Hunting License you regretted buying?

[mallardsx2]

Looking back at it I really regret some of my license purchases.

Maybe a license you regretted burning points on or something/somewhere you just didn't enjoy. Not mentioning specifics. Just maybe something you wish you would have not done. I know a lot of mine cost me some serious money over the years. I wish I had that money back.

Anyone else have one?

I know a guy who accidentally spent 8 points on a cow tag by entering the wrong code on his paper form years ago.

I regret spending 5 points on a license in Colorado for muzzleloader in an OTC Archery unit.

I regret buying a NR hunting license in West Virginia. Low deer numbers in the Kanawha State forest. That was a big waste of money.

I regret buying a NR fishing license in West Virginia. The fishing in the Kanawha river really sucked and I went back several times to verify it lol .

I regret applying for WY sheep, goat and moose points

I regret buying VT preference points for moose.

 

[ScottR]

Mine haven?t been licenses, but gear....

 

[2peterhunter]

I have bought some stupid tags but I can?t say I regret it. Normally I get to see new country and I don?t think I will ever regret time I get to spend doing what I love even if it wasn?t a wise choice. I could see a mistake as mentioned above be frustrating. But you can always make more money so I try not to regret any tags or time spent afield.

 

[JimP]

I'll have to say that I have never regretted any of the tags that I have drawn or purchased. There have been a couple that I wished that I had the points back on, such as a 14 point draw for a antelope tag here in Colorado. It dumped buckets of rain for 5 days straight after 2 nice days on the opening. My grizzly tag in British Colombia, the bears were no where to be found and in 9 days I only had one black bear within shooting distance.

But overall all of the hunts that I have been on have been fun even if I didn't fill my tag, even that grizzly hunt and the antelope hunt here in Colorado that I spent 14 points on.

Now on gear, I have a garage full of the stuff. I have used all of it at one time or another but I have a lot of it that hasn't been touched in over 20 years except to move from one spot to another.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I really can't think of a tag that I wished I hadn't applied for. The only one I wish I had done different was a Wyoming guided elk hunt. I had NR 6 points and after looking at the odds, I was going to apply for the tag as a 2nd choice so I wouldn't burn my points on a tag that didn't require points. The outfitter talked me into burning the points by applying for the unit as a first choice. He told me if I applied as a 2nd choice, I probably wouldn't get the tag and I would lose my deposit. That should have been my first clue as he also lied to me about several other things too, but that is another story.

One thing I do regret is not getting sheep fever when I was in my 20's (55 years ago) when tags were relatively easy to get (as compared to today) and I could chase them down in the mts!

 

[kidoggy]

nope. no regrets !

 

[hunter25]

No regrets, but a couple of very expensive vacations that ended up not qualifying as hunting trips by the time it was over.
Ontario wolf hunt and my first alaska trip.
I research things much better now.
But still enjoyed every minute of the adventure.
I'll keep putting in the ot and spending everything as long as I'm able

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[El Serio]

My main regret is the NR Arizona hunting licenses purchased to apply for tags that I really didn't have any chance of drawing.

I dropped out of that racket this year, and it felt good.

 

[LCH]

I've never regretted a tag or license purchase. I have regretted not dedicating enough time/effort towards filling those tags.

 

[Micah S]

I'm on the fence about continuing to put in for Utah. The draw odds are so bad that I think I might be wasting my money.

 

[dan maule]

Last year my son and I both applied for Deer and and He also applied for antelope. We did not draw the deer tags but he drew the antelope tag so I thought we should buy some left over any whitetail deer tags for the same area as his antelope tag. I wouldn't do that again!

 

[JimP]

I'm on the fence about continuing to put in for Utah. The draw odds are so bad that I think I might be wasting my money.

Utah is a double edge sword. If you are putting in for some of the OIL tags such as sheep, moose, and bison and don't have 20+ points then I would say that you may be wasting your money. However every year hunters draw some of those tags with very few points. That along with only needing to purchase a hunting license every two years and the cost factor goes down. Now if you are after a mountain goat, elk, or deer I would say stick with it but take a hard look at the units you are putting in for. Antelope you are better off going to Wyoming.

