1st Choice, 2nd Choice, etc.

[fremont]

Sorry to be dense, but I don't understand this 1st choice, 2nd choice....stuff as far as permits.

Is there an advantage to do it one way over another?

[bobcat]

I'm not sure I understand the question, but when you apply for a permit, to increase your odds of drawing, you will want to put down all four choices, and put them in order of the most difficult to the easiest to draw. Of course if you are only interested in hunting one particular GMU, then only apply for that one until you draw it. For me, lately I've gotten to the point where I just want to draw ANY special permit, just so I can avoid hunting the general season. So on the elk application I will apply for a couple of good bull hunts as my first choices then a couple of cow permits as choice 3 and 4. And for deer I apply for some of the less popular hunts, but also for my first choice will apply for a popular hunt such as Desert. Doing it this way I won't be accumulating a lot of points, but I've decided 10 or 12 years is too long to wait. I won't be doing that anymore.

[fremont]

How does the draw actually work?  I still don't understand how they incorporate everyone's choices and make it happen.   

[bobcat]

How does the draw actually work?  I still don't understand how they incorporate everyone's choices and make it happen.  

You may want to read this:  http://wdfw.wa.gov/faq/wpsfaq.htm

If you have any more specific questions after reading that, then go ahead and ask.

[fremont]

Thank you, Bobcat.  For some reason, I never had seen that before.  So, from my reading, you're actually losing out by not applying for all four choices.

Q: How do the hunt choices work?
A: When the drawing occurs, it is as if all of the applications for a species are placed in a barrel. The computer spins the barrel by issuing random numbers to each application. The lowest random number that is issued to each application is the number used to order the applications from the lowest random number to the highest. It is the same as drawing cards from a barrel one by one. The application with the lowest random number is drawn first from the barrel and the hunt choices are checked. As each application comes up for consideration, the first hunt choice is checked to see if there is a permit left to be awarded. If there is none left, the second hunt choice is checked. If there is a permit available for that hunt choice, the application is selected for that hunt. If not, the process continues until all of the hunt choices on the application have been checked. If all of the hunt choices marked on the card have run out of permits, no permits are awarded to that application.

[bobcat]

Thank you, Bobcat.  For some reason, I never had seen that before.  So, from my reading, you're actually losing out by not applying for all four choices.

Well, not necessarily "losing out." It all depends on the specific situation, and how many points you've accumulated. But if there are four hunts available that you'd be willing to give up your points for, then you would want to be sure to put all 4 choices down, in order from most popular to least popular.