Buying preference points

All I know is that in AZ, you may as well put in every year because you might draw, and if you don’t you get a point. Generally, depending on what you want, it may require quite a few points though, before you draw on points. And we are not one of the cheap states.

However, we have an excellent elk herd

I've never hunting out of Texas. Are the draws for public hunts or public and private?

I don't know the exact answer. But every time I look at options for out of state elk tags I keep coming back to Colorado as the best option. There are more elk, and more hunters. But all the stats I look at say the success rates on public land are also better. Private land is another story and there are ways to get tags there without preference points. If you have money.

If I'd started buying points years ago it might be worth it to me by now. But at this stage of my life I'll be thrilled if I'm still able to climb the mountains for another 5-7 years. I'd need at least 5-7 points to do any better than what I can do with over the counter tags. And the really good spots will require 15 points. I'd be close to 80 by the time I could get 15 points.

But to be fair, I've done much more research on Colorado than other states so I may be missing something. I know you can just buy a point each year and not even put in for a drawing until you have some built up. You can still hunt though using OTC tags.

I've hunted there twice, 2010 and 2018. I'm in a better position now than when I was younger to make the trip and plan to go back every year for as long as I can physically do it. But I ain't getting any younger and the mountains aren't getting any flatter.

The points aren't expensive, I think about $25/year. They get you into the mountains during the rut and during the 1st season. But you can still buy OTC tags for about 2/3 of the state for the 2nd and 3rd seasons. And often those are better times to kill a bull. It depends on the weather, and your luck.

I think the most important consideration is what units in each state that you wish to hunt, and how many PPs it will take. The top Colorado units are quickly becoming nearly a once-in-a-lifetime hunt for nonresidents, while some others are easy to draw. If you want to plan for a hunt five years from now it makes sense to target units that you can realistically draw in each state. Wyoming has the Special draw that costs more than the regular draw but increases the chance of being drawn.

I have hunted Colorado and Wyoming many times and some of my favorite places are now simply out of reach, most notably some of the Colorado units. If you have the big itch to hunt elk then getting points in more than one state is probably your best course of action.