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BIG GAME TAG DRAWINGS jim matthews column 28may08
Preference point drawing system works for deer but doesn't for other big game
By JIM MATTHEWS Outdoor News Service
The application deadline for all big game hunting tags is Monday, June 2, and this is the sixth year of the Department of Fish and Game's preference point system that applies to all premium deer, elk, pronghorn, and bighorn sheep tags.
So now it's time to say this: The system doesn't work for any big game hunt with less than about 100 tags, and it almost assures that new hunters who don't have the maximum number of preference points (six this year) will never get drawn for a sheep, elk, pronghorn, or a low-quota deer tag. This means it is prejudicial especially against new hunters.
The preference point system does seem to be working for deer hunters. You can look at the drawing odds and calculate just how many years at most it will take you to get a deer tag in any given zone. For example, the popular X5b zone in northeastern California, even the most unlucky of hunters who faithfully apply for this tag each year, and has since the beginning of the quota system, will get a tag by 2010 after eight years.
For people unfamiliar with the preference point system, including many hunters, some explaining may be necessary. It works this way: For each year you apply for any species of big game, and aren't drawn for your first choice tag, you receive a preference point. These are accumulated over time. For each zone or hunt, 90 percent of the deer tags (and no more than 75 percent of the total elk, pronghorn and bighorn tags) are placed in the preference point pool. The hunters who apply for that tag with the most points get first crack at those preference point pool tags.
For example, last year there were 115 tags in X5b, with 104 in the preference point pool. There were 2,930 hunters who put this hunt as their first choice, but only 315 of those had the maximum number of preference points (five last year). All 104 tags in the preference pool quota were issued to hunters out of that group who applied with five preference points. The remaining 11 tags were drawn from the remaining pool of 2,826 hunters who did not have a maximum number of preference points. (If you were one of those, you should have gone to Vegas or Reno the day of the drawing.) At the current rate of application, you can just about bank on the fact that you will get an X5b tag every eight years, although falling tag numbers could stretch that a year or two.
In zones with higher quotas or less interest, it might not take the maximum number of preference points to be drawn for a tag. For example, the popular Eastern Sierra deer zone around Mammoth Lakes X9a the quota was 750 tags in 2007, with 675 of those in the preference pool. There were a total of 2,475 first-choice applications, but only six hunters applied with five preference points obviously getting tags. But everyone who applied for X9a as their first choice with two, three or four preference points also received a tag last year. The lowest preference point value receiving an X9a tag was 1 1/2. How do you get a half point? If you apply as a party with other hunters, the DFG averages the point totals among the hunters applying. The stats show that you can be pretty sure of getting an X9a tag every three years, worst case scenario.
While the system works for most of the major deer hunts with tag quotas over 100, it just about assures that hunters who have not applied every year since the system was instituted in 2002 will likely never have a shot at preference pool tags and face worse odds than ever before in the non-preference pool, especially for other trophy big game.
The better pronghorn hunts in the northeastern California have 40 buck tags, with 75 percent in the preference pool. At the current application rates it will take at least 20 to 30 years for every hunter who's applied every year since 2002 to get a tag. In the ramdom pool, the odds of getting a tag in any given year hover around one-in-300, worse than they've ever been for new hunters.
Bighorn sheep tags are so few in number that odds have always been astronomical, but the preference point system has only helped the 3,300 or so hunters who applied every year since the preference point system began. For the other 7,000 hunters who apply without the maximum number of points, like my two sons, the system has assured they face even greater odds at getting a tag.
I happen to believe that hunters should be rewarded for persistence in apply for tags, but the preference point system is too biased against new hunters. It should be called the prejudicial point system. The DFG needs to level the playing field and make preference points for the low-tag hunts a bonus point system and keep everyone in the same pool. A bonus point system simply means that for each year you don't draw, you get another opportunity in the draw the next year. Guys who've accumulated six bonus points, are like having six additional people in the drawing. But everyone has a shot at every one of the tags in the tag quota.
This improves the odds slightly for the first-time application, while still improving the odds for the multi-year applicant.
Lastly, the DFG needs to do away with auction tags for all big game species and put those tags back into the general drawings. It is offensive that the state is selling the soul of hunting to the highest bidder, while cheating the thousands of hunters who support the program year after year out of a chance at that tag.
The DFG is offering three bighorn sheep auction tags for 2008, one more than last year, and a total of just 20 drawing tags, also one more than last year. The bighorn auction tags are sold to the highest bidder at fundraising dinners and raised $132,500 for sheep management last year. The state sold 10 deer tags at auction, two pronghorn tags, and three elk tags. The total money raised for all the auction tags, including sheep, was $433,600.
If the DFG needs money (which it doesn't it needs inspired management), I like the idea of raffle tags so everyone who wants to fork out $5 or $10 gets a crack at a special tag and feels good about supporting wildlife management, and if a wealthy guy wants to buy $60,000 worth of raffle tickets on the gamble that he'll get that tag, that's fine with me, too. But I don't think we should just give the tag away to the highest bidder.
We've had both the preference point system and auction tags for a number of years more than enough time to honestly evaluate the two systems and see their drawbacks and fix them. It's time for the fix.
