I'm new to this board. Nice to "meet" you. I'm a 41-year-old experienced hunter moving from Ohio to Las Vegas for work. I'll adapt in order to be able to continue to hunt. I hunt whitetail deer, turkeys, ducks, geese, squirrels, and I've hunted black bear and rabbits in the past. I hunt mostly in Pennsylvania, waterfowl in various East Coast states, and a few things at home in Ohio. I'm not looking for anybody's hunting spot, but am interested in asking about some key differences in hunting out east compared to Southern NV. I don't really expect to be able to draw tags this year, but let me know if there are any possibilities I might not be thinking of.

My expectations are that I'll be limited to coyotes and jackrabbits and doing a lot of scouting this season, due to the late start. Next season I should be a full-fledged resident, meeting the length of residency requirement. I'm expecting to need to get in shape, as hunting from the tree stands I'm used to is likely a bit less physically demanding than hunting in the desert mountains. I can't imagine there is a ton of waterfowl on Lake Mead and the Colorado River. Not sure how packed the hunting spots are for the fewer numbers of ducks and geese available.

My main questions are around how likely / unlikely it is to be drawn for big game tags. Assuming I'm in shape and capable of hunting the environment for each type, is it reasonably likely to be drawn if you put in for each big game species? I'd hate to pay the fees involved for all of the different types of big game without a reasonable chance of being drawn. Do hunters go years without being drawn? I've read a few articles on the topic, but I'm still not getting an idea of how likely it is.

Regarding jackrabbits in the desert, is this mostly done with spot and stalk, just waiting to ambush, or do you need dogs? Is it like hunting cottontails with beagles?

Anything else I'm not thinking of? Any information is appreciated.