Last year I had 6 tags (Utah general season buck deer, antlerless elk, private lands only elk, a Utah doe pronghorn, and 2 Wyoming doe pronghorn) and my oldest son had 4 tags (Utah general season buck deer, antlerless elk, and 2 Wyoming doe pronghorn tags). My buddies Cody and Doug also obtained several tags in their home states of New Mexico and Idaho (respectively) along with Utah general season buck deer tags each. It was a busy hunting season for me and to be quite honest with you, it was too much... especially when combined with an 8 day trip to Alaska to fish for silver salmon to start it all off in early September.
I had every intention of backing off a bit this year knowing that I would have a very good chance at drawing the Utah limited entry elk tag I was after, and I also knew that I had burned antlerless elk and doe pronghorn points to draw last year so I would be starting over at the bottom of the pile in those applicant pools.
I did add two additional members of my family to the application process this year though, my 11 year old daughter and 10 year old son both completed Hunter's Safety in February prior to everything being shut down for the COVID pandemic. We were fortunate that we got that completed when we did!
I only have one tag this year... the limited entry elk tag. My oldest son only has one tag as well... a general season buck deer tag. My daughter struck out on all her applications. My 10 year old son drew an extra doe whitetail tag in Idaho and I bought him a general season whitetail tag as well (I figure if we're going to drive for 10 hours to hunt in Idaho we may as well make it worth it!). Cody didn't draw a single tag in New Mexico or Utah. Doug drew an extra cow elk and doe whitetail deer tag in Idaho to go along with a number of other OTC tags that he will purchase.
Here's how my application season went:
- Utah Limited Entry Elk: SUCCESSFUL
- Utah General Buck Deer: Unsuccessful
- Utah Once-in-a-Lifetime Bison: Unsuccessful
- Utah Antlerless Elk: Unsuccessful
- Wyoming Doe/Fawn Pronghorn: Unsuccessful
Son #1:
- Utah Limited Entry Elk: Unsuccessful
- Utah General Buck Deer: SUCCESSFUL
- Utah Once-in-a-Lifetime Bison: Unsuccessful
- Utah Antlerless Elk: Unsuccessful
- Wyoming Doe/Fawn Pronghorn: Unsuccessful
Daughter:
- Utah Limited Entry Elk: Unsuccessful
- Utah Once-in-a-Lifetime Bison: Unsuccessful
- Utah Antlerless Elk: Unsuccessful
- Wyoming Doe/Fawn Pronghorn: Unsuccessful
Son #2:
- Idaho Extra Cow Elk: Unsuccessful
- Idaho Extra Doe Whitetail: SUCCESSFUL
It's going to be a bit of a change going from so many tags to so few, but hopefully that will give us some additional time to do some more fishing and then do some quick evening grouse hunts in the fall... the kids have really fallen in love with shooting grouse.
