Drawing Strategy.......?

Every year they give you the number of available tags by unit and the number of both gratis applications and applications by sex/species after. You just have to figure out what the odds are of drawing after that. This will give you odds but not a guaranteed time you will draw. If 1000 people apply for a unit with 500 tags after gratis, 1 out of 2 people will receive their tag. HOWEVER, this does not mean you are guaranteed a tag every other year. Pick unit/tags with a high probability of success if you want a buck tag more often. Hope this helps.

Boston,

Strategy?  To each their own as we all have different requirements.  Some insist on being able to hunt out their backdoor, some must travel across the state to hunt with friends and family, etc, etc.

Get a subscription to NDGF's Outdoors magazine.  Sometime after the first of the year they publish all the statistics on deer applications, how many people applied in each unit, for which tags, percentage of people who were successful with X number of preference points.  More info there than you can shake a stick at.

I believe it comes out in the February edition.  They are available online from NDGFs website.

Yup, that's what Dad and I did, we always played the statistic game.  Now we just settle for one unit.  Well, heck, we've been with one unit for quite some time now.  But if you do go hunting out the units that have the increases in tags or watch the units that start to fall off in applicants you can better your odds.  Like Allen said, you will not be able to do that if you have commitments with family, etc.

I don't screw around with checks and credit cards, I just send cash in with the application. Only been turned down a couple times in 25 years.

Thank u for the info everyone--I will check out the website.......!!

All I know , this was my 14th year in a row to draw a buck tag

I'm sure I'll get bit in the you know where one of these years...................

So here's my dilemma. This is the fourth year that my sons and I have not drawn a buck tag for the unit in which we hunt. I have access to seven sections of land in this unit which is within an easy drive from my home but obviously the odds of drawing a buck tag are not very good. Now I have shot my share of deer over the years and I really don't mind if I fill my tag or not. I enjoy the moments like a couple of years ago when my youngest had stalked a doe laying on a section line with only the head and neck exposed at about 150 yards. He asked if he could try a shot and since it was the last day, I said go for it. A well placed shot from his 243 six inches below the head put that doe in the freezer. Then the moments that are not so enjoyable. My oldest thinks nothing of walking five or six hours a day in search of a deer. He does not like road hunting and enjoys getting out in the field. Anyway, he followed a group of deer for a couple of hours hoping for a shot. He isolated these deer on a peninsula on a lake and in order to escape, two 150 class bucks passed within 50 yards and he just watched as they made their way past him to safety while he harvested a nice doe. Sure would have been nice if after all that work he could have enjoyed the moment of taking a nice buck. He even purchased a muzzleloader thinking it might give him another chance at a buck tag. These young men love to hunt, but I'm a little fearful that they will lose their enthusiasm for deer hunting if they don't draw a buck tag soon. I'm sure most of you remember those days when it was important to hunt bucks before you truly appreciated hunting just for the joy of being outdoors with family and friends.My question is: should I continue to apply in this unit or apply to another unit with no guaranteed access further from my home but with better odds of drawing a buck tag? What do you guys think?

14yrs! how do u get so lucky?  anything special u are doing?

Have had a buck tag every year for 26 years. Always applied for the same unit. No muleys in this corner of the state so I suppose that increases my chances.