IdyllwildArcher
FNG
I really wanted to hunt moose in Wyoming. I've hunted elk there 5 times and love the state.
But I'm dropping out of the WY moose race. Not out of necessity, but rather in protest. I could have stomached the tag price increase from around $1400 to around $2000 as I apply for moose tags in other states with similar tag prices. It's the preference point system and preference point cost that gets me.
A NR WY moose PP now costs $150 and you have to buy it to enter the race. And that's besides the application fee, just to play the game.
Here's the kicker: Most moose units in WY take 15-20 points to draw, with most of them being in the 17-19 range. I'm a younger guy. I wasn't around for the introduction of the system - I have 4 points. There are 5000 NRs with between 5 and 14 points, nearly 7000 people have 5 or more points, and WY currently gives out 57 NR moose tags per year and that number continues to drop as moose numbers drop.
At the current rate of tag allocation, that's an 87-122 year back log. If you're just getting into the game now, the picture is even worse as there's nearly 12,000 people with more points than you - so you're looking at close to a 200 year wait. Now of course, people drop out and no one live to 200, so that number is ridiculous, but it goes to show that my only chance of drawing comes when I'm very old, if ever.
I could hang on till I'm very old, but at $150/yr for "maybe," I'm insulted enough to vote with my wallet. Even if they didn't raise PP fees ever again in my lifetime, I'm still looking at paying 5 grand over my lifetime in just PP fees and I'm not guaranteed a tag so I'm gambling that 5 grand.
There are the 5 units with 6 random tags between them and that's where I and most everyone else with lower points puts in: Units 5, 24, 25, 26, and 38. But the odds in these units is dropping and tag numbers have been dropping in 5, 24, 25, and 26 due to wolves and I only see that continuing till the number of tags in these units drops below the needed amount to have a tag in the random pool and 24 will most likely lose one of its two soon. IMO, the random tag numbers will go from 6 to 2 in the next several years with overall WY 57 NR tags dropping along with moose numbers as they have, which only makes the preference point problem worse and diminishes the attractiveness of applying with a lower amount of points. Moose quality and numbers are going down in WY, but the costs to apply are going up.
Even if you have 10 points right now, there's still over 4000 people with more points than you.
In all honesty, if I didn't have to pay the PP cost, I'd keep applying, hoping to get a random tag even though the odds are ridiculous (one in 600 in 38, 1 in 100 in the other units), but I refuse to continue to pay for the turd that is the WY moose PP. When it was $75 or $100 or whatever it was, I looked at it as the cost of playing the game. But raising the price for something that has no value is just insulting.
I feel like if more people saw these numbers, that more people would drop out. Part of it is that you send in the tag cost + PP fee + application fee and just get less back when you don't draw, so it softens the blow.
But I don't think I'm the only one. I don't think it'll be enough people for WY to not see a net increase in revenue from the increase in cost, but I hope more people will see the reality of this ridiculous system and drop out.
And I won't be back till the fee is decreased or the asinine preference point system is either scrapped or changed to a bonus point system, which is the only solution to a system that creates an eventuality where only 80 year olds are the ones that draw a tag.
But I'm dropping out of the WY moose race. Not out of necessity, but rather in protest. I could have stomached the tag price increase from around $1400 to around $2000 as I apply for moose tags in other states with similar tag prices. It's the preference point system and preference point cost that gets me.
A NR WY moose PP now costs $150 and you have to buy it to enter the race. And that's besides the application fee, just to play the game.
Here's the kicker: Most moose units in WY take 15-20 points to draw, with most of them being in the 17-19 range. I'm a younger guy. I wasn't around for the introduction of the system - I have 4 points. There are 5000 NRs with between 5 and 14 points, nearly 7000 people have 5 or more points, and WY currently gives out 57 NR moose tags per year and that number continues to drop as moose numbers drop.
At the current rate of tag allocation, that's an 87-122 year back log. If you're just getting into the game now, the picture is even worse as there's nearly 12,000 people with more points than you - so you're looking at close to a 200 year wait. Now of course, people drop out and no one live to 200, so that number is ridiculous, but it goes to show that my only chance of drawing comes when I'm very old, if ever.
I could hang on till I'm very old, but at $150/yr for "maybe," I'm insulted enough to vote with my wallet. Even if they didn't raise PP fees ever again in my lifetime, I'm still looking at paying 5 grand over my lifetime in just PP fees and I'm not guaranteed a tag so I'm gambling that 5 grand.
There are the 5 units with 6 random tags between them and that's where I and most everyone else with lower points puts in: Units 5, 24, 25, 26, and 38. But the odds in these units is dropping and tag numbers have been dropping in 5, 24, 25, and 26 due to wolves and I only see that continuing till the number of tags in these units drops below the needed amount to have a tag in the random pool and 24 will most likely lose one of its two soon. IMO, the random tag numbers will go from 6 to 2 in the next several years with overall WY 57 NR tags dropping along with moose numbers as they have, which only makes the preference point problem worse and diminishes the attractiveness of applying with a lower amount of points. Moose quality and numbers are going down in WY, but the costs to apply are going up.
Even if you have 10 points right now, there's still over 4000 people with more points than you.
In all honesty, if I didn't have to pay the PP cost, I'd keep applying, hoping to get a random tag even though the odds are ridiculous (one in 600 in 38, 1 in 100 in the other units), but I refuse to continue to pay for the turd that is the WY moose PP. When it was $75 or $100 or whatever it was, I looked at it as the cost of playing the game. But raising the price for something that has no value is just insulting.
I feel like if more people saw these numbers, that more people would drop out. Part of it is that you send in the tag cost + PP fee + application fee and just get less back when you don't draw, so it softens the blow.
But I don't think I'm the only one. I don't think it'll be enough people for WY to not see a net increase in revenue from the increase in cost, but I hope more people will see the reality of this ridiculous system and drop out.
And I won't be back till the fee is decreased or the asinine preference point system is either scrapped or changed to a bonus point system, which is the only solution to a system that creates an eventuality where only 80 year olds are the ones that draw a tag.