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Quality Hunting Unit Service
Play the odds to take quality hunts in limited-tag areas
Some of the finest hunting in North America takes place in big game management units where hunting permits are available through state-run computery lotteries. If you want to know which outfitters and hunts you should consider in areas with tag drawings, join the Quality Hunting Unit Service. There is no charge for this service, but you must place a $1,000 deposit, which will apply toward the cost of your hunt once you draw a tag. QHUS then will put you in touch with outfitters who depend on tag drawings in quality areas and remind you when it's time to apply.
We work with ranchers, outfitters and scouting/map services in many of these units, and if you can draw a tag, you'll usually get a high-quality hunt at a reasonable price. Areas with a national reputation for producing trophy-size animals can be extremely tough to draw. If you want to improve your odds of drawing a good tag, you must apply for quality tags in five to seven states a year. Don't worry about drawing too many tags. Would you rather have two permits or none at all?
Some states give preference to the customers of outfitters. In New Mexico, for example, 12 percent of all special-draw permits go to hunters who have booked with an outfitter, while only 10 percent go to the vastly more numerous at-large hunters. Your odds of getting a tag in a unit that holds trophy-class elk might be 30%or more if you first book with an outfitter, while at-large hunters might have drawing odds of 3% or less.
Some of the outfitters who operate in special-draw units consistently produce 100% hunter success on trophy animals. A draw hunt is typically costs one-half to one-sixth as much as a comparable hunt with an outfitter who can guarantee you a landowner or outfitter allocation tag.
If you want to talk with one of the ranchers or outfitters we use in limited-tag areas, sign up with the Quality Hunting Unit Service. You must place a $1,000 deposit with QHUS. It will be held until you draw a permit, and then it is applied toward your hunt if you hire a hunt provider who pays us our normal commission. If you want to apply for permits in several states, just the one deposit will do. In the unlikely event that you should you draw more than one tag, you can decide to take just one hunt without losing a deposit on the other hunt.
Once you've signed up with QHUS, we can give information on which units we think you should apply for or which ranchers or outfitters we think you should consider in limited-permit units. This policy ensures that our customers have the best chances of drawing the right tags.
Quality tags are offered for these big game species |
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Elk |
Mule deer |
In most cases, the outfitter will send you the proper application each year, or you can apply yourself. If you want the Quality Hunting Unit Service to send you applications, that can be done at a fee of $25 per application, and that money will be deducted from your deposit. We have agreements with our favorite outfitters to save spots for our customers who apply through QHUS. Each year we get many calls from hunters who have drawn quality tags, but often our best guides and outfitters are booked up by then. Don't let the cart get ahead of the horse.
Western state application deadlines for 2006
Hunts.Net customer Kevin Higgins of Nebraska took this 36-inch mule deer on a trip we lined up for him in Colorado. The B&C score was a bit over 220. You need seven or eight preference points to draw a tag for this hunt, or you can buy a landowner tag. This hunt has produced many nice bucks for Hunts.Net customers. Hunter success is usually 90 percent or better. Hunt MD21.
Not only is the QHUS system convenient but it also allows you to take advantage of the experience, research and knowledge that we have accumulated ever since we started consulting hunters in 1986.
If you draw a good tag, don't make the mistake of going unguided. An outfitter who knows the area and has access to parts of the unit you'd never find can increase tremendously your chances of taking a trophy-class animal.
The best hunting within a limited-permit unit might be on private land controlled by the landowner or leased to an outfitter.
If you draw a quality tag without making arrangements before you apply, you may be unable to procure the services of the guide or outfitter you want.
1) Choose an area that offers higher drawing odds. For example, your chances of drawing an early-season rifle elk tag in Arizona are miniscule. Yet the late-season tags offer excellent drawing odds in units that have just as big bulls. We have an outfitter who knows how to hunt just such a unit and produces a high success rate on fine trophies.
2) Buy bonus points or acquire preference points if available.
3) Be sure your application is error-free, and send it in well in advance of the deadline so that errors can be corrected (some states allow that).
4) Apply for new quality hunts that have not been publicized.
5) Apply in areas with a lot of private land or wilderness that is inaccessible to many do-it-yourself hunters.
6) Set realistic goals and choose hunting units accordingly. In other words, if you would not pass up a 6x6 bull elk that would score 250-300 B&C points, you shouldn't waste your time applying for an early-season Arizona permit. Instead, apply in units with a lot of 6x6s but very few record-book bulls. Your odds of drawing the highest quality tags are typically 1% or less.
7) It's often far easier to draw a quality bow or blackpowder permit, and the seasons often occur during the rut.
The Quality Hunting Unit Service is run by Rich LaRocco and Tom Paluso.
Remember, when you draw that coveted tag, your deposit applies toward the cost of your hunt if you hire one of the outfitters or ranchers or scouting services that we use. So the Quality Hunting Unit Service really costs you nothing unless you want the service to send you applications or you intend to hunt on your own or hire an outfitter we don't use.
If you have the time and resources to research the best areas to apply for and which outfitters or ranchers would be best to use, you don't need us. Otherwise, put the Quality Hunting Unit Service to work for you!
For more information on the Quality Hunting Unit Service, call Rich LaRocco at 435-752-7774 or Tom Paluso at 435-472-5108.
Service agreement
Service registration form
Read "The Drawing Game"
Application deadlines