Preference point drawing system works for deer but doesn't for other big game
By JIM MATTHEWS Outdoor News Service
The application deadline for all big game hunting tags is Monday, June 2, and this is the sixth year of the Department of Fish and Game's preference point system that applies to all premium deer, elk, pronghorn, and bighorn sheep tags.
So now it's time to say this: The system doesn't work for any big game hunt with less than about 100 tags, and it almost assures that new hunters who don't have the maximum number of preference points (six this year) will never get drawn for a sheep, elk, pronghorn, or a low-quota deer tag. This means it is prejudicial especially against new hunters.
The preference point system does seem to be working for deer hunters. You can look at the drawing odds and calculate just how many years at most it will take you to get a deer tag in any given zone. For example, the popular X5b zone in northeastern California, even the most unlucky of hunters who faithfully apply for this tag each year, and has since the beginning of the quota system, will get a tag by 2010 after eight years.
For people unfamiliar with the preference point system, including many hunters, some explaining may be necessary. It works this way: For each year you apply for any species of big game, and aren't drawn for your first choice tag, you receive a preference point. These are accumulated over time. For each zone or hunt, 90 percent of the deer tags (and no more than 75 percent of the total elk, pronghorn and bighorn tags) are placed in the preference point pool. The hunters who apply for that tag with the most points get first crack at those preference point pool tags.
For example, last year there were 115 tags in X5b, with 104 in the preference point pool. There were 2,930 hunters who put this hunt as their first choice, but only 315 of those had the maximum number of preference points (five last year). All 104 tags in the preference pool quota were issued to hunters out of that group who applied with five preference points. The remaining 11 tags were drawn from the remaining pool of 2,826 hunters who did not have a maximum number of preference points. (If you were one of those, you should have gone to Vegas or Reno the day of the drawing.) At the current rate of application, you can just about bank on the fact that you will get an X5b tag every eight years, although falling tag numbers could stretch that a year or two.
In zones with higher quotas or less interest, it might not take the maximum number of preference points to be drawn for a tag. For example, the popular Eastern Sierra deer zone around Mammoth Lakes X9a the quota was 750 tags in 2007, with 675 of those in the preference pool. There were a total of 2,475 first-choice applications, but only six hunters applied with five preference points obviously getting tags. But everyone who applied for X9a as their first choice with two, three or four preference points also received a tag last year. The lowest preference point value receiving an X9a tag was 1 1/2. How do you get a half point? If you apply as a party with other hunters, the DFG averages the point totals among the hunters applying. The stats show that you can be pretty sure of getting an X9a tag every three years, worst case scenario.
While the system works for most of the major deer hunts with tag quotas over 100, it just about assures that hunters who have not applied every year since the system was instituted in 2002 will likely never have a shot at preference pool tags and face worse odds than ever before in the non-preference pool, especially for other trophy big game.
The better pronghorn hunts in the northeastern California have 40 buck tags, with 75 percent in the preference pool. At the current application rates it will take at least 20 to 30 years for every hunter who's applied every year since 2002 to get a tag. In the ramdom pool, the odds of getting a tag in any given year hover around one-in-300, worse than they've ever been for new hunters.
Bighorn sheep tags are so few in number that odds have always been astronomical, but the preference point system has only helped the 3,300 or so hunters who applied every year since the preference point system began. For the other 7,000 hunters who apply without the maximum number of points, like my two sons, the system has assured they face even greater odds at getting a tag.
I happen to believe that hunters should be rewarded for persistence in apply for tags, but the preference point system is too biased against new hunters. It should be called the prejudicial point system. The DFG needs to level the playing field and make preference points for the low-tag hunts a bonus point system and keep everyone in the same pool. A bonus point system simply means that for each year you don't draw, you get another opportunity in the draw the next year. Guys who've accumulated six bonus points, are like having six additional people in the drawing. But everyone has a shot at every one of the tags in the tag quota.
This improves the odds slightly for the first-time application, while still improving the odds for the multi-year applicant.
Lastly, the DFG needs to do away with auction tags for all big game species and put those tags back into the general drawings. It is offensive that the state is selling the soul of hunting to the highest bidder, while cheating the thousands of hunters who support the program year after year out of a chance at that tag.
The DFG is offering three bighorn sheep auction tags for 2008, one more than last year, and a total of just 20 drawing tags, also one more than last year. The bighorn auction tags are sold to the highest bidder at fundraising dinners and raised $132,500 for sheep management last year. The state sold 10 deer tags at auction, two pronghorn tags, and three elk tags. The total money raised for all the auction tags, including sheep, was $433,600.
If the DFG needs money (which it doesn't it needs inspired management), I like the idea of raffle tags so everyone who wants to fork out $5 or $10 gets a crack at a special tag and feels good about supporting wildlife management, and if a wealthy guy wants to buy $60,000 worth of raffle tickets on the gamble that he'll get that tag, that's fine with me, too. But I don't think we should just give the tag away to the highest bidder.
We've had both the preference point system and auction tags for a number of years more than enough time to honestly evaluate the two systems and see their drawbacks and fix them. It's time for the fix.
