and hunt is important it is a great option. I did a ewe hunt when I was 22 years old because I wanted to hunt bighorn and certainly don't regret it.

I concur with @wllm1313 ...the windows are closing on these being slam dunk tags after a couple points. Overall western hunting popularity for all tags period is one factor... and in Colorado in particular, when they snagged a few more thousand applications recently, plenty will settle for female hunts.

 

[nrpate05]

This will be my last year applying as a CO resident so I'm going to shoot for a cow moose hunt that I have a very slim chance of drawing, but a chance nonetheless. I think it is just going to get harder and harder so I have no problem jumping in on a female hunt. I really do want to hold out for a Bighorn Ram, however. I'll probably chase that forever. If I'm going to go for the female of a species, I'd rather go with the one that provides the most meat.

 

[westbranch]

I will hopefully end up paying for NR cow moose in CO in a few years. But the point creep might make me change my mind after a few years too. Cost doesn't seem to bad when I am looking at other moose hunting options.

 

[BigHornRam]

My wife shot a bighorn ewe for her first hunt. Easy hunt but that was good being her first hunt. Not a lot of meat but very good eating. Also good that she got to participate in the management of the herds population. I helped locate a dry ewe for her, and the hardest part was waiting for a clear shot. Another neat thing was trailing the herd up a steep mountain in the north slope thick timber at close range. Not what many would consider sheep habitat, but they were finding plenty to eat in there. She ended up shooting a dry ewe at less than 30 yards, and was very happy with the experience.

 

[MTGomer]

Definitely do not hesitate to put in for a nanny tag. A good percentage of people that draw either sex tags kill one anyways

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Definitely do not hesitate to put in for a nanny tag. A good percentage of people that draw either sex tags kill one anyways

Lol which is why in CO, for NR, nanny tags have worse odds than many E/S tags.

 

[MTGomer]

One of my first big game animals was a bighorn ewe in 2003. At that time there were 3 tags in that unit. I was one of 5 applicants. I remember it being a lot of fun.

 

[geetar]

The only way I can see this question being rightly answered is personal choice and what hunting means to you. To some hunting Big 3 is a way to prove they are special or in an elite group, for others it’s a fascination with the particular animals regardless of the more difficult logistics involved in drawing a tag or making the hunt and for others it’s just something they wanna do once in a lifetime. If it makes you happy to shoot a female big 3 in country you’ve never hunted I say go for it.