LAST EDITED ON Sep-28-16 AT 09:51AM (MST)[p]"Solutions" to the problem are not easy to come by. Utahns want our cake and to eat it too. We all like putting in for a Limited Entry hunt, but still want our general season tags as well. The first, and hardest change, would be to keep LE hunts and GS hunts COMPLETELY SEPARATE. In other words, you can only put in for one or the other, not both. I've been posting this similar plan for years, and it's a hard pill to swallow, but here's some RESIDENT numbers to consider:
Last year, there were 35,598 people that put in for 1,429 LE Deer Hunts. There were 118,228 people put in for 64,405 General Season Deer tags. Assuming all 35,598 also put in for General Season permits (I know they didn't), if they had been forced to choose only LE, there would have only been 82,630 people putting in for 64,405 GS tags, increasing the GS draw rate from 54.5% to 77.9%. That is one improvement we would all like to see.
A portion of those 35,598 LE people include thousands of people who hunt on private lands with general season tags (maybe 5%- 1,780.?). I believe that most of them would no longer choose the LE pathway as their odds of drawing a GS tag on the private land that they own/hunt/operate will increase, giving them greater opportunity, and the quality of deer on those lands is often similar to many of the LE Deer units. The "sting" of having to choose for those individuals would be quite tame. If that were to happen, then the point creep in the LE system begins to reduce. (I realize the GS draw percentage would dip, ever so slightly, possibly to 72.9%) (An increase from 82,630 to 84,410 in the GS draw) (and a reduction in LE applicants to 33,818).
In addition, I believe you would see a large number of individuals sporting between 0 and 4 LE Bonus Points choose to abandon the LE pathway in favor of the GS pathway. Current numbers between 0-4 LE BPs is 18,962 (more than half of all LE applicants). Making some assumptions, as many as 8,634 of those individuals would move to the GS pathway, raising that number to 93,044; 69.2% draw rate. But this would also reduce the LE applicants to 25,184- increasing the overall draw rate from 4% to 5.7%
So, to this point, we have increased the draw rate for GS tags from 54.5 to 69.2, and increase of 27%. And the LE draw rate from 4 to 5.7, an increase of 42.5%. These percentages represent increased opportunity. On one hand it is increased opportunity for a tag every year in GS, or an increase in opportunity on LE units, reducing point creep (and possibly eliminating it- can you imagine tags being awarded at a rate commensurate with new applicants..??)
Now, to further reduce LE point creep, CWMU permits (purchased, not drawn) need to come into play. Currently, an individual can put in for LE units, and if they don't draw, they can purchase a CWMU tag from the CWMU operator. Now, unfortunately, I can't seem to find how many CWMU tags are given out to CWMU owners/operators to sell. I did find the number of drawn tags in the harvest reports here:
https://wildlife.utah.gov/hunting/biggame/pdf/2015/2015_le_oial_hr.pdf
I would implement a rule that treated purchased CWMU permits exactly as CWMU permits that public hunters put in for currently- you can't do both an LE and CWMU application, it has to be one or the other. For example, if you have to choose between GS or LE as I am proposing, current CWMU draw permits would be considered like LE tags, as they are now. However, if you put in for a GS tag, or an LE tag and you don't draw, you are ineligible to purchase a CWMU tag for that same species in that same year. Because there are no current numbers posted about CWMU permit purchasers, it is hard to say just how many guys/girls are putting in for LE units, getting their "Unsuccessful", and then buying a CWMU tag. But, I think we could all agree it does happen. If not drawing an LE or GS tag made an individual ineligible to purchase CWMU tags, they would likely opt OUT of the LE and GS pools and simply plan on buying their CWMU permit each year. Though I have no numbers for purchased CWMU tags, there were 1,864 CWMU draw tags last year, and that is only a percentage of the total CWMU tags given out to be sold by owners/operators. I think no matter how many the actual number is, it is obvious that it would remove hundreds if not thousands of people from both the GS and LE permits pools.
I would leave auction and expo tags as they are, for the time being. Gotta give baby her bottle. wink wink, nudge nudge.
I think the same system could be implemented with elk as well.
So, there is my long-winded idea for reducing point creep, and increasing opportunity. It involves drastic changes that I don't think will ever take place. But I think it would increase opportunity, increase quality/quantity of deer/bucks, and give everyone that is monetarily supported by hunting exactly what they are getting now anyway.
"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24