Free: Contests & Raffles.
I have never had a problem with our current permit draw system. It gives all a chance at only 4 draws and favors those with more points. There are always exceptions but the odds favor those with more points depending on the type of hunt you applied for. I have drawn both deer and elk and now have few points but I accept the fact that in the current system my odds are less. I think this new permit system and how crazy it seems just really shows that we currently DO have a fair and decent system. "If it ain't broke...don't fix it". I see this as just a cash grab for the state and a system with tenfold the problems they have had in the past or just a HUGE "ClusterFock"....or something like that................Les
I'm curious how the department plans on supporting this two tag option withthe current status of our herds. Mostly, the elk are doing fine, though some would argue the Clock and Blues are having some recruitment issues. The Methow deer population is horrible to anyone that spends any time out there. No matter what Fitkin says, in order to push his wolf agenda, that herd is in trouble. They are one step away from catastrophic. One late spring, one more heavy winter. This is a whole other topic, but increasing antlerless oppurtunities to try to offset the decreased odds everywhere else is NUTS. You want to fix the odds, and have this system, go to 2 choices on a permit app. One antlered and one antlerless. You get the same revenue, increase odds and oppurtunity. We can all sit here and argue about odds and choices etc. but I think we can all agree this proposal SUCKS, whether you have zero points or 12, a seasoned hunter, or a kid just starting out.
In my opinion the best way to make odds better would be to increase the cost of a special permit application. It's only $5 now. Make it $20 or $25 each. That's still not a lot of money but when somebody starts thinking about applying for 5, or 6, or more different permit categories, it would really add up. And think of non-resident fees... to come up with non-resident fees the WDFW simply multiplies resident fees by 10. So all these non-residents that are applying for our moose, mountain goat, and bighorn sheep tags for $50, would be paying $200 if we were paying $20. So a lot of non-residents would be taken out of the drawings, and also the wives, grandmothers, etc that get put into the drawings just because it's so cheap.
If they want to raise revenue................have an application for the high hunt. ANOTHER $10 permit app.
Sell Wolf tags! $50 a pop from residents $300 from Non res.
UP FRONT the cash, draw interest off of the funds while they hold it, and have the fees way higher, such as $1000 or more even for resident. WAY higher for non res.
by the way...for the more serious hunters, more time in the field often equates to a higher harvest, an d before too long more restrictions will need to be in place. You never know westside guys, with all the new pressure to take your branch anltered bulls, you might have to go to spike only as well.
If they simply reduced the amount of permit choices a guy had and raised the application fee a few bucks, then that would be something I could support.
I don't think the existing points an applicant has should be put into every pool. I think we should have to choose one pool of where we want it. If more than one hunt is drawn by a single applicant I think they should have to choose the one they want and the other goes to an alternate.
