Pauns Archery

Zim, I saw your post on MM , was going tp post and got side tracked, I ll post here.

I've had two paunsy archery deer tags personally + Ive guided several hunts there over the years..
Spot and stalk is very doable there, in fact there is SOOOO much water stand hunting is tough.

If you draw,, PM me and we'll talk.............................I'll be glad to help.

Spot and stalk is a great method, water can be helpful also but usually more difficult depending on weather of course. Best bucks reside on private ground IMO. Not saying there isn't others, it's a fun but not an easy hunt. There isn't the numbers of deer anymore or the quality. Yes there is still a few good bucks, but not 200" around every corner. If you have never archery hunted Mule Deer, it's a bit of a learning curve also, not saying it can't be done. OF COURSE it can, it's a blast trying I'll tell you that. :thumb

With that many points, I'd be more tempted to wait until I drew a Henries tag. How long would that take a NR?

"MuleyMadness" wrote:With that many points, I'd be more tempted to wait until I drew a Henries tag. How long would that take a NR?

They only offer 1 tag to the Henries for non-residents... that means all those bonus points really don't mean a whole lot since there are no "guaranteed tags."
You'd have ~0.80% chance of drawing the tag.

Thanks Derek, yea that's makes sense now.

I'd do the Pauns archery tag with that many points... heck you'd could be guaranteed a tag for rifle in maybe another year or two. Muzzleloader would be really close, too.

With those in my draw pool it could be 6 years for rifle or mzl. on the Pauns. Even if they had 2 tags for any NR hunt on the Henries there are 40 years of guys ahead of me. And these figures are if Don Peay/SFW doesn't steal more NR tags during the next 6 years! Want to bet the ranch on that prospect? They already stole 50% of those for this hunt. I love archery and I'd value just a plain good solid fun hunt with decent numbers. I'd consider having a decent chance at a 180" as a success, and can devote a lot of time for this hunt. I have like 6 weeks of vacation/sick days saved up. In fact, will try to do a combo.

I had a horrible WT hunt on overcrowded Illinois public land last fall, so it would take very little to please me. My god there were plates from Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, etc. Some were even cheating, hunting on their buddies permits. I bet you locals would not be very happy if your UTDOW sold 75% of the public tags to nonresidents! That is what they do on our scant public land here. Totally sucks. Another reason I like the idea of hunting early this year to make up for my stolen 2011.

Sounds like you have the time and desire to do it. I think you could get a 180" type buck with a good chance at something bigger. Like they said earlier there is a lot of private but also enough public to have fun. I would do it if I were you, maybe if I'm lucky I'll draw one too this year. Either way you'll have a blast.