CHEYENNE - Many Wyoming residents are making one of their most important decisions of the year in the next week or two - where to apply for elk, deer and antelope.

Applications must be received at the Wyoming Game and Fish’s Cheyenne Office by 5 p.m., May 31. But before you hand those important documents in, you may want to consider info available from the G&F to help you make the best decision.

First are the seasons and quotas for the 2006 seasons. That info, along with map of the hunt areas, is printed on what’s commonly called a "summary map." Those maps are available at license agents and G&F offices across the state. With this document you can find out if this year’s season dates and quota for a prospective area are to your liking. That’s important info to research now so you don’t find out after the drawing that you have a conflict with the season dates.

Second are the drawing odds. That info is available on the Game and Fish Web site at http://gf.state.wy.us under "Hunting" and "Drawing Odds." Find out if last year’s odds fit your standard of drawing risk.

Third is last year’s harvest success for individual areas. Although these stats have not been printed yet in the annual Big Game Harvest Report, they are available by calling the G&F at (800) 842-1934. This info can serve as an important measure of whether the area you have in mind is as good as envisioned.

And another word of advice: don’t mark any area you are not absolutely prepared to hunt. Many hunters don’t realize that it is not required to list second or third choices (or just second in the case of doe/fawn licenses). Often hunters will mark an area on a secondary choice they are not familiar with and get stuck with a license they don’t want, like a private land area where access is tough or expensive. So, remember that secondary choices do not have to be marked to make the application valid and don’t list any choice that you are not prepared to hunt if drawn.

Thanks for your interest in 2006 big game hunting and if you have any questions, please call us at (800) 842-1934.

(contact: Jeff Obrecht)