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Well I finally found a place that charges more add on fees than a St. Louis hotel. Surprised Nevada didn't charge a $3 safe fee for elk too. Why not? Got everything else. Anyway got my appl filed with a day to go. Timed me out once while I triple checked my hunt choices. Didn't want to make a mistake with a lot of points at stake. Did it there once years ago.
Wow almost decided to pass on elk. Finished my ten year waiting period right when they reduce it to 7. But what a skyrocket in odds? in 2006 I drew with 7 points and my odds with that were 6%. Wanna know what happens when ten years of guys with squared points slip in ahead of you? How's less than 1 one hundredth of one percent sound? Haha. Same archery hunt as in 2006. This is why I believe Nevada's house of cards draw system will indeed collapse soon. How many nonresidents will buy in with $200 for a less than 1 one hundredth of one percent chance? After thinking about the extra $21 fee I will likely pass on the elk next year. Just unrealistic.
Don't forget your appl. Deadline tomorrow. Good luck in the draw!
For $21 I'm not sure how you can afford NOT to apply for Nevada elk. Especially if you're already in for sheep, deer, goat, antelope
We can't not apply because some of the very best elk and sheep tags are to be had in NV. And if only the other western states would allot mule deer tags in more units like NV does...
I hear you on the odds though. Keep in mind though, that with how many guys there are that will never draw a NV elk tag in their life, you should feel privileged to have gotten one and get another chance. If you beat crazy odds and drew another, what a ruse that'd be. I agree with Bake though, you'd be crazy to not apply if you're already in for sheep.
I love the idea of squared points, but it just doesn't work with so few tags. I think a tiered bonus point system like what Maine does (minus the "buy as many 10 packs as you want) is ultimately the best.
As far as the add-ons, LOL, I agree with you! Just charge what you're going to charge. The multiple 2 and 3 dollar tack-ons are reminiscent of St Louis - that's funny.
Would you like to buy a Mountain Lion tag? Give me an elk tag and I'll buy 5!
Ike were you at the SL P&Y Convention? Oh no doubt I've felt incredibly privileged for ten years since drawing a tag, much less harvesting my goal of a 350" bull. Even passed on ~390" & ~400" bulls (quartering towards me) at 40 yards. And didn't wound anything.
In fact with 2 deer tags I feel like I already drew a lifetime of tags there. I'm just pointing out my opinion that their system is doomed. I may even drop way down and burn my deer & lope points on mediocre tags before they get cheapened by the collapse. Unfortunately not as simple for sheep! I can't imagine they've gotten too many rookies to buy in there lately. But who knows maybe they are not aware of the 1/100th of 1% odds?
I was there. I was the white guy with a beer in my hand.
The odds are really bad, but they do get a lot better with 2 and 3 points the way squaring works. A few years ago, someone drew 111-115 archery elk with 3 points. It could happen.
You're right though, the system has a big problem, just like CO, but in a different way. The folks that designed these systems didn't think 20 years into the future, especially with more people entering the draws.
Still, it's better to have a chance than to not have a chance, I suppose. My plan is to apply for 40 tags per year and hope for 1 or 2... eventually.
That was a damn nice bull ya got Ken, those are still my fav units for elk and muleys.
Ya just gotta play by the rules and $$fee$ are part of the game.
Good luck, Robb
If you also apply for a couple of their Silver State tags, total non-refundable fees come to 280+. Expensive, but still actually cheaper than WY & MT. And CO may soon be joining that list.
Especially for those recently undertaking the Western hunt application game, about the only hope now is to apply full-scattergun & hope to occasionally beat the odds somewhere in future years. At this point you almost HAVE TO apply in every state for every species to have some hope for drawing a few great tags in your lifetime.
No way I'm starting in a state like Nevada where my odds will decrease each year for the foreseeable future. If they had a straight-up bonus point system I'd shell out the money and apply across the board every year without giving it a second thought.
The money saved will get me a Wyoming antelope tag and a fun hunt that will leave me with memories rather than points that will lose value with time.
The big problem like Ike mentioned is the sheep. If you want a desert sheep chance in your life, as I do, but can't afford Mexico, which I can't, then Nevada is a must apply state.
I'm 35 years old, with 8 NV sheep points. Perhaps I'll draw a desert sheep tag before I die. Perhaps not. . . I'm in the same boat in AZ for sheep, except I'm double digit points there now. Maybe someday
I'm probably foolish, but I'm in. If I draw a tag sometime in the next 20 years I'll be happy. If I don't, I've spent money on dumber things....I used to drop that much at the bar in a weekend.
