2005 a good year to draw or pass on?

D

DallanC

Guest
Ok so as we watch the hunting season wind down across the country, and begin to plan out the strategy for the upcomming draw... I am strongly concidering if I really want to draw or not in 2005.

Due to the snowfall we had, people harvested some truely great deer... even the "average" deer killed this year were pretty big. With that kind of a harvest it seems logical to assume "large" deer will be fewer and farther between next hunting season.

I doubt areas like Henerys will be as impacted as the number of hunters allowed are pretty small... but what of Pauns or say BookCliffs? You think next years harvest quality will be lower than average or not affected?


-DallanC
 
I agree with you Dallan, everybody should pass on 2005 and not put in for the draws. But then what would I do with 8 deer tags. He He! Seriously though, I think this year is going to be a hard one to top. Alot of mature deer were killed. I saw some deer that were on the verge of shooters in Wyoming that I'm excited about if I can get drawn again. I'm going to put in for everything that I can, and go from there.

Don P.
 
I agree, just skip it, put in for the bonus point and save ourselves all the anticipation and heartache. It takes years off your life, just waiting and wondering if you will draw. Why bother, we should all just go fishing instead.
 
DallanC

WHY DON'T YOU AND ABOUT 96,998 OF UTAHNS JUST SAY TO HELL WITH IT FOR A FEW YEARS???

IT WON'T HURT MY FEELINGS AT ALL!!!

ALL THE BIG BUCKS WERE SHOT THIS YEAR,DON'T CHANCE IT BY HUNTING NEXT YEAR!!!

YOU'D JUST BE DONATING MONEY TO THE DWR AND WE ALL KNOW HOW YOU HATE TO DO THAT!!!

AH,I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE HIGHLY COVETED 05 DEER HUNT,NO HUNTERS & NO BIG BUCKS,WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR???

TAKE MrBaitnFish'S ADVICE,BUY HOOKS INSTEAD OF BULLETS,YOU'LL BRING ALOT MORE MEAT HOME!!!

I HOPE THIS ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION!!!

THE ONLY bobcat WAITING TO HUNT WHERES THERES NO PEOPLE & NO BIG BUCKS,THIS MUST BE AS CLOSE TO HEAVAN AS I'LL EVER GET!!!
 
Ummm seems I have been misunderstood. Granted, I can see how people could come to the conclusion this post was intended to reduce the number of people to compete with vs for a tag.

To be blunt, I have enough points I'm pretty much guarenteed a tag for all but a couple areas. Whether or not other people choose to put in or not is irrelvant to my odds, in the areas I'm concidering putting in for.

But as I've been approaching the point I am getting close to drawing (ie: the past couple of years), I've been watching alot closer the type of animals harvested around the state to determine where I want to apply.

My original post is exactly what I meant. I've talked to several people who spend alot of time filming / taking pictures of animals on the winter ranges and most of them say there are few great deer out there. Oh I know most of the 2x2's and 3x3's will all be 22ish 4x4's next year, but after waiting all these years I want something better.

You've said it yourself Bobcatbess, when you draw you want that 350+ bull elk. You dont want to wait 10 years to bag a 300's bull. Why is it any different I want a shot at a 30"+ mule deer rather than waiting a tremendous amount of time to only bag a small 22ish buck?

It was an honest question and I'm still undecided... I thought someone might have a valid opinion on the matter but I guess not. Seems with the exception of a few great posters here on MM, the general Peanut Gallery merely looks over each new post to find something to negative to critize about.


-DallanC
 
I am debating that as a nonresident with lots of points too. I am leaning towards applying for the Henrys, essentially going for a point. But there is one more factor for me to consider. If the SFW proposal to take tags out of the draw pool goes through, the nonresident tag pool goes down 25% next year. Only a bit over a month to figure it out........
 
Dallas, kinda makes you leary to post don't it? In Utah if you pass with your points can you still hunt in gerneral area? In Wyoming there are no points for Deer and Elk everyone has the same chance to draw. The only way to increase your odds is to live here. If you don't draw a limited area you can still hunt in general areas with a general tag. Just wondering.

WB
 
DallanC, I think there is a message in what they are saying. They are gonna put in for tags no matter what the quality is in the deer herd. I say that there is still gonna be big trophy deer and that if you go for the tag and get one your just gonna have to seek them out. Everybody sees more deer on the winter range and in the summer and fall but where do they go in October? This year we had some earlier snows during rifle season and it got the deer moving resulting in bigger bucks killed. This tells me that the deer have always been there but we just aren't finding them. What about the bow and muzzleloader hunters? They have also killed some whoppers before we had snow. This tells me that the quality of the deer are getting better. So if they are killing monsters, just think of how many monsters are out there that haven't been seen by anybody? Here in Nevada we started out the year with early snow. Everybody and thier brother were seeing HOGS. But the snow quit falling and it warmed up and melted our snow. Now nobody is seeing hogs. I think that the bucks are just holding back and aren't in any big hurry to get on the winter range. As a matter of fact I've been seeing plenty of does in areas where they shouldn't be. They should be on thier winter range. The bucks don't have to go to the winter range to breed unless the does are there. So the point I'm getting at is don't completly judge the quality of the deer your seeing on the winter range yet. If you are still unhappy with the quality of the deer your seeing in Febuary then consider going out of state and saving your accumilated points for another time. I'm assuming that you can keep your points if you don't put in for a tag. Do you have the option of buying a point if you do not apply? So to make a long story short, don't use up your points if you feel like the deer herd is not as healthy in quality as you'd like to see. But don't give up your chance to hunt. Buy an over the counter tag somewhere or put in for a draw somewhere. Not hunting just does not register with me and I think thats what the other guys were getting at with some good humor thrown in there. Goodluck, fatrooster.
 
