Deciding whether to hunt as a nonresident comes down to math most hunters never run: the full cost stack weighed against your real draw odds at your point level, state by state. Tag fees are only one layer, and "NR tags cost too much and never draw" is an assumption rather than a calculation. This post lays out the nonresident calculus, what goes into it and how the five western states differ, so you can decide where the NR game is actually worth playing.
Percival wants to tell you about two hunters he knows. Both have been applying for western big game for several years. Both are chasing elk.
The first is a resident of one of the five states covered here. He's never applied out of state. The reason he gives is always some version of the same thing: nonresident tags cost too much, and NR hunters can't draw anyway because the quota is so small. He's decided the NR game isn't worth playing, without ever actually running the numbers to find out.
The second is a nonresident who has been applying in three states for years. He picked those states because other hunters on forums said they were the best options. He has no clear picture of what his odds actually look like at his current point level, which states give nonresidents a genuine shot versus a statistical long shot, or whether the application fees he's spending every year are working toward something real.
Both hunters are leaving opportunity on the table. And both are doing it for the same underlying reason: they haven't actually run the NR calculus. They're operating on assumptions rather than math.
This post is about running that math, or at least knowing what goes into it. The actual NR draw odds at your specific point level are what our personalized western draw odds reports are built to surface, filtered to your residency, species, and state.
What "NR" Actually Costs You
The first number most hunters think about when they think about nonresident hunting is the tag fee. And yes, NR tag fees are substantially higher than resident fees in every state covered here. That's real. But the tag fee is only one layer of the cost stack. Before you can accurately decide whether the NR game pencils out for a given state and species, you need to account for everything.
None of this means the NR game isn't worth playing. It means you need to know what you're signing up for before you start the clock. A six-year point build toward a unit that requires twelve NR points to draw, with nonrefundable license fees every year, is a different commitment than a unit with a two-point NR draw floor and a realistic timeline. The math is different. The decision should be too.
State by State: The NR Math
Each of the five states covered here gives nonresident hunters a genuinely different deal. The quota varies. The system mechanics interact with NR status differently. And some states are structurally more NR-friendly than others, not because they're easier draws, but because their system design keeps the door open regardless of point total.
Wyoming reserves 84% of its elk tags and 80% of its deer and antelope tags for residents, leaving 16% and 20% for nonresidents. On popular species in high-demand units, that NR quota can still mean a modest tag count in any given draw. The math starts tight.
But Wyoming's draw structure has two features that matter for NR hunters. The first is the preference point system, which means points accumulate and move NR hunters up the queue over time: the NR pool rewards persistence. The second is the 25% random draw that runs after the preference pool is exhausted. Every unsuccessful applicant, including nonresidents, gets an equal shot at those tags regardless of point total. On units with larger tag quotas and less NR competition, that random pool is a real opportunity even for a hunter just starting out.
Wyoming also offers two parallel license pools: Regular and Special. The Special license carries a higher price but runs its own separate draw. On certain units, the Special pool has historically been easier to draw than the Regular pool, including for NR hunters at the lower end of the point spectrum. If you're building a Wyoming NR position, running the numbers on both pools before committing is worth the extra step.
One important structural note: NR elk, deer, and pronghorn operate on separate preference point systems in Wyoming, and each species has its own application window. Managing a multi-species Wyoming NR portfolio requires attention to which deadlines apply to which species.
Utah's NR quota sits at roughly 10% for most big game species, similar to Wyoming. But Utah's draw structure for limited-entry hunts is meaningfully more NR-friendly in one key way: the 50/50 bonus point split applies equally to NR hunters. Half of all limited-entry permits flow through a random draw open to all remaining applicants, including NR hunters with zero bonus points. That structural floor doesn't disappear just because you're a nonresident.
This is an important distinction. A Utah NR hunter at zero points isn't locked out of the limited-entry draw. They have a genuine entry in the random half of every draw they enter. Bonus points improve those odds over time, and they also earn extra random entries in the open pool, so the return on point-building is real. But even a first-year NR applicant is in play on LE hunts in a way that simply doesn't exist in Colorado's current system.
The exception is Utah's general-season hunts, which use a pure preference point system. On those hunts, NR hunters without points are competing at the bottom of a top-down queue. The strategic implication is to focus NR Utah applications on limited-entry species and units where the random floor provides meaningful protection, and treat general-season as a long-term accumulation play if you choose to pursue it at all.
