Would you turn in your tags?

C

codypeterson

New member
Mar 26, 2018
16
Ok guys here is the scenario. I broke my ankle Memorial Day weekend (dirt bike wreck). I drew 3 Utah archery tags! I am going into my 5th season bowhunting and haven?t killed a big game animal yet. The first tag up is black bear August 6th to September 7th. Limited entry elk August 18th to September 14th, and general season mule deer August 18th to September 14th. So it?s been a little over 3 weeks since the injury. I am done with crutches and now walking on a boot cast. I have that on for about 2 more weeks and then I can most likely walk without it. Thankfully no surgery was needed. I?m not in much pain when I walk. The doctor said it should be healed by hunting season but I have heard it takes a whole year to get the ankle strong again. Right now I?m leaning towards surrendering my limited entry elk tag and keeping the bear and deer tags. There is a really good chance to draw the elk tag next year. I just don?t want to waste it because it may only happen every 15 years. I?m nervous about carrying bait for the bear hunt but once I get it set maybe I can take it easy and use a tree stand? Also the deadline to surrender tags is 30 days before the season starts. Would you heal up and hunt and risk going into hunting season not quite 100%, or play it safe, surrender the tags and wait an excruciatingly long year and hope to draw it next season?


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Wow, this is a tough one.....


To be perfectly honest I'd be considering turning them all in. An ankle is so easy to tweak in the field. Especially once you start adding heavy weight from a pack out.


I think at most, if i were to try one of the hunts it would be the deer hunt because it's the furthest away. You can take a little extra time to heal up and then re-gauge how you feel then.  I'd just hate to see you hurt it again and then mess yourself up for a long time.


This is also one of those situations where it's easy to tell you this from this side of the tag, but if I was in your shoes.... I'd be having a tough time haha.
 
I have broken ribs 2 weeks before a 3 week elk hunt. I also have issues with a bad back. It hurt like hell to pull my bow back. But I am stubborn enough I still went hunting. I was also able to keep up with my hunting partners that year :lol:.

I would assume seeing how you did not need any pins or screws it must not have been too serious. I would be careful as to not abuse it much till season. Take it easy as long as possible. I would wear the stiffest boot I could find and go hunting. Make sure to have them boots broke in. Do some walking in them before season.

In fact I was pulling on something a couple days ago and my shoulder popped. Been hurting since then. It really hurts when I do something like turning a steering wheel. The rotating motion sends stabbing pains. I shot my bow pretty good last night :upthumb: I just refuse to give up.
 
Did you have to redeem preference points for any of the tags? If so, do you get them back by turning in the tag? Do you have anyone going on the hunts with you to help?

I see both sides of the story for sure. If it were me, I'd be looking at those questions above and I would probably be waiting until the last possible moment to turn the tags in. I'd want to see how the ankle feels coming out of the boot. If it feels good, I would be doing everything I could to work on building up the muscles that stabilize the ankle. Using things like a bosu ball or something similar can really help. I've had bad ankles in the past after multiple sprains and I was always scared of rolling my ankle in the middle of the backcountry and not being able to get out. I started working on stabilizing those muscles and they feel so much better, and surprisingly it didn't take that long to do it.
 
I'd say go hunt...


I managed to mess up my ankle pretty good Aug 4th and hunted the entire archery season in CO. Granted I wasn't able to go as hard as I had in the past, and didn't get anything, but I did have an awesome time and was on animals multiple times throughout my hunts.
 
If it were me, I would not try to fill a once-every-fifteen-year elk tag on the same years I'm trying to fill deer and bear.  You'll get distracted to easy and end up with nothing!
 
Thanks for the feedback guys! My original plan was to hunt bear for the first full week (6th to 12th) because there will be no deer or elk hunts going on yet, and then switch gears and hunt elk from August 18 to September 14. Extended archery deer September 15 to November 30. My concern is not being able to scout until the hunt starts basically. Would you guys hunt a limited entry elk tag with little to no scouting?


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Years ago, I rolled my ankle really bad stepping out of my horse trailer a week before elk hunting.
Swollen and bruised.
Went to the Dr and he said rest it for 3 weeks as I came very very close to breaking it.


Ha. No way.
I said I was going elk hunting.
He said to wear 8" lace up boots and lace em tight.
He also said if I roll or twist it while hunting, it will break like a toothpick


I took it somewhat easy and did fine.
Use caution.


And no, dont turn in any tags. You'll regret it
 
So I?m still I guess confused.  If you turn your LE elk tag in you maintain points and can draw again next year... correct?


There is no way I?m wasting a 15 points and years of saving for a year I?m not 100% and in a unit I haven?t scouted. 


If you?re dead set on hunting elk and can draw this tag next year... why not get one of the cow/spike tags for the unit you?re planning on drawing next year. 

Now you?re scouting the unit for next year and you?re still getting to hunt.


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I would not waste 15 years (points) on a tag that I wasn't sure I would be able to get around with. If it was 5 years I would consider it, but no way I'm burning 15 years of points as I am wanting to make sure Im getting the best hunt possible.

Great Idea on the spike tag, pick that up and scout the unit, still be able to hunt and not worry about your ankle if you have problems.

Yes its gonna hurt loosing your tag fee, but getting the points back and knowing you can get it next year thats what I would be looking at
 
Nope. Thought I twisted my ankle on August 13 and was in Colorado September 1st elk hunting. Had my bot laced tight and elevated at night.
Found out in October I had broke it. Go figure.
 
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