Commission Encourages Preference Points

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has directed the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to further investigate a point system for controlled hunts in Idaho. Dr. Wayne Wright, Commissioner from the Magic Valley Region made the motion at the commission meeting on Friday, January 21. "It's a very popular concept right now." Wright said. "I think we're faced with the reality that there's a real demand out there." Such a system would award points to those who apply for controlled hunts, but whose names are not drawn. In theory, a hunter's odds would increase each time he/she was unsuccessful at drawing. At a Commission workshop earlier in the week, Wildlife Chief Jim Unsworth presented the Commission with a detailed analysis of the pros and cons of such a program, based on points programs already in use in Nevada and Oregon. He provided the Commission with documentation showing how the systems work in those states. "Generally people with the most points drew a permit." said Unsworth as he ran down the numbers from Nevada's system of bonus points. However, Unsworth said such systems are of little value in hunts with the least odds of drawing. "For hunts that are easy to draw, it (Oregon's preference point system) works well." he said "It falls apart in hunts that have less than ten percent odds of drawing." In Idaho a substantial percentage of people applying for controlled hunts are putting in for those hunts with less than a ten percent chance of drawing, including 45 percent of deer applicants, 50 percent of antelope applicants, 53 percent of goat applicants, and 92 percent of sheep applicants. Of course, any time you increase one person's odds of success, you decrease those of another. Some in the department are concerned that youth hunters would suffer under such a plan since they would inherently have fewer, if any points. Oregon's preference point system attempts to deal with this potential dilemma by awarding 75 percent of tags to those with the most points and drawing the remaining 25 percent from a pool of all applicants. Another downside to a preference point system would be the cost. Implementation and maintenance could cost the department as much as 660 thousand dollars per year. According to Unsworth the department would likely have to increase application fees from the current $6 to approximately $10 to cover those costs. Unsworth also stressed the fact that while a point system would increase the odds for hunters who persevere, the luck (or bad luck) factor would never be eliminated. "I can tell a hunter I'm not guaranteeing you a tag, but you are going to increase your odds of drawing. Your odds are better, but there's still no guarantee." Fish and Game staff will work to develop a proposal that will be presented to the Commission at a future meeting. If a preference point system is adopted it will not apply to the 2005 season.