What Happens If You Stop Buying Preference Points?
The short answer — it’s not really a pause
A lot of guys think skipping a year on preference points is no big deal, like they’re just hitting pause and can pick things back up later. That’s not really how these systems work. When you stop buying points, you’re not holding your spot—you’re letting everyone else move ahead of you. The system keeps going whether you’re in it or not, and that’s where people get caught off guard.
What actually happens when you skip
If you miss a year in states like Wyoming, Colorado, or Utah, nothing dramatic happens right away, but you do lose momentum. Everyone else keeps building, more people apply, more points stack, and the number it takes to draw keeps creeping up. So even though your total stays the same, your position quietly slides backward. Give it a couple years and that gap gets bigger than most people expect.
Why point creep makes it worse
This is really where it hits. Say a unit used to take five points and now it takes seven. If you stopped buying during that time, you didn’t just stay at five—you fell further behind. The target isn’t standing still. Point creep keeps pushing things out, and skipping years makes it harder to catch back up.
Not all states hit the same
It depends where you’re applying. In preference point states like Wyoming and Colorado, skipping directly affects your place in line—you’re getting passed by everyone who stayed consistent. In bonus states like Arizona or Nevada, it’s not as harsh, but you still lose another year of chances, which adds up over time. Either way, consistency always wins.
When it might actually make sense
There are times it’s fine to stop. If you’re done applying in a state, there’s no reason to keep buying points you won’t use. Or if the system changed and no longer fits your goals, it might be time to move on. But randomly skipping without a plan is where people lose years without realizing it.
A better way to think about it
Instead of asking if you should skip, ask if the state still fits your plan. If it does, stay consistent and keep building. If it doesn’t, make a clean decision and move on. The worst place to be is halfway in—buying some years, skipping others, and never really progressing.
Where people mess this up
Some hunters skip a year or two and expect to come back in the same spot. Others quit entirely out of frustration, not realizing they were closer than they thought. And a lot of guys just keep buying points every year with no real plan for using them. That’s how you end up ten years in with nothing to show for it.
Final thought
Stopping your points isn’t always wrong, but doing it without a plan usually is. These systems reward consistency. If you’re in, stay in. If you’re out, be intentional. Anything in between just drags things out.
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