Drawing Sheep tag and little $ to spend.

prizes14

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Should a person even apply for a Wyoming sheep or goat tag if you are a non resident and don't have $10k to hire a guide to get into the wilderness areas?

I know someone who drew a tag this year and it got me thinking that if I drew a tag and don't have the money for a guide, am I just screwed? Are there ever any Wyoming residents who just like to go sheep hunting that would go along and help you out so that you can still go in wilderness areas?
 
Draw the tag. Then worry about the money. You?ll find the money. It's the tag of a lifetime. I'm not an advocate for borrowing money for things that aren't necessities, but in my mind, I believe this would be justified. BTW, I just got my 15th ?unsuccessful?. At 63, I'm running out of time.

Mackey
 
Keep trying to get that tag. Use your VISA if you have to. I know a lot of people who just love to hunt sheep and goats, and would be glad to tag along on someones hunt to help out. Just make it a shared hunt and not a lot of out of pocket expense, and you're in like Flint.
 
I think you should plan on budgeting for a guide if you want to continue to focus on WY sheep. The NR random draw opportunities in WY are pretty serious units. I actually put in this year as well before subsequently withdrawing the app as I realized there was no way I could swing that particular hunt solo given my distance from the area, lack of scouting, and frankly, my limited wilderness experience. On top of that, I spend more than enough on applications and hopefully my one DIY hunt a year and so I also cannot afford the guide. There are many other DIY hunts for other species, and maybe even sheep hunts in other states that would be more amenable to DIY and therefore lower costs. I sincerely suggest that you focus on those.
 
Prizes,

Before you run out and finance sheep tag applications on a cc you should take a serious look at what Wyoming really offers in their draw.

Going into the 2019 Wyoming sheep tag draw there were 2054 non-resident applicants with 15 or more preference points. Of the 40 tags issued in the WY non-resident preference point drawing;
1 tag went to an applicant with 17 points
1 tag went to an applicant with 18 points
11 tags went to applicants with 19 points
The remainder (27) went to applicants with 20 to 23 points.

At 40 tags per year it will take the state of Wyoming 50 years to issue 2000 non-resident sheep tags in the preference point drawing?hmmm. How many among us have the points or lifetime remaining to reasonably expect to get a sheep tag in the preference point draw?

Ahh but there's hope because Wyoming issues sheep tags in a random drawing. In 2019 the following areas had random tags available;

Unit 2, 1 tag, 278 applicants
Unit 3, 1 tag, 808 applicants
Unit 4, 1 tag, 305 applicants
Unit 5, 1 tag, 979 applicants

If you applied for a sheep tag in a unit other than 2 through 5 your chances of drawing a random tag were zero. The average odds of drawing one of four sheep tags available in the random draw was 592 to 1. The out of pocket to apply for a non-resident sheep tag in Wyoming is almost $225. If you took your $225 to Las Vegas and put it all down on a 592 to 1 bet and won, the payout would be $133,000. That's enough to pay the IRS and have enough left over for a couple guided sheep hunts in Canada. Now let's say you were set on hunting in WY unit 5 where the random odds are 979 to 1. Place the same $225 bet and the payout is $220,000. Pay the taxes and there's enough to buy the WY Governor sheep tag ($75k) and hire an outfitter ($10k) and still have enough left over to go on a dall sheep hunt.

If you're not much of a gambler - annually invest whatever the WY application fee is (currently $225) at 7.5% interest for 30 years and the fund will grow to over $25k. That's enough for a dall sheep hunt and you don't have to beat 600 to 1 odds to do it. Of course dall hunts will continue to rise in cost over the next 30 years but so will WY applications fees so it's not unreasonable to assume they will keep pace.

Good luck on whatever path you decide to follow.
 
>Should a person even apply for
>a Wyoming sheep or goat
>tag if you are a
>non resident and don't have
>$10k to hire a guide
>to get into the wilderness
>areas?
>
>I know someone who drew a
>tag this year and it
>got me thinking that if
>I drew a tag and
>don't have the money for
>a guide, am I just
>screwed? Are there ever
>any Wyoming residents who just
>like to go sheep hunting
>that would go along and
>help you out so that
>you can still go in
>wilderness areas?

Lots of areas you could go DIY, I plan to do just that but being a resident I have time to hunt my area for the entire season.
Honestly there is no reason to go guided anywhere in Wyoming for anything of you have the time to put in for a DIY hunt. No need for a wilderness area either to find an animal.
 
Good analysis. I might actually have to take up gambling as that does seems like a better payout.

A friend of mine drew both a random draw sheep and goat Wyoming tag so that is why I started to think harder about what I would do if I actually drew.
 

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