Utah also allows NR hunters to apply for all species each year, including limited-entry deer, elk, and pronghorn, and up to four hunters may apply as a group for those species, with group points averaged and rounded down.
Colorado gives nonresident hunters the most favorable quota allocation of the five states covered here: roughly 25% of tags on most hunt codes. On high-demand units that threshold shifts to approximately 20%, but even that is meaningfully better than the 10% NR cap that applies in Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada. More tags available to NR hunters means the math starts from a better position before draw mechanics even enter the picture.
The complication is the current system. Colorado runs a pure preference point draw through the end of the 2027 season: tags go top-down to highest point holders, no random floor for most hunts. If your NR point total isn't close to the draw floor on the unit you're targeting, you don't draw. The Hybrid Draw offers limited relief on certain high-demand hunt codes, allocating a portion of tags to a random pool, but it requires at least five preference points to enter. Zero-point NR hunters have no entry in most Colorado draws right now.
The 2028 system overhaul changes this substantially. Colorado's approved 50/50 Split Draw will open half the tags in most draws to a random pool accessible to all applicants, including NR hunters at zero points. That structural change, combined with Colorado's 25% NR quota, makes the post-2028 NR math in Colorado look significantly different than it does today. Our Colorado 2028 draw overhaul guide covers exactly what that transition means for NR point holders right now. A NR hunter who starts accumulating Colorado preference points now will enter the 2028 draw with both a growing point position and access to the random half, running both tracks simultaneously from the moment the new system activates.
Arizona caps NR hunters at roughly 10% of available tags per hunt code, consistent with Utah and Nevada. What makes Arizona distinct for NR hunters is the three-pass draw structure, and specifically what it means for applicants at the lower end of the point spectrum.
Pass 1, the Bonus Point Pass, issues up to 20% of each hunt's tags in descending bonus point order, filling from the highest point tier down until that 20% is used. The lowest tier it reaches is that hunt's bonus pass floor, and NR hunters below that floor do not draw in Pass 1. Applications with zero bonus points are not included in it at all. Passes 2 and 3 are open to all remaining applicants, with fresh random numbers assigned before each pass. A NR hunter with zero bonus points participates in Passes 2 and 3 with one random entry each: never shut out entirely, but not competing for the premium allocation that Pass 1 provides.
Arizona also offers two bonus point features that survive a successful draw: the Hunter Education permanent bonus point and the Loyalty point, earned after five consecutive years of applying for the same species. Both are available to NR hunters and both carry forward after drawing, which meaningfully softens the typical point-reset pain that makes other states' systems so punishing after a successful application.
For NR hunters, Arizona is a genuine long-game state on premium species like elk and desert bighorn: the draw floors are steep and the quotas are small. On deer and pronghorn in units with higher tag counts, the NR math can be more accessible. The key is knowing which hunts are realistically within reach at your current point level, which is exactly what draw odds data is designed to tell you.
Nevada's draw structure is the most egalitarian of the five states for NR hunters, and the reason is structural, not generous. Nevada runs a single fully random draw with no separate preference tiers and no reserved pools. Every applicant, resident and nonresident alike, competes in the same draw. The NR quota cap applies, but within that NR pool, a hunter with zero points and a hunter with ten points are competing in the same random draw. Points multiply your entries via the squared formula, but they don't put you in a separate pool above zero-point hunters. Everyone is in the same draw.
The practical implication for NR hunters is that the barrier to meaningful participation in Nevada is lower than in preference point states. A NR hunter entering Nevada for the first time isn't staring at a draw floor they can't reach. They're in the same random pool as everyone else, with one entry, on day one. Points compound quickly via the squaring formula (three points earns ten entries; five points earns twenty-six), so consistent annual applications pay off fast. But the door is never closed to a new entrant.
Nevada allows up to five hunt choices per species, and using all five is strongly recommended: choices are evaluated in order when an application is drawn, so stacking choices from most-desired to least-desired maximizes the value of each application. NR hunters can also purchase bonus points without entering the draw, though applying for a hunt is always better: same point cost, and you're in the draw too.
One Nevada rule matters above all others for NR hunters: missing two consecutive application years wipes out all points for that species. The investment resets to zero. Apply every year without exception, or the point stack you've been building disappears.
