Contributors to this thread:
I just went on line for my annual elk drawing disappointment....... Sorry,,,, You are unsuccessful in the 2018 elk drawing.......
I have done some figuring on how hard it is to draw a Michigan Elk tag..... I had 11 chances in this years drawing. The max you could have had is 16.
There were 1,583 other applicants who had 11 chances in the drawing for ANY ELK (Bull or Cow)....... of those people... 4 drew a tag..... or 1 in 395.75. That gave me a .25% chance of drawing that tag...... yep..... one quarter of one percent.....
For a cow only tag..... 593 applicants had 11 points (chances)..... 11 of those people got drawn for a one in 53.90 result........ So I had a whopping 1.85% chance of getting drawn for a cow only tag........
The odds don’t get a whole lot better if you had the max 16 points (chances)..... I figured that with 16 chances..... you were still under a 2% chance to draw even a cow only tag........
I am now accepting the fact that I will most likely never get drawn for an elk tag in Michigan......
Oh...... and the odds of winning the PURE Michigan hunt with one chance is astronomical...... An article in the Sault News in Dec. 2017 said that in 2016,, 51,090 chances to win the Pure Michigan Hunt were purchased..... with only 3 winners...... that made the odds 1 in 17,030 of winning that year...... With one chance.....
I had 11 too...now 12 for next year. Still a looser for 2018.
John....... I don’t want to sound cynical..... but some of the stuff that happens with the drawing make me wonder if the drawing is completely on the up and up.......
Last year.... A guy won a Pure Michigan hunt AND won a bull tag in the regular drawing....... The completely ridiculous odds against that happening made me wonder if it wasn’t an advertising ploy by the DNR..... I saw it advertised a lot....... You can possibly win TWICE !!! Then there’s prominent outdoor writers who get drawn...... coincidence. ??
And I have heard that they select winners for the elk draw from different regions of Michigan.... but there’s nothing anywhere that I can find to substantiate that......
Maybe this is all just sour grapes on my part..... Maybe I’m just getting tired of donating money to a DNR that has screwed us out of shooting a doe during archery season in the U.P.
Big Bear...............I work with that guy that one both the Pure Michigan Hunt and the bull tag. He passed one of those tags onto his son. I give this state enough of my money in taxes, I don't need to also donate it by entering a drawing I will never win.
I saw that in the articles I read on the guy........ It is my understanding that you can only transfer an elk (or bear) tag to someone if the person you are transferring it to has an advanced illness or to a youth 16 or under.... I saw a picture of both of them with their elk..... neither was 16 or under but I don’t know if his son qualifies with an advanced illness......
Did the DNR make an exception in this case ?? That would raise my eyebrow even more that they orchestrated that whole thing for publicity purposes......
Nothing for me again ,had 15 chances :(. I also don't think I will ever draw, but it's only $ 5.
Nothing for me either with max points - 16
I drew a elk tag years ago This is when you had to quit hunting by 400pm, It was so hot the elk went nocturnal. It was the worst season for elk. If I remember right there were only 15 elk taken during my time frame. I am grandfathered and can still put in for a tag, I think now if you draw you are done.
If you draw a tag good for a Bull you’re done Jon.... I think if you get a cow tag then your out of the drawing for 10 years........
If anyone knows how that guy that won both the Pure Michigan Hunt and a Bull tag in the regular drawing was able to transfer one of them to his adult son..... I’d sure like to know......
Big Bear............do you want me to ask him? I will see him at work tonight
Yeah........ I have no problem with him doing it if they let him..... I just think the DNR must have made a special exception.......
If you have never went thru the process it is an interesting one. You have to take a day off work (I worked weekends back then) and attend a day long meeting in Gaylord. They talk to you like you are the village idiot, AND then I listened to some of the questions asked and realized that a couple may have been village idiots. They gave us a roll colored ribbon and two colored sheets with a number on them that was assigned to us. If you shot an elk you had to hang one of the sheets with a number on it over the gut pile, flag your way out to the nearest road and hang the second sheet at the road so the DNR could go in and inspect the gut pile. As I wrote, I didn't get a chance to use any of that stuff.
Did you see any elk Jon ?? Did you go on your own or hire a guide ?
Did not see any elk. Back then guides were land owners for the most part. I went up to the HQs to ask about elk locations and was told they had employees out looking for elk but couldn't locate them. I hunted three days and went home. It was really hot and like I wrote, had to be out of the woods by 4 or 430 pm if I remember right.
Big Bear.......there are no restrictions on the transfer of the Pure Michigan tag. You can give those tags to anybody you want. The other elk tag comes with transfer restrictions. I
Wow.... I did not know that........ Thanks for asking him !!!!!
My biggest complaint with this drawing is the way it is done. It is not a true preference point system which gives someone with no points a chance to get drawn ahead of someone like myself who has 16 "chances" !! Like many of you I have given up any hope of drawing this tag but I will keep trying. Many stories of government officials who have somehow managed to draw this tag??
I'm 62 and have applied every year. And yes its funny how some people get drawn. Every year there is a photo of cute little girl with a nice Elk and tag drawn first time. There needs to be a better system. And don't tell me to buy more Pure Michigan Hunt applications.
IMO.....I think the elk herd should be expanded. I could see some herd's established in the Yoop and expanding to the west of their current location.
Don’t want to sound ignorant, but I have a question. Is archery gear allowed for the hunt? I have never applied, but if I did, and happened to draw a tag, I would only hunt if I was able to use a bow.
You can use any legal weapon.
