washington big game permits

[4ptbuck]

Every year i put in for Washington hunts and never draw a tag, yea i only put in for the best hunts but i am getting a little frustrated with the system. any other state with 10 points you could draw any tag you wanted what is the deal with washington

[SHANE(WA)]

i dunno about moose, sheep and goat in any other state. maybe a quality hunt for elk and deer.The most sought after bucks and bull tags in UT,CO,MT and WY are 15 pt draws now at least. people have to remember we live in the most populated state in the west,besides cali, we are hunting very small areas for these tags with all these people applying for very limited amount of tags and area,say compared to CO. We just dont compare in opportunity to these other states, nothing u can do about it,but apply in other states or move to a better state.

[bobcat]

The difference is we have over the counter tags which we can buy and hunt the general seasons. If they eliminated the general seasons and went to draw only for deer and elk, you'd see most people drawing permits with just a point or two. That's the way it is in Oregon.

[wastickslinger]

Also permits are only $5.

[Bob33]

Check out some other state's draw odds.

NV: http://ndow.org/hunt/apps/bonus/2008/2008_res_elk_bonus_points.pdf

Scroll to page three and look under the column for 161-164E.  There were 31 resident applicants with 16 points.  One drew.

The best tags will always be hard to draw.  If they were easy, they would no longer be quality tags.  What would the bull quality be in Margaret (Wenaha, Dayton, you name it) if the state offered 1000 permits each year in these units?

Sad but true: most of us will end up with lots of unused points.  I know I will.

[NRA4LIFE]

 Colorado's top elk units take 17 or 18 points to draw.  And here's the fun part, they've been incrementing up by one every year for about 10 years now.  Figure that one out, i.e, you may never draw.  Look at area 201's draw stats.

[General Disarray]

why not come out and set a maximum point number of say 20? Then instead of squaring your point total, cube it or more and give those with max points that much better odds while still giving everyone a shot.

[SHANE(WA)]

Some of these states will have to come up with a new system , new hunters in 10 yrs will have no chance at all!

[B.G.hunter]

I agree with shane washington has more people than all the other western state except California and they don't count.  Plus we have less land also.  So units are smaller and draw chances are harder.

[Elkaholic daWg]

Also permits are only $5.

 All fees will go up 20%  soon. Wouldn't surprise me if it were July 1  By the way 14 pts elk = nuthin if youre after a Colockum tag

[shanevg]

I really am getting sick of all these complaints about how stupid WA's system is.  There are problems with WDFW, that is for sure (see the redraw a few years back).  But they are doing things right.  The hunters in this state are asking for a point system, so that's what we get.  They want the people with the most points to get drawn, that's what is happening.  The problem is not the system, it is the number of tags.  We can argue all day about whether or not WDFW's management practices are sound, I personally believe they have a relatively conservative approach to tag numbers, especially for the OIL tags.  But they have very specific reasons and research for the number of tags they put out.  And, as has been stated previously, we have a high human popolation, and not that much land compared to many other Western states, so we just can't support as many tags.  It's just a fact that when you have 2600 people applying for 15 rut rifle deer tags, it is going to be hard to get drawn, even with max points.  That is not a reflection on the quality of the state's system, but on the number of tags relative to hunters.  If you want a better chance of being drawn, then you should be willing to accept the general season tags being taken away.

The real flaw with the system is that many of the young hunters are getting less and less of a chance of ever getting drawn.  Like Shane(WA) said, the hunters that start applying 10 years from now are going to be at such a disadvantage that they will never realistically have a chance of drawing a coveted tag.  I like the following suggestion:

why not come out and set a maximum point number of say 20? Then instead of squaring your point total, cube it or more and give those with max points that much better odds while still giving everyone a shot.

That way, people with max points will definitely have a huge advantage of people with less, but it will still be possible for younger hunters to catch up to the max.  It really is the only way to solve the problem of our point system.

[NRA4LIFE]

I believe anybody that starts applying right now will have almost no chance at drawing OIL tags.  How many people applying for those have max points right now?  I bet it's A LOT.  And those people will be incrementing in points every year.  I gaurantee, the average points required to draw those permits will increment every year from now to eternity and the people just starting from scratch will be screwed, for the most part.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but there should be other incentives added when you get past 10 points like cubing or better like mentioned in earlier posts.  Just my opinion.

[Ihookum]

I think cubeing the points at a certain number just adds to the problem. Soon you will just have larger and larger point totals and people still not drawing.

I would like too see the choices go back to "one choice". I think that making people choose between a "trophy" hunt and a lesser hunt will free up alot of numbers. I've always put in for less known, harder work hunts and had great success. I guess I've come to realize that I'm never going to draw a Dessert or Margret tag. But, there are alot of tags that I can get with better draw odds and will get a fine animal of the same class.

[Branden]

I really am getting sick of all these complaints about how stupid WA's system is.

Agreed. It is far better then Colorado's where u have no chance of drawing the best units.

Two things that I think would make it easier to get a premium tag in this state would be, 1 choice on your application per species, and choosing between putting in for the special permit for that species and general season. Obviously it wouldn't affect OIL tags as much but would help if you really wanted to hunt some of the better deer and elk draws.

[General Disarray]

i still think you have to cap the points somewhere and give those with max points some sort of better odds.

How about dropping the choices down to 1 or 2 per application and having a prelim drawing using your points and a leftover drawing that would put everyone who wants in on leftover cow/doe/whatever tags without taking your points away?

I don't have a problem with the current system, yet. I see potential problems down the road.