Quality Elk Applicants in 2018

[Johnny Doe]

I know this is usually reserved for a "winter" activity, my curiosity got the best of me.  I was looking at a the odds/applicant stats for a couple of tags that family members drew this year and I was blown away by how many people applied for certain hunts this year in comparison to last!  We are talking 10x the number of applicants for certain tags    A little more investigation shows that overall applicants (quality elk) went from 25,376 in 2017 to 31,587 in 2018...Was everyone asleep last year??

Figured I would get the ball rolling on this one even though the season is far from over!!!  I know there are a few other guys on here that enjoy toying with the stats.  What say you?

[Mr Mykiss]

I think 31,000 is roughly the number of applications that Mountain View will have next year...

[X-Force]

I think 31,000 is roughly the number of applications that Mountain View will have next year...

I know that’s what I’m applying for... me and my whole family. Coastie caravan!

[bobcat]

Are you sure you're looking at the correct numbers, as they haven't even put up the 2018 drawing results summary yet.

[bobcat]

Never mind. I just looked again and while the link is titled 2017 Drawing Result Summaries, it is in fact the 2018 summary.

[BULLBLASTER]

I think 31,000 is roughly the number of applications that Mountain View will have next year...

That’s a train I won’t be jumping on. 

That place chewed me up and spit me out a few years ago and I don’t need a repeat. 

[OltHunter]

So here's the deal - the 2018 31,587 is including points only applications.  The 2017 link does not include them.

2018 Point only 6,503.  31,587 - 6,503 = 25,084.

https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/permits/results/points/2018.php - Quality Elk applicants - 25,084
https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/permits/results/points/2017.php - Quality Elk applicants - 25,376
https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/permits/results/points/2016.php - Quality Elk applicants - 32,652

So there was actually a drop in overall applicants applying for Quality elk tags and 23% drop overall from 2016. 

Consistent with the 2016 winter kill, 50% reduction for Yakima herd, I'm sure more and more are doing points options, while others drop off and head out of state.

I did pull the PDF details into excel and there was still a large increase in the points pool compared to 2017...point creep is a killer!  Yakima's were up around 50%.  Blues were up around 100%.  With the cut in tags, the Blue's probably were more favorable a few percentage points so i'm sure a few Yakima hunters on the edge put their odds with the Blues tags. 

[Johnny Doe]

So here's the deal - the 2018 31,587 is including points only applications.  The 2017 link does not include them.

2018 Point only 6,503.  31,587 - 6,503 = 25,084.

https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/permits/results/points/2018.php - Quality Elk applicants - 25,084
https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/permits/results/points/2017.php - Quality Elk applicants - 25,376
https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/permits/results/points/2016.php - Quality Elk applicants - 32,652

So there was actually a drop in overall applicants applying for Quality elk tags and 23% drop overall from 2016. 

Consistent with the 2016 winter kill, 50% reduction for Yakima herd, I'm sure more and more are doing points options, while others drop off and head out of state.

I did pull the PDF details into excel and there was still a large increase in the points pool compared to 2017...point creep is a killer!  Yakima's were up around 50%.  Blues were up around 100%.  With the cut in tags, the Blue's probably were more favorable a few percentage points so i'm sure a few Yakima hunters on the edge put their odds with the Blues tags.

That's what I was looking for!  Thank's OltHunter!! 

What I still find crazy is the number of applicants on a few choice Blue's hunts went up exponentially!
Example: 2017 Wenaha W. Rifle had 435 Applicants
              2018 Wenaha W. Rifle had 1548 Applicants   

This was the same in several other units that I looked at??

[Reidus]

Is there a big bull in the Rimrock during rifle season that I didn't know about?

[X-Force]

Man I want those application numbers to be increasing by at least the number they are currently decreasing

[Mr Mykiss]

That’s the deal...if applications are increasing everywhere, shouldn’t they be decreasing somewhere else?

[Mr Mykiss]

In the meantime I say WDFW just creates a unit called “North Mountain View” and “East Colockum”...that should draw some apps

[B4noon]

Moose,sheep, and goat saw the same increases

[Shawn Ryan]

I think 31,000 is roughly the number of applications that Mountain View will have next year...

Can I claim any part of a kickback from the State for contributing to any increase in app fees?  I need to fund my San Carlos Apache Res hunt.

[Reidus]

I think 31,000 is roughly the number of applications that Mountain View will have next year...

Can I claim any part of a kickback from the State for contributing to any increase in app fees?  I need to fund my San Carlos Apache Res hunt.

Isn't the wait list for that like 1k people long?