Contributors to this thread:
I have my 3 preference points and several weighted points. I don't want to draw a moose tag this year because I expect to draw another hunt at the same time. The regulations are not clear to me....if I apply for PP only would I get a weighted point or is PP only for folks with less than 3 PPs? Anyone know for sure if I can just get another weighted point this year without entering the lotto and risking drawing a tag?
I think that after you have acquired 3 PP anything after that is a weighted point.
Do yourself a favor! Apply for Colo moose! If you draw Colo moose drop the other hunt you have planned! Colo moose is one of the prized tags in the Western US to draw! The likelihood of you drawing a Colo bull moose tag in your lifetime is about 0!
You get a wted pt if you apply.
BUCKeye- Yes, apply under the point-only code and you will be guaranteed not to draw. Your weighted point total will increase by one.
I would just apply. I know a few guys who have put in for 25 years and still have not drawn a tag
I have 3 and 13 going into this draw. I wouldn't worry about getting a weighted point.
You will get a weighted point putting in for a PP only, you could also put in for a rifle tag and hunt with a bow in rifle season, I also believe that if you draw an archery tag and can't hunt that season that before the archery season starts you can trade it for a rifle season permit. Hopefully Brandon Powell will see this and chime in, he has this stuff down and was explaining it to me last year but my memory fades fast these days on details.
Yes, you can swap an archery tag for a rifle tag if done before the season starts. All tags are drawn from the same pool, regardless of weapon.
If you really want to kill a good bull, archery season is the time. Once the rut starts, when rifle starts, the bulls go on the move and if you see one you have minutes to intercept and kill him before he's gone. During archery season they pretty much stay put where they were all summer.
I had the same thing happen on my moose hunt in Wyo that Jaquomo mentioned. Bulls literally running from one cow to the next trying to find a hot one. If you didn't take advantage of a bull he often would be gone and not to be seen again. Some areas with lots of dark timber can be tough to find moose early in the season. If the temperatures are warm they tend to hang out where it is dark and cool...so sometimes there is a trade off. It may not matter as much in Colo if the bulls are in fairly open, high country early in the season.
Good advice here. I wasted many years not applying just getting my weighted points. I might have drawn a tag. Now I apply and if I draw I will turn in any elk tag to hunt a Shiras. Maybe this year will be the year? Bob.
Here is how it works if you are drawn:
You are sent a packet from the DOW. It tells you that you can change your tag from one weapon to another, or you can decline your tag, but you must do this by a certain date pre-determined or the tag stays valid as drawn.
If you decline the tag, the next person in line can get the tag, but I have not heard of anyone doing that.
I applied for 18 years before I got drawn in 2009, and the first years were before they installed Pref Points/Weighted Points, but they dont matter anyway. Bottomline it is still a lottery drawing.
Good Luck, ~100+ people get drawn every year for bull tags
I'm going in with 3+14 this year. People can draw with 3+1. The fourth largest Shiras ever killed with a bow was taken by a teenager who drew with 3+2.
Can you trade a rifle tag for an archery tag?
Last year I drew a cow tag and I can promise that I'll never apply for a point only. I'd turn in any other tag I could draw (including Mountain Goat or Bighorn Sheep) to hunt a bull moose in CO. They are just so freaking big, not to mention they are very huntable with a bow (especially in CO). Apply for the tag, if you get drawn you won't regret it.
Don't get caught up in the Weighted Point thing... If you have 3 PP's you can draw a Sheep, Goat, or Moose tag.
If you know you cannot hunt, PP only it. Otherwise, you draw a Bull tag you can make new plans.
A friend drew a S61 Rife tag with 3+1, that is the toughest Sheep tag in Colorado to draw odds wise.
Thanks for all the replies Lots of good advice here.
oldgoat's Link
For all that's interested, on the right side of the linked page is a PDF you can download, it's the link titled "how the Colorado draw works" or at least something very similar to that. It explains the weighted points draw procedures. It will explain any it's possible to draw with minimum points.