Gaming for a Big-Game Tag in 2011

It’s easy to spend money and not go hunting. I once came across an interesting character who used to put in for Los Banos Wildlife Area in the waterfowl lottery. One weekend he was drawn and arrived three days early so he could be first in line for the Saturday hunt. He got the space blind he wanted, but quit hunting at 8 AM so he  could get back to the parking lot in time to be number one for the Sunday hunt.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to kill a nice bull elk. Rob arrowed this one in 2004 and tagged it with an Idaho over the counter tag.

For this year, at least, I’m back to hoping for a tag. Hoping is not as good as just flat-out buying in terms of ease of planning and satisfaction with the result. I’m not really into gambling, so the process of gaming for a tag is a real drag. I do it every year anyway.

Of course there are still some over-the-counter options and we’ll be using that one this fall by purchasing archery elk and general deer tags in Idaho. We’ll be hunting in a group of four during September. I’ve also purchased an A-Zone tag and preference point with my first CA deer tag. Next year we should have enough preference to hunt a California X zone. These things are good.

This is a typical A-zone blacktail. I'll try to arrow one of these on our ranch.

However, gaming for a high value tag is not looking good in California this year. I have eight preference points for Antelope, Elk and Sheep this year. Eight is one less than the maximum, so I’m in the 20% that have to get extra lucky and the odds are very poor. In most cases, even the holders of nine points will need luck – especially in the sheep category and they have a chance for 100% of the available tags.

California has three species of elk, but it takes a lot of luck or money to hunt them. I photographed these Roosevelt elk while on a blacktail hunt near the Marble Mountain Wilderness.

I’ve never had much luck in draws, but I drew an archery antelope tag one year and an Anderson Flat archery deer tag another year. Didn’t bring home any venison, but I did have the opportunity.

 A quick look at my California odds shows that I have a less than 1 in 450 chance of drawing an antelope, elk or sheep tag combined. That’s a chance, but not much of a chance. That’s at a cost of $24.39 for 1/450th which comes out to $10,975.50 for a 100% chance. If I hunt until the age of 81 (unlikely), my remaining lifetime chance is 20/450 or 1 in 22.5. Doesn’t look good for hunting elk, antelope or sheep in CA unless I spend the money to purchase a tag. 

My personal choice for the elk lottery was the Cache Creek bull elk hunt. Somebody will get it.

In Nevada, I’ve been buying bonus points for several years. I currently have three points, which means I may get lucky on a deer, elk, antelope, sheep or goat tag. My chance of drawing an archery mule deer tag alone is almost 50% and when that is combined with the other four choices I selected, two rifle and two muzzleloader hunts,  the mathematical odds are that I’ll get some kind of tag, but it’s not for sure.

 

 

For antelope, I put in for an archery tag that has a high percentage chance of drawing, so I may get that one. I didn’t calculate the odds for elk, sheep and goat, but they are very low.

I paid $4,500 for a Nevada landowner tag the year I shot this buck. I think the prices are down slightly now.

 In Colorado, I opted to purchase only preference points for deer, antelope and elk. One of these days I’ll have to get serious and put in for an actual hunt. The cost of the preference points for three species came out to $25. I have seven points for elk and antelope – about five for deer. That comes to about $200 over the past seven years. I hunted twice for deer with my bow.

For the third year in a row I entered the Utah lottery for tags at the Wildlife Conservation and Hunting Expo in  Salt Lake City. The hunts offered looked good, but by the time I purchased a Utah hunting license and paid for the chances, it added up to about $250. It would be worth it if I got drawn once, but so far I haven’t had a sniff. That’s $750 invested over the last three years.

Finally I purchased five chances for the California Open Zone tag for $27 and two chances for a Owens Valley tule elk tag at $10.80. All together I spent about $558 for these draws. That’s a lot cheaper than $10,000 for a Nevada landowner elk tag, or maybe it’s not?

