So here is the poop, at least in Colorado when it comes to figuring out your Deer or Elk ‘Drawing Odds’.

First off, you need to find out how many tags were available LAST year. You can do this by looking at the annual hunt summary CPW releases in June. I call out LAST years numbers, as CPW does not announce how many tags will be available until AFTER the application deadline. So you have to go on last years numbers.

The second part is to figure out what the resident / non resident split is going to be.  This can be 65/35 or 80/20 depending on how many points it takes to draw this huntcode.

Once you figure out the ‘split’, then you need to look at the how many people applied with a given number of points.  This can be anywhere from 0 to 20+. Those with the most points, get the tag. This is based on last years numbers, and will change this year.

Let’s work through this logically using a made up Colorado Elk Huntcode. Let’s call it EIO123O1R. Last year this huntcode had 100 general quota tags.  It historically takes 3 points for a resident to draw, so the split is 65/35 (65% go to residents). So this means there are 65 tags available for resident hunters.

100 people applied for this tag last year with the following points

• 60 – Zero points
• 60 – 1 point
• 60 – 2 points
• 60 – 3 points
• 20 – 4 points

Now let’s walk through how the tags will be handed out.

All 20 of the people with 4 points get their tags, leaving 45 tags.

Next, the 60 applicants with 3 points are vying for the remaining 45 tags. Not enough tags to go around. So we divide 60 / 45 to get 75%. This matches up with the annual CPW preference point article they publish.

Unfortunately CPW now has the Hybrid drawing which breaks this general ‘Draw Odds’ estimation.

Based on my research, pick a huntcode that takes one less point to draw then what you have. This will give you pretty close to a 100% chance of drawing.

I moved out to Colorado in 2000 looking to hunt the great wild west. Being a complete noob (Newbie) I started reading, watching videos, and trying to track down someone that would help me be a successful hunter.

First off, those ‘hunting’ video’s really didn’t help me be a better hunter. All they taught me was you should be able to sit down, call for 20 minutes and have some monster elk come running in to meet his demise. WRONG!

Secondly, most of the articles & magazines I read really didn’t help me be a better hunter. I want to know how did you get that critter, not read about how great a hunter you are. This was money poorly spent.

So finally I turned to the only other media I had. Yep, the internet. And everything on the internet is always right, right?

1. Hunting forum sites do not ‘interview’ the posters. They can be anti-hunters for all you know. While some of these people may actually know what they are talking about, most don’t. They are just repeating what they read on another forum. It sure would be great if we could rate their BS factor and have it show up on their profile.
2. The hunting ‘tips’ are usually specific to their hunting area.
3. Disinformation is posted on those sites to keep you away from ‘their’ honey hole. Yep it’s public land, but you are not welcome to hunt there, lest you ‘ruin’ their spot. Guilty, I’ve done that too.
4. Ask them why they don’t hunt those ‘great areas’ they tell you about in the post. That great area was probably called out in some magazine, or wildlife page and is now over run with hunters. I’ve seen this happen more than once.
5. The people that are acknowledged hunters are probably on a ‘Pro Staff’ somewhere, and are being compensated to peddle this or that product. For some reason this product or that product is the silver bullet. The only silver is the stuff they put in there pocket.
6. According the ‘experts’ good hunting spots are always miles away from any trail, road, mailbox, or general store. Odd, but I’ve seen lot’s of elk within a 1/4 mile of the truck, sometimes within a few hundred yards.
7. “Elk are where you find them” isn’t the same as ‘I’ll help you find them’. (See #4 above).
8. The forum ‘flamers’ (They guys that bash your comments) are only interested in what they think. They really don’t want to help anyone, and in fact discourage those people that do want to help.

Now I’m not asking you to avoid all of the forum sites, but I am asking you to consider the source, question their motivation, and verify their suggestions. But nothing will replace real field time with someone that knows what they are doing. Hunting is not an internet sport, you need to get outside to really enjoy it.