Buffalo Dilema?

A

AWHOLELOTTABULL

Long Time Member
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I have A LOT of buffalo points. I am considering dumping them on a cow hunt this year so I can get applying for sheep. I need to draw a buff tag soon or I will be 70 before I can hunt sheep and I'm not sure that's going to be physically possible.

Plan #1 - hold out for a bull tag that I may or may not draw in the next 5-10 years and buy a cow tag for $500-$1000 at a ranch or auction. This means I won't be putting in for sheep until I'm 50+ years old which means I probably won't draw a sheep tag until I'm 65+ years old. (Damn that sounds old) No offense old timers!

Plan #2 - Draw a cow tag (I have enough points to gaurantee that) and buy a Ute bull tag within the next 5 years and start putting in for sheep next year which means I will be under 50 when I draw a sheep tag.

I am really at odds with this dilema. I really want a big bull buffalo but I also want to get one sheep before I die! Just a poll from MMer's to see if I'm dilusional or if this is a rational thought process.


It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com
 
Plan 1 sounds like you may or may not ever get to hunt sheep. If hunting sheep at some point is REALLY important to you then I'd go with plan 2...

~Z~
 
LAST EDITED ON Feb-26-10 AT 02:32AM (MST)[p]Have you considered hunting sheep in another state and buying points in whatever state you choose? Do you have any sheep points now in Ut? Look at the draw odds in Idaho. Not to bad there for non-res.
 
I decided early that if I was going to hunt more than one OIL I would have to hunt cow bison, since this was going to be one of the species I would like to hunt. It took me ten years to get my first tag, the next year I drew the expo tag. I have hunted cow bison on the henrys twice, it's a super fun hunt. I'm working on a goat tag now, with any luck I will draw this tag, and maybe a sheep in my lifetime.
 
I'd be putting in for both. I apply for lots of oil & if I got drawn for more than 1 in a year I'll deal with it at that time. Like a 2 month hunting vacation. Good luck.
 
If I were you, I would keep putting in for the bull permit.

If you dont have sheep points by now, you will be very lucky to ever get a sheep tag here in Utah, unless you draw it on the random draw and that is as likely to happen anytime since you probably will never hit the max point pool in your lifetime.

I am now 69 and I have been pretty darn lucky on drawing tags. I drew a random buffalo tag in 1981, a random Rocky tag in 1993 and my desert tag from the max point pool in 2004. But things have changed a lot since then and I doubt many will ever have the chances I did.

I now have 7 goat points and will probably be very lucky to draw that tag before I get too old to hunt them. But if it comes in the next 5 or 6 years, I still think I will be able to hunt them.

That buffalo hunt, especially for a bull, is one great hunt. I have hunted all my life and taken a lot of critters in my time, but the buffalo hunt was one of the most physically tough hunts in my entire lifetime and one of the most rewarding.

I hunt everything with a bow so it makes it very challenging, and buffalo are way more challenging than most people think. Far more than sheep in my opinion.

Stick with your bull buffalo!

Have a good one. BB
 
Sorry bull
but you will never have enough points to draw a sheep tag stick with the bull tag and go buy a cow tag on a ranch.

That's just the way it is!

4a7d1f93337c7fd7.jpg

Nets are for fish!!
 
My dad will be 74 this year . He finaly told me last week to put him in for the cow bison hunt and blow all of his 16 points so he can hunt a bison before he dies . I dont know if that was a good desion maybe this would have been the year . But I get his point and yours to.
 
Don't underestimate the amount of bison hunting opportunity that will be available on the Book Cliffs shortly. With the tribal bison population growing and expanding, there may be hunts out there much sooner than originally anticipated. Don't give up quite yet.

Dax
 
I think you are WAY over-optomistic about your chances to draw a sheep tag in your lifetime. Unless you are 12 years old, or already have a lot of sheep points, it may never, ever happen. Look at the odds again. You will never catch the max points pool. There is always the random pool, of course, with odds in the 0.2% range. And of course don't count out some massive change in the rules. Anybody can get lucky, of course, but starting with 0 points in the UT sheep draw right now won't give you decent odds of drawing a tag for the next 50+ years.

Bill
 
I would keep applying for the Bull Tag on the Henrys until I drew. Then I would take the money you would have spent on buying a Ute Bull tag and put it toward buying a sheep tag, probably a Dall sheep. Then I after drawing a Buffalo tag I would put in for Rocky Mountain Bighorns in Utah and put in for Desert Bighorns in Arizona. Then I would paticipate in the Full Curl Society and try and get a sheep tag that way, possibly a stone sheep. With a little luck it could happen. I seems to me that the more sheep you kill the better your odds are at getting a tag at the Full Curl Society towards completing the slam. Just my thoughts but who cares about those.
 
Jim-
Daxter nailed it....
I'm still in with you whatever we decide to do, but i'd rather hold out for the bull, i really don't think we are that far out ;-)





http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx290/slamdunk_04/E1x1BWINV1-2.jpg[/IMG]
 
I loved my cow buffalo hunt. You can buy great trophy bull tags on several huge ranches for under $3000. Any sheep tag will cost much more.
 
A lot of times after 10-15 days of hunting for a I REALLY WANT A BIG BULL becomes a cow if I can find one. LOL I can give ya heads up if ya like.

