Hunting & Fishing Anyone ever use Cabela's T.A.G.S.?

[TLong]

I am planning a hunt out west next year, and remembered Cabela's has the T.A.G.S. program. I was reading the material and from what I gather, it just "registers" you for draw type hunts, which costs an extra fee, on top of the normal tag price for whatever animal you wish to go after. Am I missing something here? I plan on doing a DIY hunt on public land, so no outfitter needed, or any of that jizz. I'm thinking that this is geared more towards guys using an outfitter and there is minimal chance of getting drawn without some sort of assistance or ratings. Anyone have any information?

 

[Channelkat]

Re: Anyone ever use Cabela's T.A.G.S.?

I am a DIY guy as well and used TAGs once. Have mixed feelings about the service. I guess in the end it is a personnel choice of how much time and money you want to put into things. If you just want to build points for the big trophy units and do not have the time to constantly research and keep up with the deadlines or want to tie up thousands a year in loans to various states(They front the tag fees which can really add up), then TAGs may work out great for you.

For me I do have very limited time to do research and keep up with things (missed a deadline more than once on account of work), but I enjoy the research process. To me if your hunting out of state your going to spend some money anyway, might as well make the most of it. If you have the time to do any research yourself you are more likely to get the most out of your trips. After applying though TAGs and going on my first hunt I realized that for a nominal fee I could have had a much more enjoyable hunt and harvested several more animals. Would have been nice if they mentioned overlapping hunts.
If you have them do all the work your unlikely to notice all the other opportunities available. In addition to not informing me of overlapping opportunities, they also don’t tell you about all the other species and opportunities being offered that TAGs does not cover. For example if you were going to by a UT license anyway so that you could build points for elk and mule deer you might also find your interested in several other species TAGs does not cover and would only cost you an extra $10 to apply for.
I hope that was helpful…Good luck in whichever route you choose.