Who has the best draw system?

[ntodwild]

Don't come to Washington it's terrible here. Literally not an Elk or Mule deer anywhere!

In All seriousness most people won't even consider Washington if they are from out of state. It's difficult enough to draw a bull tag In a nice unit as a resident.

WDFW manages the Elk population in Washington very different from other western states. Tons of cow and spike tags as the management system believes in the proliferation of the larger mature animals and without competition the thought is they will thrive. Been hunting here for over 40 years and filled a lot of cow and spike tags. Many units are "cow or true spike only units". Either or which is nice. Makes for freezers full of meat.

 

[kmott]

Which ones don’t?

well, I'm not gonna list every hunt for you but boise river zone for one. beaverhead zone , brownlee zone...……………………………. there are a whole lot of areas that aren't capped.

all one needs do is look at the regs!

 

[MTGomer]

Idaho has the best system.
Opportunity and quality.
No point rackets.
If they made Wyoming residents use a guide to hunt wilderness, the state would be perfect.

 

[PAhunter]

Serious question where are people putting all these elk and deer racks?

For real. I enjoyed the heck out of my Utah hunt, and understand the 'gets in the blood, gotta do it again' feeling, but I would really like to shoulder mount this bull (my wife is on board). The problem is I seriously don't know where to put it. Our house and my office are both full of critters already, none of which are the size of an elk. When my kids move out and take their mounts with them, that'll help, but even at that I'm not going to have any empty wall space since a bunch of mine are already relegated to the basement. First world problems for sure.

 

[MTGomer]

I euro’d my two big ones, have a few rags in the garage, a few rags laying around my parents, a few rags have decomposed outside and a few more rags have been chewed up inch by inch by two big dogs.
Probably have a few rags somewhere else.

Edit: another rag is euro’d at my high school friend’s moms house and another rag got left at a buddy’s after college.

Rags, rags, everywhere. Montana residency and long seasons makes for a lot of full freezers and raghorn bulls.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Don't come to Washington it's terrible here. Literally not an Elk or Mule deer anywhere!

In All seriousness most people won't even consider Washington if they are from out of state. It's difficult enough to draw a bull tag In a nice unit as a resident.

WDFW manages the Elk population in Washington very different from other western states. Tons of cow and spike tags as the management system believes in the proliferation of the larger mature animals and without competition the thought is they will thrive. Been hunting here for over 40 years and filled a lot of cow and spike tags. Many units are "cow or true spike only units". Either or which is nice. Makes for freezers full of meat.

Yeah I when doing a deep dive into elk across the west I was pretty blown away by the lack of NR participation in WA. Definitely the hidden gem of the elk game, only 661 NR elk hunters in 2018 according to the department of Wildlife, which is pretty number considering there were 96,875 resident elk hunters and the fact that WA gives NR the same opporunity in the draw as residents (same as AK and PA)

Definitely a juxtaposition with OR which is in the bottom quartile of states as far as NR opportunity.

 

[BackofBeyond]

well, I'm not gonna list every hunt for you but boise river zone for one. beaverhead zone , brownlee zone...……………………………. there are a whole lot of areas that aren't capped.

all one needs do is look at the regs!

Although not all zones have specific caps or quotas, there is a state wide cap for NR elk tags sold. And they sold out this year. Happened quick after 8/1 when residents can buy a second tag at the NR price.

 

[WyoDoug]

Me. LOL. I am a Wyoming resident, but I have drawn every year on elk, deer, and antelope but I have my favorite areas that happen to be easy to draw. And while I do see some hunters, I don't see a huge crowd problem or excess hunting pressure. I do better with some hunting pressure than areas with none.

 

[brownbear932008]

Any state without a preference system I say. I like the way Idaho breaks theirs down making applicant's decide which draw they want to enter. I like squared point systems also even though after years that may be awful close to a pref system for the upper third of applications. I honestly just like straight up draws the most without all the point games.

 

[Jape]

@wllm1313 I think you can sell them to sporting goods stores and they will give you store credit (could also sell them to private party for that matter). Have never done it because it reminds me of the hunt.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

@wllm1313 I think you can sell them to sporting goods stores and they will give you store credit (could also sell them to private party for that matter). Have never done it because it reminds me of the hunt.

No kidding, like cabelas or something?

Yeah I'm mostly joking, I keep them for the same reason.

 

[Trial153]

New Mexico to me is the best SYSTEM, totally random, however what difference does it make because they give out almost no NR tags because they all go outfitter and landowner welfare ....your odds in most cases are next to terrible. But the system is great ....

 

[Trial153]

Idaho would be great if it wasnt for the non resident cap not being unit specific. So it great till you fork over your 200 in nonrefundable fees and you where drawing dead because of the cap.

 

[WapitiBob]

I like all of them.

 

[Thomas11]

Yeah I when doing a deep dive into elk across the west I was pretty blown away by the lack of NR participation in WA. Definitely the hidden gem of the elk game, only 661 NR elk hunters in 2018 according to the department of Wildlife, which is pretty number considering there were 96,875 resident elk hunters and the fact that WA gives NR the same opporunity in the draw as residents (same as AK and PA)

Definitely a juxtaposition with OR which is in the bottom quartile of states as far as NR opportunity.

Yea I think the reason for NR non participation is they make u buy a general season license which is quite expensive just to apply for the controlled hunts which is non refundable and honestly what NR is going to Washington on general season elk hunt? Or at least that’s how I see it. Honestly Oregon and wash are no goes for NR elk in my opinion. Too lil opportunity for the cost. I feel AZ,NM,UT,WY,CO and maybe Nevada give u the best bang fir your buck. Now tank them where u want based on cost,opp to hunt, trophy quality etc . I apply in all of those and feel they all have there merits. I do think WY has had the most point creep of any recently

 

[thusby]

Serious question where are people putting all these elk and deer racks?

Like I’m considering a cow hunt next fall simply because I legit have no place to put another rack. Like this years bull is probably going in a closest or my in-laws.
Big racks are sweet but they are not conducive to apartment life.
A cow hunt in one of the CO trophy units sounds like a blast.

I bought a 20x40 pole barn so they could go up the rafters.... wish I was joking.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

It isn't all bad to run out of room, you can then ask yourself when evaluating an animal "Is it big enough to kick something else off my wall"?
I chopped a bunch of my smaller deer and elk off at the burr to sell (required in WY). I have pictures of pretty much all the hunts I harvested them on, and I don't have room for them so it is what it is.