Long term planning...?

[emn83]

If you can afford it, do both if yopu have a week or more to hunt. PP have to be bought by the end of SEPT. Appling needs to be first part of 2014.
#102 has goats. It opens same day as deer in REG Y. There is some public land that is acssesable. Check the maps for public, and or walkin areas.

Thanks for the the advice. just looking at things, it depends on whether i fly or drive....I'll have 3-5 days to hunt, giving a day on each end if I fly, and 2 days for driving....and that would be pushing pretty hard I think.

I currently have purchased 1 pp for deer and one for antelope, This winter I'll be studying maps and figuring out logistics.....this is a whole new ball game for a MN hunter who hasn't gotten out much the last few years

 

[cohunter14]

Thanks for the the advice. just looking at things, it depends on whether i fly or drive....I'll have 3-5 days to hunt, giving a day on each end if I fly, and 2 days for driving....and that would be pushing pretty hard I think.

I currently have purchased 1 pp for deer and one for antelope, This winter I'll be studying maps and figuring out logistics.....this is a whole new ball game for a MN hunter who hasn't gotten out much the last few years

Depending on what area you hunt, you should be able to make it there in one day driving I would think.

 

[emn83]

Depending on what area you hunt, you should be able to make it there in one day driving I would think.

yeah, I'm looking at that, looks like if I started early it would be drivable

 

[joeycoates]

Ok, this thread has my attention. I really want to go somewhere to have a hunt like this. My next door neighbor is a big hunter as well and we are talking about using my 2011 Ford F-350 to pull his 25' pull behind camper either over to New Mexico, or up to Colorado or Wyoming for a DIY hunt. My best friend would probably be coming along as well so we would be splitting the costs three ways. Getting the time off should not be a problem, but an education on where to go and what to do is. I also have a few four wheeler's and I could bring one in the bed if needed, I just do not know if it would be used, or if we would be allowed to use it for that matter.


I am completely new to this, really just started looking this last week. What are preference points and why do you have to buy them? Are they just for a whole state, or do you buy points for an area? I can tell by reading this thread that you have to buy points for each particular species, but do you do this every year and do they carry over? I guess every area is different so I need to start reading up on different states.

We also are open to whatever species to start with. Of course I would love to get an Elk or Moose at some point, but crawl, walk, run. We have to start somewhere and once we have the first hunt under our belts then this could be a yearly or every other year thing for us. Splitting the cost up and having our own lodging or even just camping would help to keep costs down. I would probably have to invest in some much warmer gear (it really does not get all that cold in East Texas during hunting season) but I am in the process of building a good long range rifle in a 7stw right now that I am sure will work just fine.


My family has a ranch in East Texas which we hunt for white tail and pigs quite a bit. Since I am military my license in Texas is free, and it is our land, so paying for hunting and all of that is a little bit foreign to me. The other thing that is VERY foreign are all of the hunting regulations and restrictions. We basically have antler restrictions and archery only hunting times, them general firearm times followed by muzzle loader. It is really pretty basic.


I am going to buy Mike Eastman's books through Kindle and download them onto my tablet to start doing some research and learning. Right now I would need to figure out what state to start off in and when I need to buy preference point(s), when to apply, etc. I would also like to get all three of us up and running so that hopefully we would all three be able to either draw, or buy, or whatever you have to do in order to get a tag!

Any information or pointing in the correct direction would be greatly appreciated as I am really starting from scratch here. I am glad that I found this thread though as I am sure it will be a good resource.

Oh, and emn83, my wife is a teacher as well. That job takes up a lot more time and involves much more stress then people would think! Being sent off for long periods of time is bad.....but 20 kindergartners!! I could not handle it.

 

[emn83]

points roll over from year to year, since you can only purchase 1 pp a year per species, that is how you accumulate pouts for hunt areas that are harder to get into. The points are god for the whole state and you can use them for the hunt area you want to get into, when you apply.

Right now I am leaning toward a pronghorn or Mule deer hunt, because I probably will only have my 308n still, and want to keep with animals I am comfortable hunting with that. (If I get going on a Savage 300win build thats in my mind, all bets are off). As of right now, because of car crashes and such, 2014 is out of the question, but I am looking hard at mid October 2015 for going.

Right now, I have been looking at the area east of Buffalo Wy. and in that general area, because (assuming hunt calendars stay similar) they match up with the break I have around the 3rd weekend in October. I have experience camping in all conditions, so I am planning on camping for my trip.

joeycoates, I teach Special Education and have 24 on my caseload this year......hunting and shooting are stress relief.

I have a couple of friends who might be interested, but They want info on what the plan is before committing, so that's why I'm starting early.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

points roll over from year to year, since you can only purchase 1 pp a year per species, that is how you accumulate pouts for hunt areas that are harder to get into. The points are god for the whole state and you can use them for the hunt area you want to get into, when you apply.

Right now I am leaning toward a pronghorn or Mule deer hunt, because I probably will only have my 308n still, and want to keep with animals I am comfortable hunting with that. (If I get going on a Savage 300win build thats in my mind, all bets are off). As of right now, because of car crashes and such, 2014 is out of the question, but I am looking hard at mid October 2015 for going.

Right now, I have been looking at the area east of Buffalo Wy. and in that general area, because (assuming hunt calendars stay similar) they match up with the break I have around the 3rd weekend in October. I have experience camping in all conditions, so I am planning on camping for my trip.

joeycoates, I teach Special Education and have 24 on my caseload this year......hunting and shooting are stress relief.

I have a couple of friends who might be interested, but They want info on what the plan is before committing, so that's why I'm starting early.

