Contributors to this thread:
I know there is a lot of debate on building points or going OTC. My question is, if a guy wanted to do a 2 state 2 animal rotation, would it be better to build the points or just go OTC? My thoughts are to hunt elk in WY one year, deer in CO the next, elk in CO on year 3 and deer in WY on year 4. I know that I will need a few points for the WY draws as a nonresident but would you look at general units or limited draw areas that you can draw every 4 years?
I know I am asking for a lot and that this is a loaded question but I'm just trying to decide if it is worth the $50 for each point.
If you want to hunt other than OTC, you'll need points. I think it's as simple as that.
The cost of the points is small potatoes compared to other expenses. I've never been in a situation where I had points and wished I didn't have them. Points are cheap insurance.
However the more points you have the more confusing your decision becomes on where and what to hunt in a given year.
It's hard to have a cycle due to point creep. You have to adjust to what the reality of your tag situation is every year.
So far I have 4 points for elk in WY and 2 for elk in CO. 0 deep points in either state for deer. I also applied for a New Mexico tag but we all know the odds of drawing are very limited. I plan to elk hunt in CO or WY in 2018.
You got Idaho that's OTC for both elk and deer. Montana you could get a leftover combo tag and hunt both deer and elk. Right there you could do everything you wanted in two great states. Throw in getting points in Colorado while you hunt the other states and you've got enough for a great hunt there for both deer and elk. I wouldn't waste time with building a pile of points in Wyoming. This winter is going to push point creep up even further for deer.
In CO, there are no OTC deer tags - they are 100% draw. And there are precious few tags available after the 1st choice tags are allocated. I have 13 points for deer, and haven't drawn a deer tag as a CO resident in 5 years. If you want to build points and hunt Muleys in the same year in CO, I hope your luck is better than mine. If you only want to hunt every 3-4 years, I would definitely buy your points for deer, as hunting pressure will decrease exponentially, and animal quality will increase, with every point you get. For Elk, you'll have to decide if the extra expenditure is worth it to you, but Having hunted both OTC and low point (0-1) draw units, the amount of hunting pressure is drastically reduced in even the 0 point units as compared to OTC. To me, that alone would make it worthwhile. As always, one opinion among many... Poudre
IdyllWildArcher said exactly what I was going to say. It's hard to plan anything like that due to the ever changing points needed.
What is fifty dollars? To put this in perspective let take Arizona.
If I take 10 years to draw with even buy a hunting license with app fee I spend $2k. This is small price in comparison to a guided $8k hunt. So to quibble over $50 is going to prevent you from some premium opportunities.
In general, points are worth building if you want to hunt the West. Its rare for tags to get easier to obtain, so the more points you have , the more options you have. Lots of guys have seen their tag go from every year, to every other year, to every third year and so on.
The specifics of planning 2-3 years out are a moving target, but more points are better than no points. That said, after I burned my elk points here in CO, I have been hunting a limited unit that requires no points but does need to be 1st choice to have a decent chance of drawing. I may never have an elk point again. Its actually worse than many OTC units, but I enjoy hunting there for other reasons..
