An homage to special draw tags—a ticket to once-in-a-lifetime hunting adventures

We all know hunting is a tool for game managers to regulate animal populations by preventing over-hunting and ensuring sustainable harvests. Some regions have strong enough game populations to allow general hunting seasons, where hunters can simply purchase a hunting tag for a particular species and head afield.

In places where certain game populations cannot withstand the pressure of a general hunting season, however, game managers may set quotas and hold special draws to award tags. The same applies if they want to grow or reduce a game population to a manageable level.

Each year, hunters across Canada apply for special draw tags, hoping to get drawn to hunt particular game in a specific area—often where general hunting seasons for the target species don’t occur. These prized tags are truly unique and something special, as only a handful of applicants are successful. While hunters may be able to draw some of these tags every few seasons, other tags take many years to be drawn, while still others may only be drawn once in a lifetime.

Some tags give hunters the chance to hunt for trophies in areas where the animals are rutting and calling, while other tags are for antlerless game that can fill the successful hunter’s freezer for the winter. In some cases, special draw tags allow hunters to hunt on their own land, or to venture to faraway locations. While some hunters will hunt solo on their special draw tags, others may opt to join friends and family they don’t normally hunt with year after year, as I did on the mule deer hunt pictured above. Whatever the situation, special draw tags ensure at least one thing: a truly special hunt.