My 2017 Northeast raffle hunt

[jackelope]

[archeryfreak]

 

[Scheindogg]

 

[JoeE]

This is still one of my all time favorite hunt logs. I keep re-reading it so I can relive his epic raffle season.

[Bango skank]

I'd wager his silence is due to the fact that his hunt resulted in a trophy like this.

[teanawayslayer]

I'd wager his silence is due to the fact that his hunt resulted in a trophy like this.

[wheels]

cant believe nothing was taken 

[Jpmiller]

I wonder sometimes if a tag was even won?

[Bango skank]

cant believe nothing was taken

I believe it.  Having a pocket full of tags like that, you're going to feel a lot of pressure to do them justice with big trophy animals.  Especially the deer and elk, as you can hunt both of those otc, so why waste the raffle tags on average animals?  Just having the tags is no guarantee that you're going to find a big wall hanger buck or bull.  Add to that, this guy is from King county.  I think most of our NE spring bear permits go to west siders, and well, look at the success rate for those.

I think having moose, elk and deer raffle tags, plus general deer, elk, bear and cougar tags would be too much of a good thing for anybody who isn't both retired and local.  If it were me, I would choose moose, deer and bear, since the bear could be used the following spring.  Focus on getting a big moose and 2 big bucks.  That would be enough to deal with for the fall season.

[wheels]

agree on those animal picks  but would heavily towards moose  but either way you would need some good amount of time on your hands

[bearpaw]

It's very possible he got skunked, unless you hunt the right spots and have a little luck you might have trouble finding a good moose, they are not nearly as plentiful as 5 or 10 years ago. If he put all his time into moose he may not have had time for the other tags?

If I had those tags first I would concentrate on finding a good moose and maybe shoot a decent buck or bull elk if seen while looking for the moose, then use any leftover time to hunt remaining deer and elk tags late season on winter range! Shoot a bear along the way while hunting the moose, if no bear is taken no big deal, you can shoot bear easily every year with general tags.