I DON'T BELIEVE IT

[excavator]

Unit 065 Antelope, according to Wyoming Game and Fish stats, had no hunters with greater than zero preference points apply in the non-resident preference point special draw in 2011. Amazingly, 32 people with greater than zero prefernce points applied in the 2012 non-resident preferece point special draw. The end result is my party and I do not get our antelope tags this year even though we had greater than zero preference points as a party. .333 to be exact.

I'm sorry, but I have a hard time believing there could be this kind of an increase in applicants in a single year's time.

What do you guys think?

Excavator

 

[junior]

LAST EDITED ON Jun-21-12 AT 05:15AM (MST)[p]Same thing happen to our group with a different unit! We had some people tell us our first choice was a slam dunk, and to not even apply a second choice! I am so glad we put in for second choice, even though it is a sucky unit!
Its realy no surprise though. I am sure most inn the points game know the difference between good and better odds. The trick is trying to figure reverse psychology, and apply in the unit everyone left to find better odds. I am hearing guys with low points have drew some great hunts this year!
Did they cut tags in 65?

 

[PleaseDear]

Everybody can see/research all the units Odds now a days.

So with a slamdunk to draw from the very vissible 2011 odds, it makes sense that some would jump to that type of unit.

Sorry ya didn't draw.

I have a thread below with the leftover list, maybe you could find something from it to go hunt?

Hang in there---

Robb

 

[junior]

How does the leftover list work inn WY? I would think those tags would go pretty quick?

 

[DougW]

the leftover tags will disappear while we're all trying to get past the logjams on the Website on July 10....

Here's a major causative factor in this year's strange draw statistics: There is currently more accessible, user-friendly info. out there for prospective antelope hunters than there ever has been. And it's in a format (color-coded maps) that makes it quick and easy to choose/eliminate units as a nonresident hunter who has never set foot in these units. Or an application service that has never set foot in these units.

And most of these sources have reasonably good accuracy, as far as I can tell.

So these year-to-year variations in number of applicants for a specific unit are increasing. Winter kill is mapped, success ratio is mapped, drawing odds, odds broken down by pref. points etc. etc. etc., on the Web. EVERYONE's got access. A few years back it actually took a bit more effort (scouting, phone calls, plotting statistics manually, etc.) so that eliminated the casual, quick-fix applicants from obtaining good info..

Maybe you've got to stay one step ahead of the game these days, if you catch my drift.....

 

[DougW]

PS Robb- I sent this before I realized it overlapped a part of your post -we're in agreement on it, my apologies.

Doug

 

[delmag1942]

On 65 my guess would be...

The tag cuts

Max points users from 2011, looking for an "easy" draw with no points.

If my memory is any good, it borders a "blue chip" unit. There are probably some good one's there.

 

[Schleppy]

>the leftover tags will disappear while
>we're all trying to get
>past the logjams on the
>Website on July 10....

Is this typically the case? I haven't tried for the leftover tags in the past.

 

[DougW]

More on the NR draw in general....if you check the draw odds in the pp pool for the 12 "winter kill 2010-2011" units, the number of preference points required for a tag actually DECREASED from the 2011 draw to the 2012 draw in 3 units and INCREASED for 4. The decrease occurred despite the high likelihood of an overall increased number of applicants for the state generally, due to the widespread reputation that it is now the best place in the west to hunt antelope. PP creep is occurring in WY for antelope, albeit relatively slowly.

Looking closer, for those 3 units, the quota actually decreased in 1 while remained the same in 2. (also note that for the 4 units, 3 of them also decreased the number of tags).

My guess is fewer folks applied in these 3 "easier to draw" units (and probably at least 2 of the 4 "harder to draw" units), and the remainder likely applied further north in units like 65 and 77, or other good units not in the winter kill area, thus decreasing odds there.

This is only one factor but I think it's impt.

For you guys who didn't draw....chalk it up to a drought year and look forward to 2013.

I'll quit talking to myself now.

 

[DougW]

sure did last year anyways

 

[TOPGUN]

The G&F website is normally pretty decent, but it definitely slows way down the day the draw results are posted and on the first day of the two leftover dates, which are 7/10 and 7/17 this year. If you want to apply for a unit that doesn't have many tags left, you need to be on the site at 8AM and cross your fingers and toes that you can get the application section to open and do your thing before the tags are sold out.

 

[WapitiBob]

LAST EDITED ON Jun-21-12 AT 12:43PM (MST)[p]All the tag numbers for 2012 were readily available prior to the end of the application correction period. Some units were cut by a decent number of tags. Way more than enough to cut what was a slam dunk into an unsuccessful draw.

