Congratulations and what a journey. I'm 33 and can't imagine waiting that long for a dream hunt. Good for you for sticking with it, hope i'll have an experience or two like the one you shared.
I think a lot of people apply for the dream of drawing the tag, and then when they do they realize oh crap, i don't actually have the time or desire to devote to it.
The one rule I believe they have is you can't get drawn for a species in the first draw, not buy the tag, then apply for that same species in the second draw.
It feels like i'm seeing more than normal levels of that too. So much for the "barrier" of the license. I think people underestimated how much applying as a group and not waiting in the line was a big deal.