Drawing points for 2018
Elk
What to do for 2018 , i am sitting on 13 points for elk in AZ, 12 points for UT for deer, 9 for elk and 6 for deer in Colorado.i know for AZ elk and UT deer i am 3-4 years out for a good tag. but is it worth waiting for, i just turned 50 this last year.i want to dedicate the whole season for the tag i draw ,so i need to make a choice (gamble) on what to do? Tom
9 NonRes Colorado elk PPs aint gonna get you much.
I’d go CO Deer next year, CO elk the year after then apply for your Utah deer and AZ elk, and all the while have your back up to hunt spikes/cows in the Utah LE Unit you are targeting. And you are back to having a point or 3 for CO deer and elk...repeat the cycle.
At your age I’d hunt AZ every 8 or 9 Years. Good luck!
Arizona is tough with the new point system reducing the max point pool cap to 5%nonres the wait for a premiere unit could keep climbing out of reach. Watch the draw odds closely and possibly try for a middle tier unit during a year with a later archery season and hope for the best. Don’t know much about the other states
I subscribe the the concept that I would rather hunt more often and maybe see one or two less "400" " bulls than wait 20 years to draw a tag in a unit to kill a bull that you could have killed 4 times in other units in those 20 years. With 13 points I would historically get two hunts in. I average about 5 points between draws. And they are all good units.
I have no personal experience, but based on others' intel, I would use those 13 AZ elk points. The "mid range" AZ units have the chance for a tremendous hunt, especially if you can dedicate significant time. I'm going to try to burn my 8 points there in 2019.
I agree with BB and Charlie.
You have more than you need for good hunts in several states.
Go hunting! Pick one or two and go one one or two good hunts a year and repeat.
You have enough points for a good elk hunt in Colorado that has the potential for a bigger bull than you might find in a 20 pout plus unit. Darn tough in any unit in Colorado to find a legit 350+ bull, but there are always a few out there - maybe more in some low point units than in the fabled NW corner units if you spend some time and are picky.
There are plenty of great deer units in Colorado with bigger bucks and more of them than most other states that you can draw with 0 points or even on second choice.
A middle of the road elk hunt in Arizona is probably better than the best hunt in Colorado for quality.
Plenty of good hunts In Utah for deer with 12, but you may never catch up to the real top end hunts there. You have a better chance at a big mule deer in Colorado on a number of 0 point or second choice units than you will find in any but the very top couple of units in Utah.
I have built up lots of points for lots of species and hunted Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada, and of course Colorado quite a bit and have way too many points built up in way too many states myself. Really thinking that I over did it building points for all those years and trying to figure out how to use them up before I am too old to do them justice...
Unfortunately I would say you've saved your Colorado elk points for about 6-7 years too long. After building 2 or 3 points, you're no longer gaining anything as a 50-yr old NR, since you will never hunt any of the high demand units like 76, 61, or the NW corner units, due to point creep. One option is to use your points to draw a 1-3 point unit now, get to know the unit well, and then return to hunt every 2-4 years. Arizona archery elk, with the points you have, gives you options to hunt right now if you choose to. The Utah archery LE elk draw is almost entirely random tags for NR's, unless you are in the very high max point pools, which unfortunately you will never be, due to point creep. So you are mostly just hoping for a lightning strike of luck and win one of the random tags. As far as deer, possibly the UT and CO deer points you're saving might be useful someday. But you could already be bowhunting deer every year in Colorado and Arizona and/or several other states.
Thanks guys, i think i will hold out for unit 1 or 3a in AZ, (Maybe a couple of years) if i wait for the roadless unit for book cliffs for deer how long ?
i reread my first post, i made a mistake on how i wrote it , i have 9 points for utah elk not colorado elk.
BH1, Unfortunately, I predict you will have a much longer wait for AZ 1 or 3a with 13 points. Reason being I still gotta expect the folks in the 14, 15 & 16 point pools are eventually gonna figure out how badly screwed they were from the 50/50 split last year and will now need to wait 20 more years for any unit 9 tags. So every year you're going to see them bail & trickle down to 1 & 3a since there are so few other mid-tier options. There are so few tags available for these units that it won't take many to keep you out. I drew 1 last year so did the math. Most were asleep at the wheel last year, allowing us to barely draw. But I don't expect that to last. I am glad I cashed my 15 points last year so I can now change my entire draw strategy to conform with the new distribution rules.
It will take almost 20 years to clear out those in your point pool and above for 3A in the bonus pass.