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Fair vs Fare Chase

Joined the B&C Club today. For some time, I’ve been thinking about Fair Chase, what it means to me. The Boone and Crocket club defines fair chase as: “…the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild native North American game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper advantage over such animals.”

(Caption: No fences here where my friend Keith holds the horses while my guide scans for stone sheep.)

Apparently the Boone and Crocket Club thinks that fair chase only applies to North America, but most of us who believe in fair chase would disagree. The words North American are irrelevant. B&C apparently didn’t want to get into the politics of other countries where fair chase has been largely overlooked.

In Africa, for example, I found little thought being given to the chase. Most of the energy was centered on procurement of the physical trophy. In fact, I could have had anything delivered to me for a fee. Africans are closer to their subsistance hunting roots than we are. (The old phrase, all’s fair in love and war could be changed to love, war and subsistance hunting. Native Americans chased buffalo herds over cliffs.)

(Caption: Kudu bull taken with bow and arrow at a waterhole blind.)

However, it’s North America where fair chase has its roots and we should be proud of that. It’s the North American system of wildlife management that has created an environment where fair chase is been embraced and practiced by hunters.

The part of the B&C club statement that has wide ranging implications is the last 15 words, “in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper advantage over such animals.”

What is improper?

I don’t believe that all hunting must be by the rules of fair chase to be valid and honorable, so long as hunters know the difference.

Call a spade a spade so to speak.

One thing is very clear to me. My most meaningful hunts are the ones where fair chase is the medium. Know the difference!

In Africa, I participated in a week of archery hunts that were not fair chase. Why not? To begin with, all the hunts took place in enclosed hunting areas. I do not know how large the enclosures were and I didn’t ask, but they restricted movement of game.

I cannot determine how much impact the fences had upon the ability of the game to escape. Probably none, however, the fences did have an impact upon my psyche. In the dense thorn-bush country, I knew that if I were patient while still hunting into the wind, eventually, I would find game because I was guaranteed that certain animals were inside the fences. I could cover much of the area in a morning. Therefore, I hunted with extra conviction – a tremendous psychological advantage if compared to hunting an area that might have been void of game.

 

Animal behavior can be manipulated even in extremely large enclosures. The most common method is to control water supplies so that animals are forced to enter the danger zone to survive. Is it wrong, or just intellegent behavior?

I enjoyed the hunt very much. And, I enjoyed success, a prize to take home definitely improves one’s attitude. I will display my African trophies proudly, but not quite like I would the mule deer buck I didn’t get on the fair chase archery hunt that took place in Alberta Canada this fall. If I ever succeed at taking one of those huge mule deer bucks with my bow, or rifle, it will be the trophy that hangs over my fireplace.

Unfortunately fair chase “corruption” did come into play on my deer hunt as well. Here are a couple items to watch for:  Radios: These should only be used to organize the hunt, not to monitor game while the hunt unfolds. Automobiles: These should be used as transportation, not as mobile blinds. When looking back at Alberta, I can see that we went over the line a couple times, something that I will work hard to avoid in the future.

The key difference between fair chase hunting and other hunting is that fair chase hunters pay for a hunt, not a trophy. When one pays for the trophy, it creates a conflict between the Professional Hunter/Guide and the rules of fair chase. This conflict cannot be resolved. If you want fair chase, pay for the hunt. If you must be guaranteed a trophy then pay a trophy fee. I’ve done it. And, I like my trophies, but a trophy fee hunt will never be the best hunt money can buy.

The rules of fair chase are designed to make hunting more rewarding, not less.

     

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A Lifetime Hunter Reflects on the Hunt of a Lifetime

 A couple months after the 2006 Buck-O-Rama, I purchased a northern BC Stone Sheep hunt. Having hunted mule deer since I was 21, I wasn’t sure exactly how I’d be getting all the value out of the hunt, because a great mule deer hunt could be purchased for less than one third the price of the sheep hunt. However, I wanted to find out for myself what was so good about hunting sheep. As you’ve probably figured out, sheep hunting is very much like hunting remote-country mule deer with that one major exception. And, if you like, you can hunt great remote-county mule deer on a self-guided hunt for less than a couple thousand dollars. 

