DallanC
By definition then, each Region is a LE region right now and not a general permit. It doesn't matter what each unit is called, but yes, they all do become LE based on a cap of permits available. Should we still have PP vs BP if this were to happen, probably not.
I also have 2 PP for general deer. However, I have hunted deer each year by buying an over the counter permit (although I believe this will go away with the new rule of getting your 2nd or 3rd choice and not loosing your PP). So, in 2007 you must have drawn a general deer permit for the central region. I hope you did well. I hope to draw a general permit for the southern region this year. Thus, the reason I referenced the 2-3 years between hunts in the "LE" unit I apply for.
I don't know what Nevada has to do with Utah and why Utah would end up like Nevada? If the UDWR does not manage each unit per their "5 Year Deer Plan", then I suspect hunting could suck on some units.
I know people shoot big deer every year and most of those are taken miles from a road. I'm sure you are not trying to infer that I hunt from the road and are willing to wait a few years between hunting. I by far prefer to get away from the roads. I'm sure there are many that fall into the lazy catagory.
To let you know, I base my understanding of the smaller managment units on how Colorado does it. I have either hunted Colorado myself or taken my kids there to hunt for the last 7 years. Although, we just bought points last year due to other commitments and I'm glad we did based on the number of deer lost and how slow the hunting was in 2008. We've been able hunt the unit we want too almost every year. Now if Colorado will do the right thing and cut more permits for this year, then we likely will not be hunting there in 2009 with only 1 PP. I can wait yet another year if that's what it takes and then maybe the deer herd will rebound and more permits can be allocated in the years to come.
The same thing should happen in Utah. The UDWR should reduce permits in units that do not meet the deer plan until the deer herd meets objectives. You can't do that when all these small units are within one big region. You can't control where hunters go, they will still hunt where the buck to doe ratio is not at objective and keep complaining to the UDWR that they need to do something about the lack of bucks. Let me use the Monore as an example: How many people will hunt some other unit within the southern region on the Saturday opening day and then head on over to the Monroe on Wedensday and hunt the opening of that hunt. What was the UDWR thinking? If they would have been able to limit the number of hunters on the Monroe this year, then maybe next year or the year after the UDWR could begin increasing permits if the buck to doe ratio met objective. As it is, I don't see the Monroe getting any better on buck to doe ratio with this asinine 5 day hunt starting on a Wednesday.
I appreciate the dialogue we are having and I hope that others reading these posts will provide their input.
Smokepole