Nevada draw

Oneye

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So I’ve been mulling over applying for the Nevada draw for deer. Can someone just run through the basics of the Nevada draw and what can you expect as far as a deer unit if you’re willing to build up points for 5-8 years as a non-resident?

I know you have to purchase a hunting license and I believe it is around $160 what does the overall yearly cost end up being to apply for just a deer point every year in Nevada?
 
I don't know about just deer but i apply for sheep, deer, antelope and elk. I also buy the silver state tag for each species and my total was $340. It's a lot but it's worth it to me for the very slim chance I'll draw something. If you're going to apply for deer id at least throw in for antelope too. Helps justify the license cost Haha
 
To apply for deer it is an extra $10, and there might be a "surcharge" of a few bucks on top of that, I think the point fees are similar. Since you have to buy the license ($156) you might at least consider applying for anything else you are remotely interested in (elk, sheep?), although the odds are terrible. My sheep app cost me $14, I think elk is in the $20-30 range.

Deer by far has the best odds, but you still aren't guaranteed much within 5-8 years. I think you can get the 2017 odds for free on Toprut, plug in 8 points and sort the hunts and see what comes up with odds > 50%.
 
You need to plan on a longer timeline. You will actually see your odds reduce in Year 2 and 3 and 4....up to around Year 15 then will see odds start to improve. Anyone behind you will have worse odds than you but those in front will pull further away from you as the drawn applicants total points which are removed before the next draw are less than how much the non-drawn applicants increase theirs with the "points squared" method in relation to how many your points grow by for next year. Simple math shows you lost ground. Sure, you can get lucky and beat the odds. Most will not beat the odds.
 
$156 for the license; $11 per species for just a BP (elk might be $16); $14 per species to apply (except elk is $19) That includes the surcharges, predator fees, etc. Don't waste your money on silver state or PIW tags, the odds are awful at best. As long as you don't try for the late hunts exclusively then you should have a decent shot at a tag in that timeframe. $170 per year for deer, it's up to you if it's worth it or not. I'd say add antelope and elk if you're interested in them.
 
Just checked GoHunt. Archery hunts varied from tenths of a percent to fairly high. Assuming that you don’t want to travel and spend time on the sidelines for the easiest to draw hunts I chose one that had 2.2% odds with 0 points and multiplied it out by CURRENT odds as points increased and if you APPLIED AND RECIEVED A POINT each year rather than just buying a point, you’d have an 86% percent chance of drawing within six years. For rifle with a similar method of choosing units you’d have a 52% chance of drawing within eight years. So that’s roughly $1020 in apps for archery, and $1360 in apps for deer. That does not include tag price.

A) There are easier to draw hunts, as well as MUCH harder to draw hunts than either of the two that I looked at. To decide which hunt you’d be willing wait for and spend money on would require a lot of research into each hunt to determine why the difference in draw odds is what it is, and what that means to you, but there is always a reason.

B) I did not account for the change in odds at each point level that occurs from year to year. 4.4% odds at one point this year, does not equal 4.4% odds at one point next year.

C) You can see that if you paid a few extra bucks for another species, and drew each one once over 15-20years that you could basically cut your applications cost per species in half thus making he price a little more bearable.

Practically speaking hunting NV is a once in lifetime opportunity for anything other than archery deer. It’s not much more expensive than other states on a year to year basis, but you could hunt Montana or Wyoming ten times in the same time period for a similar price, or AZ 3-5 times.

All that said, NV could well be the best hunt you ever go on. CO and AZ have crappy deer. ;)

If you’re worried about money, apply somewhere else. If you already apply everywhere else and have $170ish to throw down, then I say do it, don’t worry about the total long term cost, and if you ever draw you won’t regret it.
 
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Personally I'm going to apply for everything but mountain goat in Nevada. Its makes sense when you think about buying the license to apply. Just looked it up on GoHunt and at 8 points there several units that have over 50% draw odds for rifle tags. That could be your 5th choice when you get to that level and put down the most desirable hunts before that incase you get lucky.
 
I cant speak to the nonres side of things, but there are some really good deer units in the state that can be drawn with 0-1 points as a res. Dont get hung up on the glory tags. You get 5 choices so might as well swing for the fences on the first 4 and put a ringer in on the 5th. You only have 4 days left to put in this year so make it quick!
 