 

[Micah S]

Utah is a double edge sword. If you are putting in for some of the OIL tags such as sheep, moose, and bison and don't have 20+ points then I would say that you may be wasting your money. However every year hunters draw some of those tags with very few points. That along with only needing to purchase a hunting license every two years and the cost factor goes down. Now if you are after a mountain goat, elk, or deer I would say stick with it but take a hard look at the units you are putting in for. Antelope you are better off going to Wyoming.

I've been putting in for the super hard to get limited entry tags for deer and elk until I have enough points to draw a middle of the road tag. After I draw I probably won't apply in Utah again.

 

[JimP]

I've been putting in for the super hard to get limited entry tags for deer and elk until I have enough points to draw a middle of the road tag. After I draw I probably won't apply in Utah again.

I'd just put in for the unit that I wanted to draw and not any others. The harder ones have fewer tags for both residents and non residents which lower your chance of drawing.

With Utah's system 1/2 of all the tags go to the top point holders and 1/2 go to a random draw. But the more points you have going into the random draw the better your odds are.

 

[Alabama]

I went on mule deer hunt out west before I really understood the point systems and saw some sheep, I was awestruck and I started applying everywhere I could for them, thinking a carpet bombing strategy would almost guarantee me a tag over time. Sheep fever made me just apply without a long term strategy or a realization of cost. The potential return on investment is just too poor to apply everywhere, you'd be better off saving for a hunt and going in AK or Canada. I wasted $110.50 a year in Washington applying for sheep with 1000's to 1 draw odds. I applied in Oregon justifying it by purchasing deer, elk, and antelope points for future hunts. Little did I know antelope hunts are 20+ years (maybe 30) before you'll get a tag, deer quality is lacking at best, and the elk hunts I would be interested in if I'm going that far away are probably 25-30 years down the road. Plus outfitters can draw half the NR tags and sell them making the NR quota a whopping 2.5%. That was a total waste of money for those 4 years. How Oregon keeps sucking NR applicants in is beyond me. I know someone has to draw but the odds are definitely not in your favor. I regret buying WY moose and sheep points that I now realize will never do me any good unless there are major changes to the draw there. I already dumped the moose points and sheep points will be gone in another year if I don't buy this year. The optimist in me says they will have to see the system is untenable with the few tags they give out and change it, the pessimist in me says they drop NR tags to 10% and it will still be a preference system 20 years from now.

With that said, I've never had a tag in my pocket I've regretted drawing. They all have great memories regardless of success, I've met some great people and made some lifelong friends along the way. I do regret not applying earlier in AZ because I'd be one year closer to a great elk hunt. I regret waiting until the last day to buy deer, elk, antelope points in WY then realizing the deadline was 5pm and not midnight. I would have been chasing elk in WY this fall if not for that blunder! LOL

 

[CrimsonArrow]

My biggest regret is NOT putting my dad in for an archery deer tag the last time we elk hunted Colorado. I knew it was a guaranteed draw, and 2 days after I killed my buck, a solid 160 walked slowly by us in the timber at 21 yards. I filmed it, and we both drew on him just to see if we could, and he never looked at us. It would have been a memorable trophy for my dad who is now past his mountain hunting days.

 

[Fink]

My biggest regret is not starting applying right when I got out of college. Just those 5-6 additional points would have meant some pretty good tags by this point.

 

[Timberstalker]

I’ve never regretted drawing a tag, I have been disappointed on the hunt. Most disappointing hunt was Oregon antelope, 15 years to draw a tag and saw 7 bucks in 7 days. Killed the biggest one I could find on day 7 and it was nothing special. I’m done with antelope in Oregon, definitely not worth the wait. I do regret the unit I chose, but I was talked into it by someone I didn’t know all that well.

 

[RICMIC]

No regrets on the tags that I drew, even when I didn't tag out. The biggest regrets are the compromises that were made (mostly involving the time allocated) due to work or hunting partners. A two state strategy does allow me to hunt somewhere out west each year, even if it is just antelope does. I never got into the point game for sheep, goats, or moose, but do get a raffle entry or two, and just consider that like buying a lottery ticket. Hope I'm not 99 when I finally score one of those sheep tags.

 

[tim]

I don't regret wanting the grand slam, I just don't tell the wife how much money I spend applying for desert sheep tags.
She actually does have an idea, we just don't talk about it. lol