65 Antelope was proposed to go from 250 down to 150.

Not to sound like a diick but if a guy isn't looking at all the available data, he's going to be left in the dust. Way, way too much info out there and lots of guys are soaking it up.

 

[TOPGUN]

+1 WB If they didn't look at the unit tag numbers that came out in the Rules & Regulation section well before the 7/3 modify/withdraw date this year, they made a big booboo. That was the main thing that caused me a lot of stress when I initially figured a slam dunk on a party application for antelope based on last year. Then I looked at that section when it was posted in JUne and figured we would be "on the fence" when our unit got a 25% tag cut. That's exactly how it turned out too, as we drew our tags with a 2.5 average and those with 2PPs didn't. If there had been the number of tags as last year, we would have been a slam dunk like I had originally figured. I think that is pretty well what happened to the OP.

 

[DougW]

Good point, but look at unit 55 (according to a certain unnamned source, a blue chip unit), for example. Now requires only 3 NR pps on the reg. draw, and in 2011 it required 4. But the quota decreased in 2011. Many folks assumed big winter kill and took their points elsewhere, I think.

Looking forward to seeing a pic of ur 2012 buck TG.

 

[excavator]

Top Gun/Wapiti Bob,

With the number of tag applicants in the NR PP Special Pool increasing by 3200%, the reduction in tag numbers is an irrelevant factor. Had the number of applicants been anywhere near last year's number of applicants, obtaining the tag would still have been a slam dunk.

Others,

I did not specifically target unit 065 because of previous drawing or success odds or anything like that. Rather, we already have an elk tag for the unti (025/027) that overlaps Unit 065. The main part of this that sucks, is that my twelve year old son was going to get a chance to hunt lopes and be around elk camp. He is really disappointed, but I guess that is the way things go.

I will take a look and see if mabye there are left over tags of any species in the area we are going to hunt around the first part of October. I will have to check, but maybe there is a cow elk tag that can be obtained?

Thanks for your input.

Excavator

 

[TOPGUN]

LAST EDITED ON Jun-21-12 AT 03:26PM (MST)[p]DougW---I'm also looking forward to seeing a picture of my buck, but it will have to be in my scope lens first, LOL! With the time I have available (the entire October season, if needed) I think I have a good shot at a 16" buck if I can make the correct call and not misjudge and shoot a smaller one by mistake. That is what I find so much fun in hunting antelope in that I think they may be as difficult, if not more so, to judge than any big game animal. I got a good one (14 1/2" scoring 76")in 2009 in the unit, so I'm going to try and help the guy from Idaho get a real good one in the short time he has available to hunt before I even look for my own. He will have first shot since it was his extra PPs that got us the tags and I told him that would be the case if he partnered with me and we drew. I just hope I can show him a good time on his first hunt and find him a good one.

excavator---I apologize, as you may have taken my comment somewhat out of context. I really didn't know what made you figure your odds at getting a tag for that unit, so I wasn't trying to make that statement aiming it directly at you. I guess with that kind of an increase in applicants I couldn't argue too much on your statement that the tags cuts were irrevelant. With just minor applicant increases tag cuts certainly makes a big difference though. I would have also had a heart attack if the unit I put in for had such a huge change to the negative from one year to the next as you experienced. You seemed to have picked a unit due to the circumstances you just mentioned that really went in the crapper this year, but I'm sure there were also a number of other guys that suffered the same fate because of tag cuts and guys going to other units because of it to lesser extremes too. Good luck in your quest to find some other tags and if you find some possibilities please run them by us if you think we can be of any help to you.

 

[DougW]

TG- make a pact with the guy from Idaho, let him pocket your bullets until you both agree that the buck in ur scope will score 78+....then and only then can u shoot

 

[Cahunter805]

Excavator- Why not grab a few does tags in Unit 64 and take a day with your son and let him enjoy the hunt? There are a few leftover so be ready to grab them quickly.

 

[TOPGUN]

DougW
Jun-21-12, 03:31 PM (MST)
16. "RE: I DON'T BELIEVE IT"
TG- make a pact with the guy from Idaho, let him pocket your bullets until you both agree that the buck in ur scope will score 78+....then and only then can u shoot

I don't know about that since he's never hunted them before, LOL! I really do have as much fun helping others than shooting stuff myself any more though, so it won't be a problem.

 

[PLP]

I'm with y'all!!I dont believe it!!They are tellin us sales are down,but there were record sales this year from what I see!I was going to get a leftover in a unit that never gets applied for (o applicants last year),and all 200+ tags were gone after the draw!!

 

[Triple_BB]

>
>What do you guys think?
>
>Excavator


That you won't be hunting goats in 65...