Thanks for starting this!

Let's go

Anyone have a resource for changes in the Colorado draw system (ignore looks like changes are for 2028)

Damn I hope I get to go this next year. This year I had a tag in my cart for leftover tags in Colorado and the page refreshed and kicked me out.

Dear 8pound6ounce Sweet Baby Jesus,
You tiny, camoonesiewearing, earlyseasonarchery Baby Jesus…
the one who smells faintly of pine needles and fresh elk rubs,
I come before you today gathered around this blessed dinner of smoked brisket, instant mashed potatoes, and whatever my kids left in the fridge that still looks edible…
…to humbly ask that You shine Your heavenly favor upon my 2026 Western biggame tag applications.
I ask that You deliver unto me one glorious moment in 2026
when I'm in the backcountry, at sunrise,
and a bull steps out that makes me forget
every rejected application since 2014.
In Your camopatterned diapers I pray,
Amen.

AMEN

OP thanks for posting calendar dates all set. Freezers been empty for too long now.

My daughter finally got her RES MT license and we hunted hard for 5 days at Thanksgiving seeing elk everyday but just couldn't connect with a viable shot.

I have to get back out west in 26, fingers crossed for a good tag

Lets Go!

Hope this is the year. I started buying points when my kids were young with the plan to draw hunts once they were out of school. Youngest is a Senior at A&M, and GoHunt shows 22pts is 100% chance of drawing for Unit 1.

Im bringing a new gun out west this year. Its a .308 bolt action that is magazine fed. The only reg I can find on CPW states this:

" d. Provided further that any semiautomatic rifle used shall not hold more than six (6) rounds
in the magazine and chamber combined. A fully automatic rifle is prohibited"

I'm assuming since im bolt action, theres no regulation and im OK bringing a 10 rd pmag? Its the smallest they make in 308. I have a 5 rd metal one but its just as heavy. clunkier, louder, and it doesnt feed as easily.

It is a good time to buy him a "Lifetime" license. He can get his money's worth.

Not sure what my plan is for this year. I am in the middle of interviewing for new roles all across the globe. Kinda a weird feeling not knowing what the plan is going to be.

I spoke to Emma at CPW and was stated that with bolt action there is no magazine limit (as long as complies with state rules)

Arizona's website and application/point buying process is the worst

I have 5 points in WY applied regular tag. My daughter has 4 and since she will he a senior in HS did special tag for her.

Up to a whopping 5% estimated chance in the Gila in Eastern AZ.

Have to figure out what to do in the other states soon.

My 10 yo old gets to start youth hunting MT and we have new friends all with girls and a big place in the Missouri Breaks loaded with trophy class deer & elk.

Should be a good year.

Good to see this one pop up. I'm headed out to new mexico soon for my Unit 32/36/37 Aoudad draw from 2025. I've had to wait 10 months after drawing. I think I have a plan, but you never know how it will go.

Put in for elk, deer, and off-range oryx in NM, in-state resident. Got skunked last year, hoping for better luck this time around.

Which units are your putting in for?

Elk - 45, 51, and 16B/22
Deer - 53, 16, and 13
Oryx - state-wide, put in for the January, February, and March tags

Last year I had recently moved out here and I picked units close to home which is why I didn't get anything. This time I really sat down and calculated the odds based on last year's draw and picked the highest probability hunts I could in units where I know there are actually elk/deer. Oryx is so low odds I don't really care, figured I just had to put in for it until it eventually hits.

Michael Cera Palin said:

---

Put in for elk, deer, and off-range oryx in NM, in-state resident. Got skunked last year, hoping for better luck this time around.

---

Crazy to me a resident can't draw in a state where only 6% of license are even eligible for non-residents.

This will be my third year putting in as a NM resident, I'm 0 for 2 so far on everything. Last year I put in for a couple tags I thought I'd have a decent chance at drawing and struck out, not sure what I'm going to do this year. Are you in Albuquerque? If so we should have a beer and compare notes.

Charismatic Megafauna said:

---

This will be my third year putting in as a NM resident, I'm 0 for 2 so far on everything. Last year I put in for a couple tags I thought I'd have a decent chance at drawing and struck out, not sure what I'm going to do this year. Are you in Albuquerque? If so we should have a beer and compare notes.

---

Whend you move out there?! What part? I archery hunted a few years ago near Las Vegas NM and it was stackkkked with elk. NM as much of a pain as the lottery is, has a good system for conservation I'll tell you that.

lazuras_dc said:

---

Charismatic Megafauna said:

---

This will be my third year putting in as a NM resident, I'm 0 for 2 so far on everything. Last year I put in for a couple tags I thought I'd have a decent chance at drawing and struck out, not sure what I'm going to do this year. Are you in Albuquerque? If so we should have a beer and compare notes.

---

Whend you move out there?! What part? I archery hunted a few years ago near Las Vegas NM and it was stackkkked with elk. NM as much of a pain as the lottery is, has a good system for conservation I'll tell you that.

---

Unless you're a forked Muley in Unit 2B. The overall number of resident tags including increased youth tag allocations have done a number on the deer population.

So you're saying I should put my kid in for 2b deer?

I can't speak to mule deer, but I've never seen more elk in my life when I went 3 years ago in NM. Left a very good impression on me. Maybe it was a fluke or maybe my outfitter has THE honey hole.

Late season elk are like that...when they're there, they're ALL there!

It was archery so September

txaggie02 said:

---

10-years old and got the hunters education out of the way a couple weeks ago. Time to start racking up priority points and applying for youth hunts! He will be WAAAAY ahead of me and hopefully appreciate it when he's drawings the premier out-of-state units at a decent age. Just pray I'm still around to experience those father/son hunts together!

---

That's exciting. I remember when my son was that young. My oldest turned out to be an avid hunter and fisherman, so many great memories hunting in the mountains with him since he was about 9 years old. So many laughs with our buddies that tagged along with us on adventures. He's just turning 20 and has taken 8 big game animals in the west so far (mostly Arizona and Colorado and New Mexico).. I can barely keep up with him in the Mountains now. He's like a mountain goat climbing mountains, and man can he find the animals. It's like he has some sort of 6th sense when he looks at Onx maps and finds areas..

Charismatic Megafauna said:

---

This will be my third year putting in as a NM resident, I'm 0 for 2 so far on everything. Last year I put in for a couple tags I thought I'd have a decent chance at drawing and struck out, not sure what I'm going to do this year. Are you in Albuquerque? If so we should have a beer and compare notes.

---

I'm north of Santa Fe. Don't get down to ABQ much besides Costco runs and the Sunport, but always down to meet Aggies around NM