Maximize Your Big-Game Opportunities with onX Hunt App

Big-game application season is upon us. No matter if your goal is a wide-racked muley in Colorado, a bugling elk in Wyoming, a moose or goat in Idaho, or a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in Montana, drawing a coveted big-game tag is the cheapest way to play.

Cheap, however, does not mean easy. Research takes time. Seasons change. Quotas and draw odds go up and down like a boat at sea.

To stay abreast of the changes and maximize your opportunity to draw tags, you can pore over Fish & Game websites and interview biologists from the Great Plains to the Palouse. A better solution is onX’s Hunt Research Tools, a personalized solution to your application season that’s loaded with hunt info on 11 Western states and counting. This service is free with an onX Hunt Elite Membership that costs $99 per year or $14.99 per month.

I learned about Hunt Research Tools last week during a call with Jack Flatley, onX public relations manager – hunt/fish. While discussing draw strategies, I said that between work and two small kids, time is not on my side. When Flatley mentioned onX’s Hunt Research Tools, I agreed to a test run.

“Give it a go,” said Flatley. “I think you’ll be impressed with how much time Hunt Research Tools will save you.”

“I’ll give it an hour,” I said. “Hopefully, that’s enough time to explore the program.” Just 10 minutes after logging in to this intuitive service, I had accomplished everything I’d hoped for and more on multiple big-game species in Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado. It was incredible. But according to Dylan Dowson, onX’s western big-game marketing manager, Hunt Research Tools is just one of the perks of an onX Elite Membership.

“OnX Elite Membership is a great value,” said Dowson. “You get onX Hunt’s mapping capabilities for all 50 states and Canada, Hunt Research Tools to plan out your application season, Hunt Reminder so you get updates on when to apply, and a digital membership to “Huntin’ Fool” for detailed unit analysis and trends. On top of this, you get deals and exclusive access to products from trusted brand partners. If you’re using all the features, the membership pays for itself.”

As a tech-challenged individual, I found Hunt Research Tools surprisingly easy to navigate. The first step is editing your profile, where you specify state of residency and the number of points you have for various species throughout the Western states. I’m a Wyoming resident, but I also have a lifetime resident hunting license in Idaho. No problem. Hunt Research Tools allows dual citizenship.

The next step is selecting the animals you’re after, the state(s) you apply in and what weapon(s) you’ll hunt with. Click “Search,” and a dizzying array of filterable data pops up. The key here is “filterable,” as you can refine the search results by unit name, draw odds, harvest rate, public land and even hunters per square mile.

To test Hunt Research Tools, I began with Colorado deer, which I have 12 points for. What units would maximize these points? In seconds, I found the hunt but had no clue where it was at. Clicking on the unit brought up a map generated by — you guessed it — onX’s mapping software, showing me exactly where the unit is located.

That was easy. How about odds for resident Wyoming elk?

Searching Wyoming elk produced too many results, so I narrowed it down with the filter, where you can select date range, sex, rut activity, and even veteran- or youth-only hunts. How about a Sept. 1-15 archery hunt for bulls? After a few clicks, the huge list was whittled down to nine easy-to-digest options.

Because I was already in Wyoming, I shifted to antelope. My dad had a great hunt in southern Wyoming in 2020 as a nonresident. What were my odds of drawing that tag as a resident? The answer is 16.4 percent, which is too low for me to gamble on. Instead of a dream unit, I prefer better odds, so scrolling down displayed a list of easier-to-draw options.

Speaking of dream hunts, the top of my list is an Idaho bighorn sheep. As a lifetime resident license holder, my application goes towards the resident pool, so the odds can be surprisingly good. It took just three clicks to find data on Idaho’s 28 hunt opportunities. Based on last year’s data, draw odds for bighorns ranged from less than 1 percent to 12.32 percent. Not bad, huh?

Changing the filter to moose, I found odds for a cow tag were as high as 56 percent! Clicking on the unit, I saw where this freezer-filling hunt was located as well as the application trends from 2016 to 2024. My final check was for Idaho mountain goats, where I learned the best draw odds were over 10 percent for a crack at a wilderness billy. So tempting!

Again, I did all this research in less than 10 minutes. Compared to my old system of draw research, Hunt Research Tools saved multiple hours. But as Paul Ronto, product manager for Hunt Research Tools, explained to me, saving time is the entire goal.

“One of our guiding principles is no time wasted,” said Ronto. “We want to be the one-stop shop for hunters. Whether you’re a first-time applier or in it for the long game, these tools are designed to help our Elite customers be successful year after year.”

Navigating the draw process was once a daunting, time-consuming task. Not anymore. Thanks to onX Hunt Research Tools, you can learn unit odds and trends, decide where and when to apply, and plan your dream hunt in record time, all with a few clicks of the mouse. With all that the onX Elite Membership provides, $100 per year is money well spent.

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