Opportunities still exist to grab big game tags

There are two kinds of people who participate in Nevada's big game tag draw: those who draw a tag, and those who don't.

Unfortunately, with such high demand for tags, there never are enough to go around.

But there are other opportunities to be found.

Approximately 50,000 hunters put their names in the hat for the 2009 tag draw, accounting for 151,000 separate applications for 22,164 tags across the species spectrum.

When the smoke settled, 1,191 Nevada tags were still available. While most of those are antlerless (doe) mule deer tags -- not the favorite of antler hunters -- they still provide an opportunity to put some venison in the freezer.

The list of available resident tags includes 740 doe, 347 youth and three archery cow elk tags.

There also are 101 archery mule deer buck tags available to residents and nonresidents. The draw for these leftover tags begins Friday at www.huntnevada.com.

Those who don't get too excited about this short list of tags might want to check out the opportunities still available.

Just don't wait too long. Leftover tags in the Beehive State went on sale Monday, and the nearly 2,400 leftover archery mule deer tags are already sold out. That said, there are still more than 6,000 nonresident and resident buck deer tags for the muzzleloader and any legal weapon seasons. These tags are for the northern region and last year sold out by June 29.

In addition to deer hunting opportunities, Utah also offers some pretty good elk hunting.

There are 12,500 spike bull elk permits remaining for the muzzleloader and any legal weapon seasons, and 14,300 any bull elk permits.

For you archers, Utah offers a hunters-choice elk hunt with an open quota.

A general season elk tag will set you back $388 and the deer tag $263. The deer tag comes with an annual nonresident fishing license.

You also must purchase a nonresident hunting license. A basic hunting license sells for $65, and a combination hunting/fishing license is $80.

• LITTLE BLUEGILL, BIG TROPHY -- The bluegill hanging from the end of the fishing line wasn't big.

In fact, you probably would be hard-pressed to get more than a bite-size filet out of the fish, and that's if you were really good with a filet blade.

But for the young woman holding the fishing rod to which that line was attached, the little bluegill was the equivalent of a 10-pound bass.

I've long believed that what qualifies as a trophy is in the eye of the beholder. Nowhere was that more evident Saturday than in the eyes of this neophyte angler. Surrounded as I was by the commotion typical of a special event where kids are present, I never did get her name.

The girl never had been fishing but wanted to learn. So she came to Lake Mead for a Free Fishing Day event.

She began her angling career by participating in a casting workshop on the beach.

From there, armed with a loaner fishing rod and worms, she walked to a bank on the north side of Boulder Harbor.

Then she baited up her hook and went to work. Her efforts were rewarded when the hungry bluegill slammed the mealworm. The only problem was she didn't know what to do once the fish was on the line.

With the bluegill dangling at the end of her line, she made her way to the table where she checked out her fishing rod.

There she received the help she needed and carefully put her little trophy blue gill on ice. It might not have been the biggest fish, but I'll bet it gets her back for more.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His "In the Outdoors" column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at doug@takinitoutside.com.