Rutnbuck
 
Jim
I think I would hold out for the bull,Because if you spend your points and then find out you can't get enough points in the next 15-20 years to draw a sheep tag you would of blew it on both, take the one in hand and keep trying to draw the bull tag, start saving for buying the sheep tag or draw a expo tag. LOL


"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
 
Jim,

I would vote for the bull tag too. Keep at it. You can go shoot one of those brutes soon enough. Better to get the one thing you started out wanting and then hope for the best with sheep.

I am in a similar situation with moose. Not sure why I went that route but now going on 14 years applying and I still cant see the end of the road! Maybe I will get lucky with a random tag??

Good luck in whatever your choice! I have heard those cow hunts are just as fun!! Just not as big of head as the bulls.
 
I would wait at least long enough to see how the Book Cliffs pan out. Who knows, you may be one of the first to hunt the BC.
 
AWLB!
Just keep doing what You & Me are doing,keep trying to draw the Bull tag,don't quit now,when We're 90 maybe We'll pull the tag?
Besides,with Tardvilles point system,what are the chances of getting a Range Maggot permit if you're starting out 17 points down?
Whatever you do:
Don't become a Ranch Hunter! }>}>}>
Don't blow them points on a Cow & become a Cow killer! }>}>}>
If that happens you'll need a name change: AWHOLELOTTACOW just ain't right!
 
ive personally thought ouf this because i too want both. i drew my moose in 08 and couldnt decide whether i wanted bighorn or bison i put in for bison in 09. the more i thought about this ive changed my strategy. i have decided to go ahead and switch to bighorn. my theory was i shuold hunt bighorns while im younger the terrain is much more difficult and supposed to be a much tougher hunt.. i can hunt bison off of horses so even if i am 70 before i draw i should still be able to hunt bison from horseback. however seeing how you have so many points for bison maybe you ougghta alternate what your putting in for every other year. but idk i personally dont have a desire for cow bison so id stick to the bull in your case.you may get lucky and pull a tag early you never know! i pulled a moose tag second year applying so only 1 pt,. you just never know.
another theory is move outta state because you can apply for all oils every year if your a non res. than in ten years move back draw your bsion tag and you will also have 10 years pooints built up on sheep. hahaha anyway good luck with whatever you decide

?It takes a genius to whine appealingly.?
Mr.Whiny
 
Hang in there BULL!
We might be in a damn wheelchair when it happens!






I'm still HELL_ON_WHEELS
I still throw a few back, talk a little smack
 
Hey Jim,
Thanks for the help on that Wyoming unit first of all. I appreciate you always being willing to help out. I want to get started putting in for desert sheep as well but I am stuck on moose. Hopefully in the next few years I will get it. My grandpa is 78 years old and he is in a similar situation with buffalo. He has 16 points but with only 39 buffalo tags in the state that isn't going to cut it. I liked how you had a good attitude about it and in a few years I think there will be a lot more buffalo opportunity here. I am currently working with the Wyoming fish and game department and the pope and young club to get the jackson hole migration hunt to be counted for pope and young. I think we can make it happen. B & C accepts it and success rates were only 50% last year so I think it should be approved. They just started allowing bow hunting last year. I would just do a cow there because the bull tag is tough to draw. The only problem is it is $2500 just for the dang tag!!! Anyways buffalo is a tough one to get unless you go to some ranch so it sucks that you have to wait a few more years but hey maybe you will get lucky and draw anyways. I hope you do!!


Jason Yates
Basin Archery Shop
http://www.basinarcheryshop.com
5% OFF to all MonsterMuleys.com Members!!!
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That's what I'm hoping for. I guess if I draw the Buff tag before I'm 50 I will be happy. If your dad draws his buff tag give me a hollar! I've spent a lot of time down there chasing those big buggers. I would love to help out.

It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com
 
sorry to deliver the bad news but for those of you that have invested many years applying for buffalo and think your close to drawing a tag think again. the 2010 recommendations for permit numbers just came out and they are proposing to cut buffalo permits by 131 tags. last year there was 170 permits, this year they are recommending only 39 permits.
 
You guys can only put in for one permit a year?? or am i missing something.

"blaming guns for violence is like blaming spoons for Rosie O'donnell being fat."
 
I guess when I went on my dads bison hunt with him we were getting really lucky because we were seeing herds all day and he got his bison the first day.
 
This is a little late but I'd most definitely put in for a BULL tag. Having killed my Desert Sheep in 04' I wish I'd put in for Buffalo sense than, i went back to moose. These are an awesome trophy and IMO would be hard to choose which head to look at every day in my office. You'll draw this tag soon enough if not this year some other year. The sheep thing is addicting and once you start you'll have points in every State that offers sheep hunting. You might as well draw a very coveted tag and enjoy the hunt of a lifetime. Remember Utah is one of only 2-3 places you can hunt free roaming Buff. If you ever want to go for all North American Big Game Species you'll have to kill a Buffalo. There are stiff odds on Sheep draw in all western States and Utah is nothing short of impossible so going that rout will take a different mind set. One that is hopeful and optimistic but realistic and you'll have to not get impatient even after 30 years. Good choice on the Buff Bull. Good Luck.
 

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