Just a heads up you can now purchase applications for bear, wolf, ‘22 spring turkey, elk and upriver sturgeon spearing. Also note that for wolf and elk (possibly bear also, I can’t remember) you have to apply for a kill tag once every 3 years to keep your preference points.

On the bear applications, YES you must apply every 3 years to keep points, but not necessarily for a "kill" tag. You can also apply for another preference point (at least once every 3 years) to keep your accumulated points intact.

Common for bait hunters to "pass" on a season which begins with dog hunters going first. Buddy of mine did just that this season. He had 10 preference points 'in the bank' for zone B, and that's zone B's magic number. But dog hunters go first, he hunts over bait, so he went for another preference point (#11) this year instead. He'll wait until next season (2022) to apply for the kill tag. With 11 points now, he's almost certain to get one.

Well crap I misunderstood it then, I wish I didn’t apply for a wolf kill tag now, I’d rather wait a year

ETA I went into my go wild account and you can edit it from a kill tag to a preference point anytime before the drawing. Great info thanks!

Back in 2015, one of my hunting buddies had 10 points for bear, as did his son. Even though dogs went first, they both applied for and received kill tags for zone B. Another hunting buddy, brother of the first one, had 9 points. He was supposed to apply for a preference point, so we'd have a tag to bait for the following year. He fucked it up... applied for a kill tag instead. And he got "lucky", and got one. Shit. We didn't want 3 kill tags in one season. That's a tall order to fill.

But it worked out, and we did it. Got 2 the very first day, got the 3rd the next day. The son shot a 330lb bear at 6pm first night, his dad shot a monster 465 lb bear same night, 35 minutes later, 1-1/2 miles away. It ran off at the shot, but he wore a go-pro camera, and reviewing it confirmed a good hit. He sent out a group text "bear in the weeds, bring thermal camera".

The 3rd guy, a mile from the 2nd, could've shot his first day also, but with the big one unaccounted for at 7pm and darkness coming on fast, he wisely choice not to risk having 2 wounded bears "in the bush" we'd have to search for in the dark, and passed up a shot at a 300 lb bear just before close of shooting hours at 7:15.

He got it the next night, dropped it where it stood right in the bait. Best bear season we've had.

Now that is excellent work!