The out-the-door cost of my two week 2006 BC stone sheep hunt was almost exactly $25,000, not including equipment costs. My typical mule deer hunt costs between $100 and $2,000. This last fall, I archery hunted mule deer in Alberta for a week and paid about $7,000 including all costs.

Although I’ve never paid for a two-week pack trip to hunt trophy mule deer, I’d imagine that a exceptional two week wilderness deer/elk hunt could be had for $10,000 including travel. Not all sheep hunts cost $25,000 either, but that is a good representative number. I’ve had many questions asked since the returning from the hunt, most of them from my spouse, Linda. 

“What did you get for your $25,000?” 

“Was it worth it?”  

“Would you do it again?”  

Worthy questions, but difficult to answer, because I didn’t want to endanger my future hunting options and I can honestly say that I didn’t attempt to compare hunts from a financial perspective. Why not? Because that’s what the hunt cost and I decided to do it.  In retrospect, I’m now much more prepared to evaluate the situation than I was before the hunt.

 What did I get for my $25,000?  I got travel from my front porch to a remote wilderness camp at the base of a BC mountain where several legal stone sheep rams resided. To get there I traveled in a limousine (one hour), 737 commercial jet (five hours), pickup (two hours), float plane (half hour) and on horseback (four hours). After that came the hiking and there was plenty of that as well. Naturally, the process was reversed for the return trip. There were many meals, about 50 of them, ranging from steak and eggs to moose meat sandwiches with great home baked bread, rolls and pies. But, I didn’t go there to eat.  

My entourage included outfitter, guide, wrangler, cook and assistant – not to mention the concession owner who tagged along and helped out for about half the trip. I’ve never had so much attention. And, with the four hours a day of horseback riding for eleven days in a row, I needed all the help I could muster to get on and off my pony. What did this entourage do? They did everything, but dress me and wash me.

Meals were all prepared and coffee brewed constantly. When I needed a horse, it was ready. These people made sure that I had all the support necessary to make sure I would have my best chance to bag a ram when the opportunity presented itself. That’s all I could have asked for. To be valid, the outfitter had to provide me with a legitimate chance to bag a ram.

That was the case. In fact, we found a legal ram the first day out of camp. We spent the first four days attempting to get in position to stalk the ram and take him with archery equipment. On day four, it looked as though we would finally get into position for a chance with my bow. However, the legal ram and six younger rams with him moved off before I could get into position. I spotted them at 100 yards, staring in my direction as I stalked the spot where they had been. 

After four days of failure, I reconsidered my prospects for taking a ram with bow and arrow and elected to switch to the 300 magnum. On day six, I connected with a beautiful ram. On the remainder of the hunt I searched unsuccessfully for a mountain caribou to shoot with my bow. I think that answers the first question.  

“Was it worth it?” 

My best answer for that came from my mother who told me she never regretted the things she’d done, only the things she’d not done. That statement covers it for me, but there is more. Each activity or action we undertake becomes part of the richness of our life. If you can find a way to afford a trip like this, by all means take it. There’s nothing that can replace the first-hand experience of a wilderness hunt for sheep. 

For those who decide they don’t think the product justifies the price, go mule deer hunting and don’t look back. In my opinion, mule deer are every bit the quarry that sheep are. Hunting mule deer is not sheep hunting, but it’s very similar and can be every bit as satisfying, challenging and exciting. 

Mule deer are sheep with a little less sizzle. 

And the last question,

“Would you do it again?” 

Since my return, people keep referring to my sheep hunt as “the trip of a lifetime.” Mistakenly, I used to think that meant that I could go only once. Lately I’ve realized that “trip of a lifetime” only means it’s the trip of a lifetime so far.

    Caption: The first ram was the smallest, the second was almost legal and the third is the one I eventually shot. The photo was taken from about 600 yards about two hours before the shot.   

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