So far I see this discussion being very healthy. I see good that could come of this if we can get the powers that be to listen and I think they will if we can get enough people to agree on some kind of strategy.
I am like Flaggs. I have seen other countries through my military career that come nowhere close to our freedom or economic position overall. I don't really see raising the prices as being a real answer but am sure that they will make a case for raising them and will probably make sense to keep up with the basic rise in costs. I think that one thing to also remember is that area businesses are affected as well.(no I am not one of them) Out of state hunters on a whole tend to bring more money into the state when they show up here to hunt. That will also be a driving force to DOW( it will take me forever to start using Parks and Wildlife) pressure to keep or even increase the numbers of out of state tags on a whole. I also think that in state hunters mostly don't hunt near home enough not to present an impact to local economies were they hunt.
As far as points go, there certainly needs to be a way to better the position of those with a large number of points in highly sought after units. It still feels to me that residents should be in a better position to draw than someone from out of state. Only DOW knows the total tally of all submittals both out and in. How they determine the percentages of the draw is lost on me. Looking at the recaps is easy enough to do for individual areas. Is that what we need to do, make separate rules for the hard to get units or change the overall system?
We all agree I think that money is a huge determining factor in the decisions made. We also need to remember why and how those areas became soo highly sought after and keep in mind that the herd numbers and ratios are also a very real factor that must not be ignored. Yes I am partisan to the plight of the resident hunter and feel that Flaggs idea of a time to bring the huge points numbers down buy changing the rules for a period is something to talk more about. I believe that a compromise can be effectively used to accomplish a better overall draw system. Maybe a special lottery in addition to the draw for those with more than say 10 points. Done for the next five year regulation period may bring things more in line. Yes it would put more hunters into the field in those areas at the same time but may be controlled by those lottery tags have a bit more specific season dates.
I don't have all the answers either , just tossing out some ideas for the sake of consideration. You never know what seemingly stupid idea will spark a thought that could lead to a better answer. Just hope we can continue to get more and more members to chime in. I hope that it just doesn't become a{1}***** session. For every problem there is a solution. If you don't like something, voice it but at least throw out a proposal to go with it!!!!