It's a no-brainer for me. The tags are too good. It's all done for this year - now we wait on the draw... GL to everyone.
My favorite state to apply in. Everyone has a chance to draw & odds aren't too bad for some units!
Yup, another donation sent.
Starting to actually worry that I may draw something over there some day with 16 for desert, California, and elk. Have drawn deer and antelope so only on 14 for them. Even put in for the crazy long odds for goat again. Guess $320 with a few extras thrown in is not too bad for the potential for a really high quality hunt.
Jeez! I just did a quick check of my confirmation email and found out I had put in for a point for antlerless elk!!! WHOLEY S#1tt! Lucky you can still put in for a bonus point! Wow, that was close! Not sure I will ever want a cow tag over there, but I guess I have a point now...
$333 total to NV this year, they got a little extra!
As long as there is an elk for sale someone will pay the asking price for him
Not sure where Zim is getting is odds but consider this: There were 1,681 app's for 34 non-resident bull elk tags in total which works out to 2.02% draw odds without respect to bonus points or unit applied for. Throw in bonus points, the unit applied for and the fact that NV considers all 5 choices before moving onto the next application and some have much better odd's than 2.02% while others have much lower odds but on average your odds of drawing a tag are 2%. Also worthy of noting is the majority of the people apply for one unit, take that unit off and add a different sub-tier unit and your odds go up a little more. There are really no bad units in NV and all are capable of producing a 350+ bull.
There are indeed units in NV where your odds of drawing get worse every year. A lot of the good ones. There's guys with 15+ points that have their next point squared and put a whole lot more tickets in the hat every year. If you have 15 points, you have 226 tickets in the hat. The next year, you have 257. Meanwhile, the guy with 2 points has 5 tickets in the hat and that goes up to 10 the next year. You can't keep up with squared points when you start from behind.
I don't think the runaway odds will last forever. Eventually as baby boomers drop out, between accruing points and being the top point holders, we'll get ours.
I view these hunting draws as my gambling for the year. I don't bet on NFL games, I rarely go to Vegas or any other casinos for that matter, I'll gladly roll the dice with a few hundred each spring in hopes of striking gold and pulling a tag. I don't view them as any different than the raffles I put in for. Fun way of maybe one day pulling a tag for a hunt I could never afford to buy outright otherwise.
If you really want to be depressed, the non-resident odds for a CA bighorn sheep tags are about .07% on average. As a resident with near max points my odds are still way south of 5% in total.
It's pretty easy to spend the same amount of money at an Elk Foundation Banquet in one evening with poor odds of taking anything home.
Tilzbow, I got the 2016 odds from GoHunt. I calculated my 2007 odds myself as NV posted the number of applicants from each draw pool back then. Not sure if they still do that. It was actually not that hard. Came to 6%.
I continue to apply for Nevada because of the multiple sheep apps. Now those are some LONG odds! Makes applying for elk a no brainer. Figure at the very least, I will bowhunt Nevada muleys and pronghorn in the near future.
Me and a friend just put in for the first time for deer unit 131-134 , what is the point total yall have drew a tag at?
, ,
Toprut is challenging GoHunt's stats.
Go Hunt's NV odds seem off to me too and I've questioned the validity of their numbers since I joined their service. That said they do have some good info that's proved valuable for managing my own app's over the past year. This is my first exposure to Top Rut and they appear to be good resource.
Don't give up guys, someone has to draw. We're residents and my wife and I drew Desert sheep tags the same year, same unit. She had 11 points, I had 17. We also drew a premium deer tag on our first try. You never know when you'll draw. I haven't drawn that deer unit since, this is year six.
That thread on Rokslide got ugly when Trail at GoHunt spun the numbers. It was sad, I was seriously considering paying for the GoHunt service up until then.
Top Rut's odds look legit and their service is free.
They might be making the issue more complicated than it needs to be. All of the high-demand Nevada hunts are very low-probability draws. The overall decision point for me just comes down to whether it's worth gambling the money, or not. I won't change my mind if the prior year's odds to get a tag were 0.17% instead of 2.1%. Either way, it's a long-shot, and that's no secret! Taking a quick glance at the number of people applying versus the number of tags given, and considering where I stand on point status, is enough data to make a decision on whether to continue playing.
