Idaho Non-res hunt draw

[huntnnw]

I don’t believe it will be more than the total amount of people trying in the old system. I’ve read on multiple fb groups and hunt forums that people are not buying a non refundable license to apply and even more so on the more sought after units.

[ganghis]

For me, Idaho was a "let's see what place I get in the virtual line" option - if I got a decent number I'd hunt there, if not I'd go with another state I already had points in.  Didn't have any skin in the game, so it didn't hurt to try.  I'm much less likely to do it now that it's a draw format.  It'll be interesting to see how it shakes out, but I'm guessing there will be a lot fewer total applicants but that draw success on the more popular units will be fairly low. 

[Sneaky Squirrel]

I'm bummed that this is going to the draw. We would always make it a priority to go over and get our tags for Idaho the last 5 years or so.
With that being said, it will be interesting how this first year shakes out. I bet there will be less people trying to get tags this year than years previous due to buying the license before applying but they will no doubt sell out. Another item is the controlled hunts, most people with that try to apply in the general will now be playing the controlled game which will make odds go way down on the NR side.

[JPhelps]

In my opinion two things that would make this draw a lot better....
-OTC and Controlled Hunts combined in the same draw
-1st choice sweep then look at the remaining choices

This would make the odds for any hunt better and it forces people to choose where they would really like to hunt instead of shooting for the stars and settling on a hunt as your 4th choice.

[Mtnwalker]

In my opinion two things that would make this draw a lot better....
-OTC and Controlled Hunts combined in the same draw
-1st choice sweep then look at the remaining choices

This would make the odds for any hunt better and it forces people to choose where they would really like to hunt instead of shooting for the stars and settling on a hunt as your 4th choice.

Pretty sure it is a first choice sweep? My personal preference would be to keep the general tags separate from the controlled hunts but get rid of the secondary draws. 4 total draws is stupid

[kodiak06]

In my opinion two things that would make this draw a lot better....
-OTC and Controlled Hunts combined in the same draw
-1st choice sweep then look at the remaining choices

This would make the odds for any hunt better and it forces people to choose where they would really like to hunt instead of shooting for the stars and settling on a hunt as your 4th choice.

Pretty sure it is a first choice sweep? My personal preference would be to keep the general tags separate from the controlled hunts but get rid of the secondary draws. 4 total draws is stupid

Money talks and after seeing 60,000 plus non-res hunters in the QUE every year, Idaho figured out how to make more cash

[addicted1]

They never had 60,000 people in que ever. Most people were running 2-4 devices if not more.

[Pathfinder101]

I didn't play this year.  I only get so many days off and I'll burn some WY points for an antelope hunt next year instead. 

[blackveltbowhunter]

In my opinion two things that would make this draw a lot better....
-OTC and Controlled Hunts combined in the same draw
-1st choice sweep then look at the remaining choices

This would make the odds for any hunt better and it forces people to choose where they would really like to hunt instead of shooting for the stars and settling on a hunt as your 4th choice.

  spoken like someone who has lived thru the great washington draw reform of 2009. We are killing our draw odds by making so many options, cut down the options and force folks to choose between high odds of going on a hunt, or slim chance but potentially a dream tag.

[3nails]

They never had 60,000 people in que ever. Most people were running 2-4 devices if not more.

Myself and about 30 other people where I work would shut down the offices for a few minutes and get 10 computers per person going 

[kodiak06]

They never had 60,000 people in que ever. Most people were running 2-4 devices if not more.

Yea I just made it up... Your multiple device thing may be true but it's just opinion. I for fact was over 60k once after I got booted out of the system and when I came back several hours later was still in the que under the same number

[Antlershed]

I listened to the Hunt Backcountry (Exo) podcast they did with IDFG, and IDFG even spoke to how they have no idea how many people were actually trying due to being on multiple devices, so they are estimating demand.

[addicted1]

I can tell you that I had 2-3 devices going just in case something happened with my spot. I would also call in and wait until I was given the option for them to call me back. The one year where the system went full meltdown the phone option was the fastest for me and I got my tags pretty early in the day. I also know some of the people that were waiting in lines in Idaho also had been in the queue just in case they processed that faster. Clearly there is a demand, but I don’t think we will ever know what the demand really was. Even if you compare to this year, it’s a completely different system that will likely make more difficult to get tags (at least that is my guess).

[kodiak06]

I can tell you that I had 2-3 devices going just in case something happened with my spot. I would also call in and wait until I was given the option for them to call me back. The one year where the system went full meltdown the phone option was the fastest for me and I got my tags pretty early in the day. I also know some of the people that were waiting in lines in Idaho also had been in the queue just in case they processed that faster. Clearly there is a demand, but I don’t think we will ever know what the demand really was. Even if you compare to this year, it’s a completely different system that will likely make more difficult to get tags (at least that is my guess).

Cool part is there's no more chilling on the computer forever lol. The tags will sell but I think the general and reg draw tags should have been combined into one draw and not the multiple BS draws they came up with.

[Broomd]

Myself and about 30 other people where I work would shut down the offices for a few minutes and get 10 computers per person going 

Wow, what a joke for everyone else who wasn't gaming the system. Maybe the 'normal Joe' NRs will get a fair shot at a tag for once.  I know of locals who piled on the NR tags here every year for out-of-state friends as well, time to play fair.