I'm done!

[Ironhead]

Your correct they aren't weapon specific ,and you are in no mans land with 7 points as I am. What I was getting at is the guys with 14 or more bonus points are putting in for rifle hunts while 13 points will get you in to the archery hunts. I beleive alot of people are going to do just like you are talking and bail out ,that should help the guys that stay in.
Resident Non-resident   bonus points
19-1 19-1
18-5 18-1
17-24 17-2
16-49 16-22
15-109 15-55
14-142 14-89
13-199 13-127
12-277 12-187
11-408 11-303

[actionshooter]

 Reading the past posts about who puts in for what states, I felt like I might be missing out on something. I stopped putting in for other states years ago when they started the system where you "donate" to get points, I thought it was *censored* then and I still feel the same way. I hunt the over the counter states Colorado, Idaho and i've hunted Alaska. I always think about Oregon but haven't looked into it yet. In Colorado you can still get points on the better tags, if you don't draw then buy a tag thats left over, there are a ton of areas.
 Thanks for the post Opportunist, I don't feel left out anymore. 

[Bookworm]

I agree that the fees are getting outrageous. I put in for Utah last year for the first and only time. I have points for Wyoming that I'm hoping to use this year. We'll see what happens after this.

[Ridgerunner]

It is pretty frustrating to see what is going on in all the states.  I wish I had been on the ball a long time ago and am now feeling quite behind in most states.  Does paying all that money up front stink, yeah it does but what other options does a guy have if he wants to experience some great hunts.  For me, its forced me to prioritize what states and what species I really want to hunt.  When you add what the travel costs are nowdays any out of state hunt is going to be a pretty penny.  Is hunting getting more expensive, yeah it is but so  is everything else.  I guess you have to decide how much money you are willing to part with every year for a possible chance of hunting at some point down the road.

[lemondog]

My pal took a real nice bull on a Arizona late modern tag in november.7 or 8 points I think. A real stud. I can hook you up if you want to talk with him.

[bucklucky]

I think I have 5 or 6 points and will keep putting in till I get draw. Cant wait to kill a unit 9 Bull with my bow! I figure all I'm doing is paying for QUALITY!

[WAcoueshunter]

Archery guys are maxed in the 13 bp range.

Where did you find the breakdown of the number of bp's for residents and NRs?  Some good info there.
Do they break out the bp's for each hunt somewhere?  Would love to see that if they do.

A question about how max points works...I always thought the AZ max points pool was done on a species by species basis, but just recently read that it's done for each hunt number, which I interpret to mean that max points for Unit 9 archery will be different than Unit 6A archery.  If that's true, couldn't you apply your points to a lesser unit and have max points with 6, 7, 8 points?  There are so many really good units down there, just seems you could apply your points to a unit with less demand and either have max points or at least not run into the NR cap.

Either way, let's assume the archery guys with the most bp's will be putting in for Unit 9.  Probably a safe assumption.  Since there's only seven or eight NR Unit 9 archery tags/year, it is going to take a long time to go from 8-10 points to max, even if max for archery is only 13 right now.  There are so many guys holding out for Unit 9 from around the country, max will keep going up each year, and that logjam will take a long time to clear.  I've got 7 points as well...how long til I have max?  A long long time.  I'm not going to hold out for 9.

[Ironhead]

They have a draw  BP breakdown you can buy from the AZFG ,of course it's not cheap either. I am not holding out for any of the elite
3A-3C, 9 or 10 I have 7 BP's also and feel I can draw a lesser unit  and have a great hunt.

[WAcoueshunter]

They have a draw  BP breakdown you can buy from the AZFG ,of course it's not cheap either. I am not holding out for any of the elite
3A-3C, 9 or 10 I have 7 BP's also and feel I can draw a lesser unit  and have a great hunt.

Thanks Ironhead.  I need to look into that breakdown...

The thing I really hate about AZ is that they don't square points.  Unless you have max, a guy with 10 bps only has 2x the odds of a guy with 5.  I really like the WA system for that reason.

I tagged along on a "lesser unit" hunt last year and it was awesome.  Success rates definitely lower than 9 (9 is generally 70%+), but we still chased mature bugling bulls every day.  My cousin ultimately shot an 8x7 350" bull after I left.  I guess it's a priority thing.  I'd rather be out there chasing bulls more often than hold our for my once-in-a-lifetime tag.  Heck, I flew down there without a tag just to see the spectacle. 

[NoBark]

Very understandable.

Call it the evolution of hunting.  In my dads day, a huge number of men hunted. Almost all hunted locally and never even thought of going 'out of state'.  They had long seasons or a high success rate. 

In my hunting experience of 30 years, we've seen the increase in leased land, the commercialization of hunting via products and sponsors, the whole video thing. We have hunting 'stars' (and I use that term with distain) now and fewer hunters with more time and more money to spend.  It's used to expand their opportunities or their ego by going out of state.

It's like sports. When I was kid we played one sport then the next and then the next. Now kids are playing one sport and the rest of the year are playing in leagues and going to camps and specializing in one sport. 

Maybe it's the difference between hunting as a pasttime (my dads day) and hunting as a passion/obsession (today) 

Maybe a good depression would set things straight?

[jimkirk]

man washington is right in the game too. i was thinking of putting in my relatives for a multi season washington tag until i read

Multiple-season deer or elk tags cost $164.25 for residents and $1,642.50 for nonresidents, including transaction fees. These figures do not include the cost of an annual hunting license.

all for hunting on national forest land, whew thats steep!

[boneaddict]

hunting stars.......I miss the hunting legends of yesterday.   

I'm almost wondering if I should really get my girls interested in hunting.   I'm afraid it will be a big disappointment.

[WAcoueshunter]

I don't know that it's just the evolution of hunting...seems it's the evolution of society.  For better or worse, society has a lot more disposable money these days, and people apply their funds to what they enjoy.  For those most passionate about it, they choose to spend the extra $$$ on hunting.  For others that might be $80 ski lift tickets and $300 hotel rooms at destination ski resorts.  For others it might be an F-350 with all the bells and whistles.  For others it might be a new 4,000 square foot house with granite countertops.  With limited animals but a growing population, the demand for (and willingness to pay for) premium hunts goes up, and so does the price.  Seems like simple economics to me. 

[actionshooter]

I don't know that it's just the evolution of hunting...seems it's the evolution of society.  For better or worse, society has a lot more disposable money these days, and people apply their funds to what they enjoy.  For those most passionate about it, they choose to spend the extra $$$ on hunting.  For others that might be $80 ski lift tickets and $300 hotel rooms at destination ski resorts.  For others it might be an F-350 with all the bells and whistles.  For others it might be a new 4,000 square foot house with granite countertops.  With limited animals but a growing population, the demand for (and willingness to pay for) premium hunts goes up, and so does the price.  Seems like simple economics to me. 

I agree, no matter what your into Its getting more specialized and expensive. This means more people are willing to spend the big bucks and unfourtunatley its (hunting) also turned into a competition.

[NoBark]

i"d like to see a little research on this aspect.  I know most states talk about decreasing numbers of hunters. Even washington has its stats on this. So it begs the question,  how come it seems more crowded than ever?

Guys, I teach Hunter Ed, I can tell you that at least in my area, if half of the kids that I teach hunt, It wont get better.  Maybe we are an aberation on a national trend but a lot of kids go through the course and most are with dad in tow.

I'd like to see if there is a correlation between the loss of habitat/area to hunt and hunter numbers.

Is the available space shrinking FASTER than the decline in hunters?

OR

Is the lack of a place to hunt, a cause of hunter shrinkage?