WYOMING’S LICENSE FEE CHANGES FOR 2018

[trophyhunt]

Never hunted out of state but would like to some day (soon!). What's the difference between special draw and draw? Do I even need to draw or can I just buy an OTC?

Sorry for the newbish questino.

Wyoming is the most confusing state to apply for, the special draw puts you in a different catagory. It’s cost more but you have better odds. If you don’t have max points and your trying for a premium tag, bring your patience.  I’m one less than max on elk, this is my 10 or 11th year applying.  General tags may be easier to draw, your best bet is to call them and talk to a bio. 

[BULLBLASTER]

Never hunted out of state but would like to some day (soon!). What's the difference between special draw and draw? Do I even need to draw or can I just buy an OTC?

Sorry for the newbish questino.

Wyoming is the most confusing state to apply for, the special draw puts you in a different catagory. It’s cost more but you have better odds. If you don’t have max points and your trying for a premium tag, bring your patience.  I’m one less than max on elk, this is my 10 or 11th year applying.  General tags may be easier to draw, your best bet is to call them and talk to a bio.

I’ll add some more confusion here. I have come across hunts where the special draw actually required more points than the regular draw but that isn’t the norm.
It’s also important to remember that the unit numbers are not the same for all species. Unit 50 for deer is not unit 50 for elk or antelope.

[meatwhack]

The special draw has nothing to do with better draw odds. It’s simply a category with an allotted number of tags that cost more money. The thinking is that less people are willing to pay the higher price so the draw odds are better but that’s not always the case.

[swanny]

The special draw has nothing to do with better draw odds. It’s simply a category with an allotted number of tags that cost more money. The thinking is that less people are willing to pay the higher price so the draw odds are better but that’s not always the case.

Well that will make your head hurt!

[cougforester]

Never hunted out of state but would like to some day (soon!). What's the difference between special draw and draw? Do I even need to draw or can I just buy an OTC?

Sorry for the newbish questino.

This is one heck of a place to start.

[trophyhunt]

Another article to help, and paying more for the special license is designed to give you better odds, it’s in this article.


https://www.gohunt.com/read/INSIDER/application-strategy-2016-wyoming-elk

[Chesapeake]

Yes, "designed" to give you better odds, but if too many people pay up and put in "special" then the odds will be worse.

It looks like this.

Non residents can get 16% of the tags for a unit.
40% of those tags go into the "Special Draw". Of those 75% go to the highest point holders, 25% go random.
60% of the tags go into the "Regular draw". Of those 75% go to the highest point holders, 25% go random.

So say a unit has 50 total tags allotted.

8 tags can go to Non-residents.
3 tags go in the "Special draw. 2 for points, 1 for random.
5 Tags go in the "Regular draw". 4 for points, 1 for random.

That's all you can really tell prior to the actual draw happening. Prior to that, all you can do is look at the last few years draw trends to forecast what you think might happen. The new years draw odds are completely dependent on that applications received for that year.

Toprut is my favorite site for looking at the draw stats. They break it down and graph it out nicely. Make it easy to see the point creep trend as well as show you the possibilities, or lack of, for drawing a unit on random. You can get a feel for how many tags are available and how many folks put in.

Other sites are better for hunt info research.

Unit 62 type 1 for example:
https://www.toprut.com/hunt/wyoming-elk-unit-62/