Commission Adopts Bonus Point System

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has decided to offer a bonus point system in controlled hunt drawings. Commissioners voted 6-1 when they met in Boise January 11-13 to adopt a bonus point system that would increase the odds of drawing a controlled hunt permit for unsuccessful applicants. Southwest Region Commissioner John Watts voted against the proposal, saying it would lead controlled hunt rules to unintended complexity without a compelling increase in the odds of drawing a permit. The system would become effective in 2007. It would cost about $210,000 to run, paid by a $2 application fee increase, which would need Legislative approval. Commissioners acted in response to hunters who say persistence in entering controlled hunt drawings should be rewarded. "Hunters wanted some sort of point or reward system," Commissioner Wayne Wright of Twin Falls said. A survey of hunter opinions showed that feelings were split on the fairness of the existing system. A majority of hunters favored a bonus point system, but most opposed increased application fees to pay for the system. A Fish and Game analysis of bonus point systems concluded that in drawings where the chance of success is less than 10 percent, "a bonus point system will only marginally improve an applicant's chance of success." In drawings where the chances are greater than 10 percent, however, the system dramatically improves the odds of success. Numbers included in a recent survey of hunter opinions about the controlled hunt drawing showed that the odds in Idaho's low-interest drawings are 25 percent and high-interest odds are five percent of drawing a permit. Under a bonus point system the odds would start lower but increase with the accumulation of points each consecutive year. Under a system used by Nevada, the odds for a high-interest hunt start at two percent the first two years, jump to six percent the third year and rise to 12 percent in the fifth year. The commissioners directed Fish and Game staff to develop rules for a bonus point system.