Dallan,

What did the F&G say about your points and the Book Cliffs last year? Could they explain the draw failure?

I wouldn't try to over analyze this thing Dallan. You need a tag, and you need to go, to get a deer. 30"? Well, that is another story. I think you stand a much better chance of getting a 350 bull than a 30" buck in Utah. I hear about all of the 30" deer in Utah, but I sure can't find them. I still say it takes a lot more luck than skill to run across a trophy deer in Utah no matter what unit you hunt. Hopefully, you can get a tag and have a stroke of luck and get your deer.
 
If you're holding out for the odd's getting better of harvesting a 30" buck, you're gonna be holding out for a long, long time. Not only because a lot of good bucks were harvested this year, but because there's simply just not that many of them around; even on the so-called "premium units".

If you want a good hunt, where you'll see a ton of respectable bucks, burn your points on the Bookcliff's. As KTC said, you're odds are far better in this State of harvesting a trophy elk than they are of harvesting a trophy buck.

On a side note, I personally think width is overrated any way. Guys always talk about a 30" buck, but I've seen a bunch of 24"-27" bucks that are far better than a lot of the 30" bucks I've seen. My buddies dad has a buck hanging in his living room that has an 18" spread and scores right around 196". It's one of the prettiest bucks I've ever seen, but I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
 
Dallanc

I WASN'T BEING 'SMART',JUST BEING MYSELF,SOME PEOPLE TAKE ME WAY TO SERIOUS!!!

YOU'VE WAITED & WAITED,I KNOW THAT FEELING!!!

HERES A MORE HONEST ANSWER FOR YOUR HONEST QUESTION!!!

SO,THEY TOOK QUITE A FEW NICE BUCKS THIS YEAR,MOSTLY ON THE RIFLE HUNT DUE TO THE WEATHER WORKING AGAINST THE DEER!!!

DID THEY (HUNTERS) TAKE ALL THE BIG BUCKS THERE WERE TO OFFER???

NOT ONLY NO,BUT HELL NO!!!

IN MY OWN OPPINION IT WAS MORE THAN JUST THE SNOW PUSHING THEM DOWN,NORTHERN UTAH HAD A BETTER YEAR FOR THE HORN GROWING SEASON THIS LAST YEAR,WE ACTUALLY HAD SEVERAL STORMS THAT KEPT THE 'GREENS' GROWING THAT THE BUCKS AND BULLS NEED DURING THE CRITICAL TIME THE HORNS ARE GROWING!!!

THERE WERE MORE & BETTER BUCKS TAKEN IN THE BOOK CLIFFS THIS PAST SEASON,THE BIGGER BUCKS ARE ALWAYS TOUGHER TO FIND BUT AT LEAST KNOWING THERE ARE A FEW THERE WHERE YOU'RE HUNTING ALWAYS HELPS!!!

IF YOU'VE GOT A BUNCH OF POINTS I'D TRY AND DRAW A TAG,WITH THE HENRIES PRODUCING SOME NICE BUCKS I'D TRY FOR MORE THAN JUST A BONUS POINT!!!

WANTING TO TAKE A 30" BUCK IS NO DIFFERENT THAN ME WANTING TO TAKE A 350"+ BULL,BUT I'M NOT GOING TO QUIT TRYING TO DRAW THAT LE ELK TAG JUST BECAUSE EVERYBODY THAT HAD THAT SAME TAG THIS LAST FALL TOOK BIG BULL'S,I BELIEVE THERE ARE SOME BIG BOY'S LEFT,THEY DIDN'T TAKE THEM ALL,HOWEVER THIS NEW ELK MANAGEMENT PLAN HAS GOT ME A LITTLE NERVOUS!!!

I HOPE THIS HELPS,MY BEST ADVICE TO YOU IS TO NEVER EVER GIVE UP,TRY FOR THE TAG NOT THE BONUS POINT,THEY HAVEN'T HARVESTED THEM ALL YET!!!

THE ONLY bobcat SAYING IT ONE MORE TIME:LE UNITS WERE NEVER SETUP FOR 'AVERAGE JOES' WANTING TO TAKE 300 CLASS BULLS OR 20" BUCKS,THEY WERE SETUP FOR PEOPLE LIKE ktc TO TAKE A BULL IN THE HEAT OF THE RUT AFTER WAITING NEARLY A LIFETIME TO DRAW THE TAG,OR IN YOUR CASE SEVERAL YEARS TO HAVE A CHANCE AT A TROPHY MULEY!!!
 
ktc

BREAKING THE 30" MARK IS WHAT MAKES YOU A 'STUD',YOU KNOW,A 'THOROUGBRED' THATS WHAT SHE SAID,TO SEE THAT 30" BUCK IN THE BACK OF YOUR TRUCK BED!!!

SEEMS LIKE ANYMORE TO BE MAUTCHO YOUR BUCK MUST BE 30"+!!!

I AM NOT MAUTCHO ON ANY GIVEN YEAR YET,I WILL KEEP TRYING AND WILL NEVER GIVE UP!!!

ONE THINGS FOR SURE,IF EVERYBODY AND THEIR BUDDIES BUDDY HAD ALREADY TAKEN A 30"ER THE BENCHMARK WOULD CHANGE TO A 40"ER!!!

THE ONLY bobcat WAITING PATIENTLY TO BREAK THE 30" BENCHMARK!!!
 

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