When it comes to hunting the most popular big game species in the West, the first step is obtaining a tag. As the years go by, that’s becoming harder to do as demand for elk, mule deer and pronghorn tags — the three most popular species — increases exponentially. When it comes to glamour species such as bighorn sheep, mountain goat and moose, the drawing odds even as a resident are miniscule.
To combat the demand vs. supply issue, states have implemented their own confusing methods of either a preference or bonus point system that allows a hunter to accumulate points over time. If you apply for a hunt and don’t draw, you receive one point. Or, if you want to accumulate points for the chance at drawing in a future year, you can buy a point instead of applying. As the years go by, the more points you have, the better your odds of drawing a tag. Simple, right?
It’s actually very complex — and expensive. And there’s no guarantee you’ll ever draw a coveted tag in a high-demand unit, no matter how many decades — yes, decades — that you accumulate points. The reason is “point creep.”
“The best explanation of point creep is when the number of preference points or bonus points required to draw a limited-entry big game permit keeps creeping upward,” said Eric Pawlak, director of TAGS, Worldwide Trophy Adventures (worldwidetrophyadventures.com). “This will typically occur in highly sought-after units as demand (number of applicants) outpaces supply (number of available tags).”
Point creep happens all across the West, and occurs for several reasons, including when more and more people begin applying for a specific unit, the number of people entering the draw for that unit increases after they have built points for many years and they apply to go hunting, or the state reduces tags in that unit. The ability to simply buy a point has had a huge effect. For example, the odds for drawing might look good, but then a handful of hunters with a large number of accumulated points decide to enter the draw, which reduces the odds exponentially. The point value required to draw might jump up by several points in one year!
The system has been in place for so long now, it’s not going to see any meaningful change in the near future. How, then, does a hunter navigate it?
A Ponzi Scheme?
You have to have a multi-state plan, meaning if you want to hunt elk, for example, rather than applying in only one state, you apply in multiple states, hoping to eventually draw a tag somewhere, and when you don’t draw, accumulate points in each state. Also, you must define your goals: try and draw a unit that has the best chance of producing a true trophy-class buck or bull — the most difficult to draw — or hunt a unit that offers a better chance of drawing, but has less trophy potential? How much money are you willing to lay out each year in application and point purchase costs? It’s complicated, and a big reason many hunters, myself included, use a hunt application service that takes the worry out of it. I’ve used Eric and the knowledgeable folks at TAGS for years, and they do a great job. There is also a lot of information online. For example, Randy Newburg has several excellent YouTube videos on the topic.
The truth about the whole tag system is it’s really a kind of a Ponzi scheme. From a state's point of view, selling points is a huge revenue producer with zero downside. They get many millions of dollars of revenue annually (in Wyoming, for example, selling preference points accounted for 22 percent of the entire Game & Fish Department’s $56.3 million budget in 2020, more than any other single revenue source; nonresidents accounted for 99 percent of that revenue) while at the same time not a single animal was harvested by point accumulators.
I’ve been applying for some “dream” tags for decades, but at my age, I’ve come to realize the reality is that, thanks in no small measure to point creep, the odds of drawing some of them before I die are so small I finally quit wasting my money on them. Instead, with few exceptions — bighorn sheep tags, for example — I’m applying now for tags I have a much better chance of drawing so I can simply go hunting. And, as with all things in life, the cost of hunting isn’t going to get any cheaper as time goes by. So why wait?
If you’re young, think of it this way. In 2026, the cost of applying for a moose point in Colorado is $113.91. If you draw the tag, it’s another $2,841.24, and you’ll likely hire an outfitter for another $5,000, minimum, but probably twice that. So that’s $8,417, minimum. And all these costs are sure to increase big time in the 30 years when you just might reach the point where you might now actually have a chance to draw. And the truth is, you’ll probably never draw, no matter how many decades you apply. That’s money down the drain. Or, instead you could consider the 6-day outfitted bowhunt for a Newfoundland Canadian moose in 2026 for $9,400, all in, except travel, on the Bowhunting Safari Consultants website, bowhuntingsafari.com. And you’d be moose hunting for sure. This year.
They say only a fool dies with lots of money in his bank account. I’ll take it a step further and say, it’s a fool who dies with lots of accumulated bonus or preference points in his hunt bank, and didn’t cash them in for some adventuring.
“Whatever you do, don’t be afraid to burn your points and go hunting,” Pawlak told me. “Points don’t equal antlers, and I’d always rather pack antlers than points.”
