First off they didn't take those 12,000 out of the pool of tags. They cut tags all over the state and then added in this new "private lands only" hunt.
The reason they started this hunt is to move elk off of private lands during the general cow hunts etc and back onto public lands where everybody can mow a cow down. The only problem with this ideology is that F&G did nothing to help grant access to these private lands that are supposedly run over with elk.
I highly doubt anyone here will know anyone who will let you hunt their land or if they do you will end up paying some serious $$$ to shoot a skin headed yellow stinky.
I wouldn't waste my $50 on this tag unless I had property or already had access locked down. If F&G would have locked down access to begin with then it would have been a good idea and probably a great hunt.