ORIGINAL: BeaverJack
Special tags are good earlier, for one sex. A general tag is for the general season, when the harvest is dictated by the unit's rules.
Not necessarily- the tags that are typically hardest to draw (special draw) are the late season deer tags. The only hunts that take place earlier than the general season most of the time are archery hunts- and in most areas a special tag is not needed- you just need to have a hunting tag for that area then you can go buy a archery tag to hunt the archery season in that area. And not all units have a general season.