Drawing tags is the hard part. Time is not an issue.
Other than that the big challenge is I'm getting too darn old for the hard stuff.
When I moved to Montana in 1975 we could buy an OTC Grizzly tag for $25. I bought one every year until they quit selling them, and
I didn't know how much of a good thing that was I only carried my tag in hopes of finding a bear on the gut piles of my elk.
Same with Mountain Goat tags. I drew one the first year that I applied, hunted for one one weekend, got snowed out, and didn't go back. Three years later I drew another Goat tag and killed an old long haired billy. I skinned him out for a full mount, but only had him done in a half mount because at that time I didn't have room for a full mount. Since then I've applied every year for over 40 years without drawing another tag.
When I moved down to the Bozeman area in 1978, all of the Montana Bighorn sheep units just north of Yellowstone NP had Unlimited OTC tags, also for $25. Back then you could also buy an unlimited tag up to the time you went hunting, and even if you had not drawn a limited unit tag. Again, I started buying an Unlimited sheep tag every year, and each year I would hunt them one weekend. Most years I would see at most one other camp of sheep hunters, and I did turn down some legal rams, hoping for a bigger one. I was lucky enough to kill 3 rams.
In the '80s I was also lucky enough to draw and kill two bull Shiras moose.
In the '80s and '90s I had horses which really helped in getting my camps in and packing many of those above animals out. I haven't had horses now for over 20 years, and at 77 I don't have the desire to backpack a camp into the wilderness or to pack the animals out by myself like I did 40 years ago.
And now every year when I apply for a goat tag I wonder if I can still climb into goat country if I would draw another tag.