***I've hunted out in Wyoming most years since 1992 and if you're looking to hunt where you stated you better look real hard because there is very little accessible public land and what's there doesn't hold much of anything. You can't just look at a map like it appears you're doing and say away we go! I did that the first year I went out there in 1992 right where you stated you''re looking at going and it was a complete flop!!! PS: If you want a cheap, decent DIY antelope hunt, buy a PP this summer and then in 2015 put in for unit 27. It has a ton of public land, plenty of antelope, and some decent bucks if you get off the road and do some walking. Skip the first few days of the season and hunt the Red Hills area in the south/southeastern part just south of Antelope Creek. It has enough cover and up/down elevation for short and long range hunting and you'll be a happy camper.

 

[cohunter14]

I can only respond with Colorado info as that is all that I know. Here are a couple of links that might help:

Colorado DOW Big Game website: Big Game | Colorado Parks and Wildlife

2013 Big Game Regulations Brochure (2014 should be out soon, but this will provide some good information in the meantime): http://wildlife.state.co.us/SiteCollectionDocuments/DOW/RulesRegs/Brochure/BigGame/biggame.pdf

You don't have to have points in Colorado to hunt, although they can help you get tags in more of the trophy areas. However, there are a ton of units that have over-the-counter tags available. There are also leftover tags available for those areas that don't get completely drawn.

One other area to check out is the statistics page, which can be found on the left hand side of the Big Game homepage. That will contain draw results, required preference points for areas, etc. If Colorado is of interest to you, spend some time on that site and read through the regulations brochure and you will be well on your way. Good luck!

 

[emn83]

***I've hunted out in Wyoming most years since 1992 and if you're looking to hunt where you stated you better look real hard because there is very little accessible public land and what's there doesn't hold much of anything. You can't just look at a map like it appears you're doing and say away we go! I did that the first year I went out there in 1992 right where you stated you''re looking at going and it was a complete flop!!! PS: If you want a cheap, decent DIY antelope hunt, buy a PP this summer and then in 2015 put in for unit 27. It has a ton of public land, plenty of antelope, and some decent bucks if you get off the road and do some walking. Skip the first few days of the season and hunt the Red Hills area in the south/southeastern part just south of Antelope Creek. It has enough cover and up/down elevation for short and long range hunting and you'll be a happy camper.

Thanks for the input. I'm still in very early planning stages right now. I was mainly looking there because of seasons matching with time off available. I'll check out unit 27 too. still gathering a lot of information. Hoping to swing it so Y can head out west to scout during summer, but that depends on funds and car availability. Looks like the any antlered deer season in 27 ends right around my usual time frame, so it might be tight, but if I take off the other 3 day s I have in the week, if might just work.

Thanks to everyone who has given input, trying to figure out trip planning is a lot more work than one might think, and I was expecting it to take a lot of looking

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Thanks for the input. I'm still in very early planning stages right now. I was mainly looking there because of seasons matching with time off available. I'll check out unit 27 too. still gathering a lot of information. Hoping to swing it so Y can head out west to scout during summer, but that depends on funds and car availability. Looks like the any antlered deer season in 27 ends right around my usual time frame, so it might be tight, but if I take off the other 3 day s I have in the week, if might just work.

Thanks to everyone who has given input, trying to figure out trip planning is a lot more work than one might think, and I was expecting it to take a lot of looking

***Unit 27 is an antelope unit and it isn't squat for deer, so don't try a deer/antelope combo there or you're wasting your deer tag money!

 

[emn83]

***Unit 27 is an antelope unit and it isn't squat for deer, so don't try a deer/antelope combo there or you're wasting your deer tag money!

Oops. Bad editing on my part. Didnt take out the mentioning deer. If i went there it would be an antelope hunt only, probably just going single species when I go.

 

[emn83]

Got dates figured out 10/10/15-10/18/15

Now to decide on antelope or deer for sure, and find a unit that works for my schedule......wishing I could work it the other day around, but only have 4 personal days total and this gives me 4 days for driving round trip, and 5 days in WY

 

[emn83]

Definitely going for pronghorn, and the dates are set, was trying to see if I could go for this fall, but my family will be getting bigger right about the time I would be hunting, so that is a no go. I'll have 2 preference points for antelope by then, and am going to keep buying deer PPs so when that happens, I'll have some to use.

 

[Navaluk]

You need to select 4-6 states and start an application plan. Keep a file for each and every year study the latest news on each and do your applications yourself. I would recommend joining Huntin Fool for just 1 year to get you started.

It took me several years to save enough to have a set aside account for application costs. But 13 years ago I had enough and started. I apply in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Nevada.

In 13 years I have drawn:

Nevada: 2 mule deer, antelope, Mountain goat, bull elk.

Montana: Mountain Goat

Wyoming: 2 cow tags. This state has failed me every year but this one.

Idaho: mule deer and Mountain Goat. Just received the Mountain Goat tag this week.

Nevada has the best and I mean fairest nonresident program, and my results show it.

 

[emn83]

You need to select 4-6 states and start an application plan. Keep a file for each and every year study the latest news on each and do your applications yourself. I would recommend joining Huntin Fool for just 1 year to get you started.

It took me several years to save enough to have a set aside account for application costs. But 13 years ago I had enough and started. I apply in Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Nevada.

In 13 years I have drawn:

Nevada: 2 mule deer, antelope, Mountain goat, bull elk.

Montana: Mountain Goat

Wyoming: 2 cow tags. This state has failed me every year but this one.

Idaho: mule deer and Mountain Goat. Just received the Mountain Goat tag this week.

Nevada has the best and I mean fairest nonresident program, and my results show it.

Thanks for the advice. am looking at other states than Just Wyo now....deciding on where

May have to put off my trip....we're expecting our first child this november, and I'm wary about leaving my wife with a 1 yo in 2015, but who knows, she might tell me to go