fair enough, i mis-spoke, disregard what i said previously, im glad to hear people got the call for a returned tag. The decision should have to be made within a couple weeks, likely the returned tags are due to drawing 2 of the same species (bull elk and cow elk) and only have one tag in their pocket. Instead it can be made into a little bit of a game, hunt the regular season, if you fill your tag then great, return the later tag if able and get points back, or if you dont fill your regular season, then at least you have the late tag to hunt. If they gave you 1 month from release of permits to make your desicion, it would open the opportunity for alot of hunters and use the tags as designed (to be hunted).
I believe I have seen posts about a person receiving a permit that had been returned. So I think it does happen, but probably not every time.
I understand that if a dude breaks his ankle a few weeks before season, or a fire breaks out in the unit shortly before the season, it may not be reissued due to time constraints. The fact that the department told the member who returned a couple of tags that they wouldn't be reissued with months to do so is absurd. I hope the person he was talking to was just ignorant.
As mentioned earlier in this thread, I received a returned ewe tag 2 years ago.
That's awesome! I'm glad you got that opportunity. That's how it should work.
My FIL received a returned doe tag last season. WDFW called him and asked if he wanted it.
It was a few months before season IIRC.
