As promised to all of you who were kind enough to attend my lecture, here is the list of counties and units that I listed in my presentation. Keep in mind that these are the units contained in my application plans over the past five or six years. I change up my choices quite often from year to year, depending on the circumstances. Be sure you apply for as many tags as possible in your home state of residence. All of the Western states give preferential treatment to their residents, not only monetarily but almost 80% or more of the tags are set aside for the state’s resident applicants. You should always apply for your own state first and then use any remaining financial resources to apply for additional states. Let’s break it down a little further…

Mule Deer Tag Picks: When applying for mule deer, I put together a formal five year plan that incorporates these states. I usually hunt Wyoming, Montana and Idaho very consistently and then play the preference point game in Colorado and Arizona. Without a doubt, Colorado is the number one state for big mule deer right now. You will need four or more preference points to get into some of the better areas however. Another state to possibly look into would be Nevada.

Idaho
First come first serve tags
Tags still available

Wyoming
Region G
Region H

Montana
270 – 50
300 – 50
324 – 50
455 – 70

Colorado
Eagle, Gunnison, and Mesa Counties
44
21
66
43

Arizona
Coconino, Mohave, and Apache Counties
12A East Late
12B Late
12A West Late
13B

Antelope Tag Picks: For antelope I use a short three year plan and hunt Wyoming and Montana. Wyoming has left over tags is many areas each year and if you do your research properly, you can apply for one of the below “trophy units” and then put one of the “historic” left over units such as area 48 for your second choice. By doing this you can almost hunt antelope in WY every year. Montana has some great opportunity on the Eastern side of the state with a near 50% draw success rate. Montana, like Wyoming does have a preference point system so you can almost be assured an antelope hunt in the big sky state every other year. Check into some of the “Block Management” land in Eastern Montana for public access to private land and don’t forget to research the “Walk In Area” program in Wyoming as well. Both programs offer hunter some good opportunity to hunt on private land at no cost.

Wyoming
60
57
114
61

Montana
700 – 00
690 – 00
620 – 00
600 – 00

Elk Tag Picks: When applying for elk tags, I extend my plan out to ten years. Some of the top elk areas are very difficult to draw and it will take you at least ten years to begin to have a chance in a state like Arizona or Nevada and even longer in Utah. Don’t let yourself get discouraged though. There is some fantastic hunting in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana on public land with a general license if you are willing to do your research and hunt hard. These general licenses are all well within reason with draw odds at or above the 50/50 mark. Also please note that the areas listed below for Wyoming are not general season units. I am a resident of Wyoming so I can put in for a limited entry elk tag (which are the areas listed below) and if unsuccessful I can then turn around and buy an over the counter general elk tag.

Keep in mind, elk are not dumb animals, even in the best most limited units in the country only a fool would bank his hunt of a lifetime on a huge bull to stand right next to the road within rifle range of your ATV. You have to get out and hunt hard if you want to find a trophy.

Idaho
11
40
44
50

Wyoming
58
55
45
51
7

Utah
San Juan
Central Mountains Manti
Beaver
Mount Dutton

Montana
380 – 20
313 – 11
410 – 20
622 – 20
798 – 20

New Mexico
16D
17
15
16A

Arizona
1
9
10
27

Sheep Tag Picks: The outlook for drawing a sheep tag this day and age can be a little bleak. I have modified my plan for sheep to essentially be a lifetime plan of attack. Even with odds that are just shy of ridiculous I am fairly confident I will attain a bighorn sheep license at some point in my life. The four state’s with the best opportunity for bighorn sheep are Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Colorado.

Applying for sheep can be very expensive and you must use your hard earned money wisely. Below are the areas that I have applied for sheep in the past. All of these state’s have a preference point system so you will have to just play the game and hope for some luck. Wyoming has the most sheep licenses of any state and treats non-residents somewhat fairly. If you can only afford to apply for one state I suggest Wyoming in either unit 2 or unit 5. It is possible to draw a tag in Wyoming with 0 points which is more than can be said for most of the other states. Just do what you can afford and good luck.

Wyoming
2
3
5

Montana
680 - 00
216 - 00
270 – 00

Idaho
11
19
21

Colorado
S26
S32
S6

I hope you have gotten some value from this information. I always recommend you do your own research and apply for your tags on your own, if possible. Just the application process alone can be a very educational and enlightening experience. Keep your head up and have faith.

Guy Eastman

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 at 2:25 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.