Four Questions to Ask Before Adding a New State
The state breakdowns above tell you what each state's NR structure looks like. What they can't tell you is whether a specific state pencils out for your specific situation: your species priority, your point timeline, your budget for annual carrying costs, and where the NR math actually leads given your current position.
Here are the four questions worth working through before you commit application fees to a new state.
Quick Reference: NR Math by State
| State | NR Quota | Random Floor for NR? | Cost Tier | NR Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wyoming | ~10% | Yes — 25% random pool, equal odds | High (NR license + tag premium significant) | Tight quota, but random pool + Special license add real pathways |
| Utah | ~10% | Yes — 50% of LE tags in open random draw | Moderate | Most NR-friendly LE structure; random floor protects access from day one |
| Colorado | ~25% | No (now); Yes, 50% of tags starting 2028 | Moderate (point fee adds annual cost) | Best NR quota; closed system until 2028 — build points now for both halves |
| Arizona | ~10% | Yes — Passes 2 & 3 open to all | High (NR license required before applying) | Patient builder's game; HE + Loyalty points survive draw — genuine long-term upside |
| Nevada | ~10% | Yes — entire draw is random; 1 entry minimum | Moderate | Most accessible NR entry; same pool as residents; squared formula rewards consistency |
Here's what Percival has noticed over the years, partner. The hunters who win the NR game aren't usually the ones chasing the most famous units in the most talked-about states. They're the ones who found the intersection between their specific situation (their point total, their timeline, their budget, their species priority) and the states where that situation actually pencils out. Then they got in early and stayed consistent.
The resident hunter who never applies out of state because "NR is too hard" is often leaving genuine odds on the table in states like Nevada and Utah, where the draw structure keeps the door open regardless of residency. The NR hunter who picks states based on reputation without checking what the draw floor actually looks like at their point level is spending money on a plan that may not have a realistic endpoint.
Running the NR calculus isn't complicated. It requires knowing your numbers: the quota, the draw floor, the annual cost, and what the state's structure actually offers you at your current position. That's a data problem. And data problems have data solutions.
One More Thing Worth Knowing
The framework in this post tells you how to think about the NR decision. What actually anchors that decision to reality is point-specific draw odds data: how many NR applicants were at your point level last season, how many drew, and whether the trend line on the NR draw floor is stable, rising, or accelerating.
That data is published by each state after every draw season. It's the difference between a strategy built on actual numbers and one built on what someone said on a hunting forum two years ago. Our draw odds reports surface that data, filtered to your species, your residency, your state, and your current point level, so you can run the NR calculus with something solid underneath it.
Where To Find Us
Frequently Asked Questions
How much harder is it to draw as a nonresident?
Significantly harder in most states. Nonresident tag allocations are typically around 10 percent of total tags, and nonresident draw floors usually run higher than resident floors on premium hunts. That means statewide average odds overstate real nonresident access, so nonresidents need residency-specific data to plan accurately.
What percentage of western tags go to nonresidents?
It varies by state: Arizona, Utah, and Nevada cap nonresidents at roughly 10 percent of tags, while Wyoming allocates 16 to 20 percent and Colorado up to 35 percent depending on the hunt code. Within the nonresident allocation, states then split tags between preference or bonus pools and random pools differently, which is why nonresident strategy changes from state to state.
Which western states are best for a nonresident hunter?
It depends on species and points, but states with a meaningful random component give nonresidents real annual odds: Wyoming's 25 percent random pool, Utah's 50 percent limited-entry random pool, Arizona's three-pass draw, and Nevada's fully random draw. The right choice depends on your target species and how the nonresident allocation and draw floors fall on the units you actually want.
Why are statewide draw odds misleading for nonresidents?
Because statewide averages blend resident and nonresident applicants and all units together. Nonresident tags are a smaller slice and nonresident floors run higher on quality hunts, so the blended number overstates real access. Accurate planning requires odds filtered to nonresident status, species, and your exact point level.
⛏ Know Where You Actually Stand
Personalized draw odds reports for WY, UT, CO, AZ, and NV, filtered to your points, your residency, and your species. Resident or nonresident, the numbers are the same starting point.
Get Your Report — $9.99 Grab the Free Guide First