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2020 hunts

So fellow Hoosier Hunters,

What's on the hunting agenda this year? For me it's Oklahoma hogs in April, Hoosier turkey in April/May, Canadian turkey in May and Mule deer and/or antelope in Wyoming in September.

This is an odd year in which I can't apply for many state draws out west, being booked to the brim already. But will still be applying for sheep in all the usual long-shot lotteries. Heading to Colorado for a lion hunt next month. Going to Alaska for Brown Bear in June. Will burn 14 Colorado points on an early September archery elk hunt. Booked a trip to Greenland for late September for CCBG Caribou. Should draw an Iowa archery deer tag for a November hunt. Then my son & I are booked to bow-hunt Coues Deer in Sonora right after Christmas 2020.

LOL Greg, not much on your plate eh? Sounds pretty cool!

I'm 20+ points in most western states so anything can happen, but my go to hunt appears to be a lower tier New Mexico elk unit I was last able to draw in 2011. Should draw. Anything else out west will be long shot gravy. As to the midwest, I'm concentrating all my Illinois & Wisconsin turkey tags in IL south 3rd season & WI season D so I can play with my new portable boat chasing walleye river runs in Ohio & WI balance of April/May. Then for deer will abandon Indiana to utilize my Illinois LL for 2 buck tags. Will again be trying to put my portable boat to use scouting difficult access public in southern & west central parts of the Illinois. I saw all I needed to see of Indiana public this year! Not worth any time investment.

oh, come on Zim ... you mean Kingsbury isnt your cup of tea ...lol ... you never did say what happened on the park hunt ... hell, Ive tagged out two years in a row at JP and have killed nice deer every year Ive hunted there ... the F&W areas do have their hiccups thats for sure, but they dont cost me nuthin' except the gas and leg work

KB’s terrain is a crossgun wasteland, on top of the extreme pressure. I hunted five different properties including all of JP bow zone. Seen one shooter and gobs of pencil thin 8’s no thanks. My last IL public deer went 162” P&Y. Sixteen gun days in November with no limit on hunters puts a steep damper on quality. Sad to see it drop since my last hunts in the 90’s.

Zero plans for 2020. Completely at the mercy of the western draws. Hoping to land a decent elk tag. Have enough points to draw a Kaibab mule deer tag in AZ. The majority of draw results will be available before the AZ deer deadline...so I guess you could say the Kaibab is my backup plan.

Yup, since the damn crossbows were allowed in the regular archery seasons for all, the state areas now have a hell of a lot more pressure in the archery seasons than ever before as these former gun only users attempt to be BOWhunters (which they will never be) ... my views on them will never change.. it was a mistake when the DNR decided to allow then in .. they should have kept them for the true Handicap and put them with the shoulder fired tools if anyone else wanted to use 'em, early archery will never be the same .. rant over .... good luck on your endeavors ... BTW, this is the first deer season ever where the crossbow kill is higher than vertical bows .... sucks !! ...... carry on ....

Haha Paul, I was perusing the Toprut Kaibab draw stats on my business laptop next to me when I read your post. :) Thinking the same thing. Have you noticed the applicant numbers have nearly doubled since 2014? Word is out. I knew it would not last. I got 4 points but still only a 10% chance under the new system. Yes it's been my backup plan for years. Drew the late rifle and two archery tags in the last 7 years. Beautiful country in bow season. Will take wife next time I draw it.

Normal Indiana deer and turkey, back to Wyoming for antelope.

No out of state hunts for me for the foreseeable future. Please continue to post up your stories and adventures! I love to read about your hunts. Pete

GA hog hunt in Feb, New Brunswick bear in Jun, FL alligator in Aug, tentative BC goat in Aug, WY elk in Aug/Sep, and IN deer and turkey.

Plan on spring turkeys around here. I should draw Iowa deer this year and hope to hunt with my dad out there. Then deer around here in the fall.

Just added an archery antelope hunt in Wyoming.

Weak man. Just added an axis deer hunt down in Texas this summer.

What part of Wyoming for antelope Mike? Also, DIY or with an outfitter?

Outfitter, Extreme Outdoors, area 61. I've got 14 points and ready to cash in. Going to have to do a fast hunt and fly in and out. Use my personal days at school. If I don't tag out during September, I'll go back in October during fall break.

Good luck! I have 4 points. My dad, my cousin, and I will be in unit 21 with Chuck Cureton and Ridgemaster Outfitters. They have 4 points each as well.

Bas, good luck to you as well.

Well Canadian turkey isn't going to happen. Because I don't know what school will look like in the fall, I'll just apply for antelope and let the PP ride for deer until next year.

Seems that lots of hunts are up in the air. Even Alaska shut down NR bear hunting for a while, through May 31st. My hunt is in June so I still hope it happens.

