Re: Public Input on Workshops for Quota Hunt changes -- United Hunters of Florida (UHF)

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

04/26/24 11:06:20pm [ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, [3], 4, 5 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 11/ 8/07 12:30:01pm
Author: AlanK
Subject: Re: Public Input on Workshops for Quota Hunt changes
In reply to: Casey 's message, "Public Input on Workshops for Quota Hunt changes" on 11/ 5/07 7:29:10pm

Hey folks...

I was just thinking about the whole quota hunt "thing" and I wanted to put my thoughts on the forum for comment:

To make sure everyone knows how I "play" the system, I always buy 2 mgt stamps. I only do this because I hunt Lk George primarily and they split the 1st 9 days into two hunts so it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to hunt the entire time with only one permit. I am a life long resident of Florida (since 1962) and I grew up hunting Ocala National Forest...way back when Hopkin's was dog hunt and most of the area was breeding grounds so I have a vested interest in hunting here.

In speaking with many people in the woods on this subject, I really got to see how "abused" the system is....one person, the worst case, buys 18 Mgt. Stamps each and every year...this fellow had 5 permits each for Muzzy and General Gun on a WMA that allows only 40 hunters each hunt!!!! That was one person holding 12.5% of ALL AVAILABLE PERMITS for each gun hunt....if there were only 3 or 4 people that did the same thing, you can see that they would basically have the entire WMA to themselves!!!! I'd be interested to see the names of the people he used too...Hell...I don't even know 18 people! :)

So...what can be done to stop this type of behavior? Beats me but it's obviously a problem. People who buy only one permit (either due to financial issues or they haven't hunted long enough to learn how to "play" the system) don't stand a chance of getting some of the hunts with fewer permits.

I started off my thinking with, "....how could the system be designed to better serve MY hunting habits..." and this is what I came up with: (deer hunting only - non recreational use WMAs)

Permits are Non-Transferable...not popular but probably necessary. My name must be on every quota permit I have in my possession....no more hording of permits for trade or to keep others from being able to hunt!

Up to 4 permits per person - The permits can be a combination of hunts but no more than 2 permits for each type of hunt. So...you could have 2 Archery and 2 Muzzy with No General Gun if you wanted. If you apply for more than 4 hunts, you will be disqualified and you will NOT be in the preference draw next year.

Only 1 choice on each permit - Allow only one choice for each hunt. This will make the hunter select the hunts they "want". You would not be able to duplicate selections either. These hunts could be labeled as follows: A1, A2, M1, M2, G1, G2 (A=Archery, M=Muzzy, G=Gen. Gun), each hunt would have a primary choice but remember, only 4 permits per person.

Random Draw Phases - Lottery - Since each hunter can apply for different types of hunts, we would need a system flexible enough to handle this. Each hunt would have separate draws. For each draw, Archery, Muzzy or General Gun, if the hunter's name is drawn, the system would attempt to fill all the choices for the hunter for that particular type of hunt. If they selected 2 archery hunts (A1 and A2) and their choices are available, they get the hunts. Since you cannot duplicate choices, you will not have multiple chances at the same hunt.

Preference Draw - If you have NEVER applied for a quota hunt, or you did not get one of your hunt choices last year, you would be in the Preference Draw for that hunt. (In the first year of this program there would be NO Preference Draw...everyone has the same chance to start). If you did NOT choose a hunt for a particular type of hunt, you would NOT be in the preference draw next year either. This would only be for NEW HUNTERS and REJECTED HUNTERS.

Phase 1 - A Phase for all hunters not in the preference draw. If your name is randomly selected and your hunts are available, you will get the hunts. If not, you will get a REJECTION STATUS for the particular hunt.

Phase 2 - If you didn't get a hunt in Phase 1, you could apply for a permit, for the particular hunt for which you were rejected. For example, if you opted to choose 2 Archery Hunts (A1 and A2) and you only got the permit for your "A1" choice, you could apply for another available "A2" hunt in Phase 2.

Phase 3 - Basically, similar rules as today. If there are hunts available, you can select up to 3 more permits, first come, first served no matter what the results of the Preferences, Phase 1 & 2 draws were.

Like I said in the beginning, I was thinking how this could help me so this would be my example of an application under the new system:

A1: No Choice
A2: No Choice
M1: Dexter Mary
M2: Lake George
G1: Lake George 1st Gun
G2: Lake George 2nd Gun

The reason for my choices is that Lake George allows open Archery so I wouldn't need a permit. Dexter-Mary only has 40 permits per hunt so I would be "hoping" to get lucky to get that hunt. As a backup, I usually get Lake George Muzy. The two gun hunts (1st and 2nd Gun) would be nice to have for sure. That would allow me to hunt Lk George all of the 1st 9 days.

Now, I'd like to introduce another idea. An option called "RETURN". The RETURN option would allow hunters to return any hunts they may not be able to use. This would have to be done prior to any printing of permits and probably could be done some time prior to the each Phase Drawings. Granted, there probably won't be many people who use this option, but honest hunters, who care about the future of hunting in Florida, may use it. You will receive nothing for this RETURN although it may make hunts normally unavailable in the latter phases, available to more hunters.

Just a couple of thoughts but I know there is no easy answer. The system has been this way for many years and I'm sure the people who will object the most will be the ones who are playing the system now and spending hundreds of dollars on Mgt. Stamps.

-alan

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Re: Public Input on Workshops for Quota Hunt changes -- AlanK, 11/ 9/07 8:04:51am