I applied tonight for elk, deer, pronghorn and sheep. I'm still waiting to find out if I will be stationed there so I hope nonresidents points transfer over if I do get stationed there and become a resident.
 
I have to say some of the responses have me a little discouraged lol. Currently I put in for Colorado and Wyoming. I’m basically considering putting in for one more state and I believe I missed all the other states deadlines this year. Would you recommend applying/starting to build points in a different state? Maybe start in Arizona next year instead of doing Nevada? I’m kinda torn by the responses. Just looking for one other non-resident state to start applying for, I live in Utah.
 
CO is the best value for deer, so you're doing right by applying there. WY is cheap if you're only going for deer. Are you going to apply exclusively for deer in the other states or will you include elk, antelope, sheep, etc.? That info would help people give you better advice. If your just going for deer, I'd say NM might be a good option. You could swing for the fence on your 1st choice, mid-tier unit for 2nd choice, and an almost guaranteed unit for 3rd choice. It's $83 for just deer in NM, where AZ will cost you $175, and NV will cost you $170. The only drawback in NM is you'll never be guaranteed a tag and your odds will always be bad for the top units. The positive is that you're not behind a huge wave of high point holders and your odds are the same as everyone else. If your going for elk too, AZ would be my pick. Honestly NV is a long term strategy state where you'll have to continue to apply and eventually you'll have a couple great hunts. It's not a good value when compared to WY, CO, etc. No discouraging you from applying but that's my take on it.
 
CO is the best value for deer, so you're doing right by applying there. WY is cheap if you're only going for deer. Are you going to apply exclusively for deer in the other states or will you include elk, antelope, sheep, etc.? That info would help people give you better advice. If your just going for deer, I'd say NM might be a good option. You could swing for the fence on your 1st choice, mid-tier unit for 2nd choice, and an almost guaranteed unit for 3rd choice. It's $83 for just deer in NM, where AZ will cost you $175, and NV will cost you $170. The only drawback in NM is you'll never be guaranteed a tag and your odds will always be bad for the top units. The positive is that you're not behind a huge wave of high point holders and your odds are the same as everyone else. If your going for elk too, AZ would be my pick. Honestly NV is a long term strategy state where you'll have to continue to apply and eventually you'll have a couple great hunts. It's not a good value when compared to WY, CO, etc. No discouraging you from applying but that's my take on it.
If I put in for Arizona I’d be willing to do elk as well.
 
I have to say some of the responses have me a little discouraged lol. Currently I put in for Colorado and Wyoming. I’m basically considering putting in for one more state and I believe I missed all the other states deadlines this year. Would you recommend applying/starting to build points in a different state? Maybe start in Arizona next year instead of doing Nevada? I’m kinda torn by the responses. Just looking for one other non-resident state to start applying for, I live in Utah.

NV is the last state to add if you can’t do them all. There is still ID this year, which is excellent because there is no point system. In NV can also go into the draw without buying a license, making it $10-$20 per species, but you don’t get a point. If hunting in NV is an important thing, then start building points, but understand that it’s likley a once in a lifetime per species gig, and due to points and squaring, it’s more likely to happen later than sooner. On the other hand, if you just wanna put in for a tag somewhere this year and missed some other options, then going into the draw without buying the license is a reasonably affordable raffle ticket.
 
NV is the last state to add if you can’t do them all. There is still ID this year, which is excellent because there is no point system. In NV can also go into the draw without buying a license, making it $10-$20 per species, but you don’t get a point. If hunting in NV is an important thing, then start building points, but understand that it’s likley a once in a lifetime per species gig, and due to points and squaring, it’s more likely to happen later than sooner. On the other hand, if you just wanna put in for a tag somewhere this year and missed some other options, then going into the draw without buying the license is a reasonably affordable raffle ticket.
I had to buy a license with Nevada in order to get points.
 
For those of you who still want to apply in NV regardless of all the negative info from some people here, tonight is the deadline. Because SOMEBODY will draw those tags so you may as well give yourself a chance no matter how small. 🦌
 
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