Well much has changed since my last post in this thread. The virus caused me to get reassigned from my usual highly flexible schedule job to a desk job at home for at least a few months. Got no idea how this will play out. Also I blew out my left rotator cuff in a bad way. Have been in pain 5 months getting little sleep until this month. My vertical bow days may be over. Also my western draws did not play out as expected. Failed on the NM elk and all other apps in UT, WY & NV. But with airfare rates so dirt cheap now I decided to switch gears and try to burn my 22 Oregon deer & pronghorn points on hunts so I can exit their game, which has become dismal for NR. I want out of 2 1/2% quota and $174/year license fee. I can draw virtually any tag they got so I picked the same unit for both and applied for rifle due to my shoulder injury. Round trip Chicago to Reno $200 so I'll fly out if I draw these. There's only one NR tag for each hunt and only one guy at my same point level so I got a good chance of drawing both tags, 8/26-9/3 and 10/3-14.

Bummer Ken. Hope you draw and get that shoulder fixed right.

No luck in Colorado elk, nor Maine moose draws despite 24 & 100 bonus points. Also came up empty in Wyoming today. So it all comes down to Oregon for me. Results expected to post today or tomorrow. Hope to be reserving airline flights this weekend.

Pulled two rabbits out of my hat on the last day of draw results. Oregon Warner unit pronghorn and mule deer. I'll be the lone nonresident tag holder for these two hunts. With only a 2 1/2% NR quota this is one state not worth applying in any more. I have burned all my points and will be able to exit permanently.

Good job Ken, I pulled an area 61 pronghorn tag and will only have deer left in Wyoming then I'm out that game as well.

I have pronghorn hunted on all sides of 61............56, 64 & 108. And applied for 62 this year. All full of lopes with Rawlins nearby for breaks. Wyoming is one of the best remaining states for NR's. I'm surprised you would want to exit.

Zim, I've done sheep, moose and elk in Wyoming. A few other hunts I want to do that are outside of Wyoming. Retiring in 3 years so I'm pulling a few irons out of the fire and concentrating on some other stuff. Still hunting though!

Came down to the wire for me....maybe even a bit beyond the wire! Struck out across the board going into the AZ fall draw. Back in December, I thought a Kaibab deer tag was a slam dunk with my points. A bit of research later, three years of point creep made that tag anything but a sure thing.

AZ draw was last Friday. I watched three different websites as both successful residents and non-residents confirmed pending credit card charges over the weekend. By Monday night, I threw in the towel and started working on Plan B. Then it happened. Late Wednesday morning, five days after the draw, I get a pending charge notice for AZGFD. Actual results were posted minutes ago....and I'm headed to the Kaibab after all!

Strange turn of events for sure. Wondering if my tag was the result of a declined credit card...intended for someone else? I'll probably never know...and I guess it really doesn't matter at this point. I've got alot of prep to do over the next six weeks!

Congrats Paul....that should be a great hunt!

Congrats that’s a fun hunt I thought was a sleeper but everyone woke up. Poof 3 points to 7 overnight. I bet Iowa is next.

I think part of it is some non-residents waking up to the fact a Strip tag is a pipe dream. The bigger issue, IMO, is the reduced 50% bonus round draw. Fewer top point holders are getting tags and gaining more points instead. Seeing the same issue in the elk draws since the rule change. I've definitely had to adjust my expectations regarding the elk tag.

I was surprised my AZ pronghorn wait wasn’t worse than I anticipated following the change. Got 25 points and will have about a 50% chance to draw next year. Postponed me about 3 years.

Add the Porkapalooza in early October this year and then June next year.

Getting close already. Wife & I fly to Reno August 22nd for Oregon pronghorn hunt. I extended our trip to do some tourist stuff, got a day pass for Yosemite NP. Will also stop by Lake Tahoe, Crater Lake and some local Reno attractions. Good time to do this with dirt cheap airfares & casino hotels. Taking two full weeks. Found a storage place to keep my gear between hunts. Still working on luggage & shipping options.

When do you leave, Paul? Anybody else preparing for an August hunt?

Hey Ken. Current plan is to leave August 16th. Driving out, so setting up camp the evening of the 17th. Season opens the 21st. Gives me three days to look around before the opener. Have the time off to hunt the entire season if necessary. That said, I have a couple pending issues that could throw a wrench in those plans. One good thing about driving....allows one to painlessly alter travel plans.

I leave Aug. 21st for Wyoming. Flying because school will have started. If Covid shuts school down until after Labor day, I'll switch to driving. Practicing shooting out of a blind in my backyard. Good luck to all.

Not exactly an August hunt but close. My dad, one of his taxidermy clients, and I are headed out to Kaycee, Wyoming the Saturday before Labor Day. We have a week long antelope hunt booked with Chuck Cureton-Ridgemaster Outfitting.

Headed to northeastern Colorado private land antelope next Wednesday. Colorado has been named driest state in the lower 48. Rancher said he has no hay/grass to cut in fields from last year. Water holes here we come !

Good luck Noel!

Best of luck coyote. Waterholes should be great. I've been watching the drought maps and as of last week 100% of the state of Colorado is in some degree of drought. Compared to only 3% this time last year. Northern half not as dry as southern.

Good luck coyote...and all the antelope hunters. Should be a banner year!

My AZ deer hunt had to be postponed a week. Almost expected that to happen from the get go. No dedicated scouting days now, so will have to learn the area on the fly!

Good luck Paul! If anyone can get it done it's you!

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