Hunting in Western states

[twoSevenO]

They have a hell a lot better game management than we do here in Canada.

for sure. They pour a significant amount of money towards it. And it shows ... i just didn't think they had THAT many more tags to hand out considering they have a lot more hunters as well.
Crazy.

[Retiredguy]

They have a lot of game. Last time I hunted in Wyoming for antelope I was seeing at least 300 mule deer every day and lots of whitetails in the creek bottoms. Sure the US has lots of people but with the draws that really is not an issue as the number of tags in the draw dictates what happens regardless of population. The only thing it affects is odds on drawing and, in most places they post the odds based on the year(s) prior so you can figure out which areas you are more likely to draw in.

There are also states that give landowners tags and you can get in on that by paying for one of the tags, either directly through the landowner of through an outfitter that has contracted with the landowner to run hunts with their tags. Some of the landowner tag hunts are very expensive and others are not. Here again you need to do your research, but they are an option that allows you to avoid putting in a draw. I plan to do this in New Mexico at some point for antelope.

With elk, I think few up here really get the picture of how many elk are in the western states. Some of the states have huge elk populations, with individual states that have more elk in the state than all of the wild free ranging elk in Canada.

Lots of options down there and it is a hunting resource that allows out of country hunters to apply and, if successful, hunt without a guide/outfitter. The key is to learn how the draws work in the states you want to apply in and do your homework on the areas you think you want to hunt in before you apply.

[Blockcaver]

Last I knew, CO had a quarter million elk... maybe 8 times what BC has. They were trying to knock the herd size back a bit so is likely lower now. They got wolves headed in, both migrating from WY (Yellowhead wolves from BC that were transplanted from BC to Yellowstone, WY) and about to start transplanting wolves (from somewhere?) after a ballot proposition to re-introduce them passed. Heyday for elk may be over. Tags are over-the-counter in some units and LEH in others, with the best units pushing to toward 30 preference points to draw. Archery either sex elk season was basically the month of Sept, crossbows not allowed. The 4 rifle seasons lasted 5 to 12 days each and a (very) limited LEH muzzleloader hunt ran for a couple weeks in Sept. You could only hunt one of of the seasons mentioned, although there were second antlerless tags in some units that you could rifle or archery hunt in addition to a primary bow, rifle or muzzleloader tag. Lots of opportunity!

CO mule deer herd was hurting with only about 130,000 (not up-to-date). All mule deer tags became LEH about a decade ago.

Sheep, goat and moose tags were really limited in number.

[bighornbob]

As others have mentioned each state has different rules and game numbers. Some bad and some pretty good depending on the species.

I know years ago I was scouring a US forum when all the Arizona guys were pumped that draws would be out soon. (like 20 times more pumped then here). I asked about the draws and what they could hunt without a draw as I told them up here we have draws but even without a draw tag I would be hunting sheep, moose and elk that fall. One of the guys said as a resident they can only hunt cougar and bear with a bow with out a draw tag. He put in for other species and applied for better hunts areas but he had not hunted deer in 8 years, elk in like 12 years and pronghorn for like 15 years. So some areas its hard to get a tag.

For sheep there are some areas that are point based draws and if you don’t start applying by the time you are 15 years old you will never see a tag in your lifetime. (i.e. states only give out 20 ram tags a year and there are 150 people with a max 30 points or something like that). Some hunters that are nerdy numbers guy even have a death rate for people thrown into their formulas to see how many of the people may die before they are drawn to increase odds for lower point holders. So some places and for some species its next to impossible to draw.

I recently got an email from the Foundation of Wild Sheep stating one of the states down south was going to vote on removing non-residents from draw system because it was so high for residents to get a tag. (Some states might allow up to 25% of the tags to go to non-residents). Imagine applying for a 12 years for a sheep draw as a non-resident, then the governor passes a law that only residents can hunt sheep. Im sure that will bring out some law suits.
So some states have a ton of game and others do not. Many hunters spend thousands each year applying for every game animals in maybe 10 western states, hoping they get drawn somewhere for something.
But has been mentioned the states spend a lot of money on its animals. In montana each region has its own species biologist. Where as here you have one or two bios managing all the animals in a region, where down there you will have a moose bio, elk bio, etc etc.

Years ago when I was looking for natural resource jobs I was looking in the states, and they would hire tons of summer students to use mist netting and catch song birds to figure out populations of wild birds in areas. There were hundreds of jobs every time I looked for studying this or catching that. Ask your local bio the last time the government up here did a count on say song birds in the area (inset laugh here). They might say they did an 4 hour helicopter flight looking at moose, deer and elk in one area 2 years ago.

It’s a different ball game down there.

[browningboy]

This really interests me as my sons coach has a ranch in Montana and he welcomes me to come down there to hunt or fish. I just have to read this thread again to understand how to apply and also everyone drive across border with guns?

[Retiredguy]

Bighornbob...ya, Arizona is probably the last state I would apply in unless you are playing the apply in every state game, which can get rather expensive. Drawing tags for Arizona's top game animals in good zones is a very long shot...everyone looking for monster elk, pronghorn, mule deer and desert bighorn knows about the big heads produced in this state and applies hoping to eventually draw.

There is no doubt that there is a lot of pushback developing in some of the states by residents who want to see less of the allowable harvest being given to non-residents and some have been pushing for NO non-resident hunters allowed in the draws, especially for coveted animals like desert bighorn, etc. that offer very few total allocations per year. I get it, but don't agree with it. That said I do think that residents should be entitled to the lions share of the allocations and non-residents should be held to 10% or some such percentage that can be agreed on.

One thing is for sure, as the years have gone by the draw regulations in some of the states have gotten more and more complicated and can be difficult for a lot of hunters to understand when they are not use to it.