Just wanting to know peoples thoughts on figuring success for an area. Do you think that taking the total number days hunted in the unit and dividing it by the animals harvested, to see how many average days were hunted per animal taken, is a good way for figuring how succesful an area is?
Figuring success
- Thread starter live2farm
- Start date
F
fowladdict
Guest
Not for me really...what defines success for you? A spike? A 4x4? Shooting an animal from the road? Or shooting a 4x4 4 miles from camp?
Too high of a percentage of hunters that say they spent a day in the field probably didn't really spend the day "hunting". The success of the hunt can only really be determined by how much effort the hunter gives it.
Bottom line is for me is I pay little attention to the success percentages posted on IDF&G only because I don't think the majority put as much effort into it as I do.
Too high of a percentage of hunters that say they spent a day in the field probably didn't really spend the day "hunting". The success of the hunt can only really be determined by how much effort the hunter gives it.
Bottom line is for me is I pay little attention to the success percentages posted on IDF&G only because I don't think the majority put as much effort into it as I do.
I
IDshooter695
Guest
Most of the people I see on the net figure success on the size of trophy that one harvests. That is why the draw hunts are so popular and that all the state game depts. are making bucks off of them. But what success is there in going into a unit that very few people get to hunt, that has a very high percentage of trophy bucks and choose the one you want to shoot. Sure we all want that hunt to get that big trophy on the wall but shouldn't hunting success be based on the challenge and research one takes to take on his quarry to obtain his trophy by physical and mentally beating it(consistently).And doing better at that than the next hunter who has the same opportunity without being just a lucky draw hunter? That's how I measure my successful hunts.
BPKHunter
Very Active Member
- Messages
- 1,749
I think live2farm is asking a quantitative question, not a qualitative one. You must be analytical like me.
I have not paid much attantion to "hunter days" to see how sucessful a unit is as most people aren't looking to punch a tag on day one if it is a quality unit anyway. Now on a doe hunt, maybe. I do take into consideration how hard a unit is to draw, as I figure in a unit like 39 early deer with about 30% draw odds, folks are likely to kill the first deer over 20" they see, while in units 40/44/45 they may well pass up a small forked 27" buck the first day. The fact is in those low odds units, say under 8%, many people may eat that tag, despite having opportunities at 160-170 bucks, while that would NOT happen in 39.
Given all that I simply take the success % for what it is. In low odds units I also look at %4pts.
I have some rediculous spread sheets and formulas that I have looked at over the past few years. Bottom line is that the only significant conclusion is that, it gets harder every year. More applicants in good hunts, and more hunters in OTC areas. NO BREAK.
Qualitatively, yes the harder you work no matter what you take or pass on, the sweeter the reward.
I have not paid much attantion to "hunter days" to see how sucessful a unit is as most people aren't looking to punch a tag on day one if it is a quality unit anyway. Now on a doe hunt, maybe. I do take into consideration how hard a unit is to draw, as I figure in a unit like 39 early deer with about 30% draw odds, folks are likely to kill the first deer over 20" they see, while in units 40/44/45 they may well pass up a small forked 27" buck the first day. The fact is in those low odds units, say under 8%, many people may eat that tag, despite having opportunities at 160-170 bucks, while that would NOT happen in 39.
Given all that I simply take the success % for what it is. In low odds units I also look at %4pts.
I have some rediculous spread sheets and formulas that I have looked at over the past few years. Bottom line is that the only significant conclusion is that, it gets harder every year. More applicants in good hunts, and more hunters in OTC areas. NO BREAK.
Qualitatively, yes the harder you work no matter what you take or pass on, the sweeter the reward.
Yeah I was thinking more on the quantitative side of things. Take an otc elk tag for example. If you look at some units, and you do the math, the average number of days hunted per bull taken can but 30, 40 or even around 50 days hunted. Do you think that means much? Especially for an otc bull hunt where most people will shoot the first bull they see. Just got me curious what people think.
BPKHunter
Very Active Member
- Messages
- 1,749
Well if the success rate was 20% in that hunt, then that means the average successful guy took 10 days of hunting. I doubt that is true. I think hunt days are fairly unreliable. I would simply focus on hunter success rate and the quality of the kills to judge. I would take any hunt with a very low number of tags with a big grain of salt, statistically.
Idaho Hunting Guides & Outfitters
Bearpaw Outfitters
Idaho Deer & Elk Allocation Tags, Plus Bear, Bison, Lion, Moose, Turkey and Montana Prairie Dogs.
Urge 2 Hunt
We focus on trophy elk, mule deer, whitetail, bear, lion and wolf hunts and spend hundreds of hours scouting.
Jokers Wild Outdoors
Trophy elk, whitetail, mule deer, antelope, bear and moose hunts. 35k acres of private land.