belly-deep,
If you can explain this...I'll listen. When Resident applicants outnumber NR applicants 8 to 1...how do you come up with both residents and non residents having the same draw odds? NR's are behind the curve from the get-go...in particular when we apply bonus points to the system. Beings how most NR's only have a point or two, and a majority of the residents have MAX points the total number of "chances" that the Residents have compared to that of the Non-Residents, the gap is even greater.
As far as the residents and non residents having the same draw odds, see the bean explaination I just wrote up. It explains it perfectly. The caveat that I keep repeating is that my math only works when the NR quota is not met...and in the years we have data for, it was not met, and so I believe it is an accurate representation.
As far as the bonus points, go a "majority" of residents DON'T have max points...
Here is the BP break down for 2008 in 270.
(point number, number of people holding points)
Resident:
doesn't participate in bp, 795
0, 1236
1, 904
2, 852
3, 624
4, 514
5, 451
As you can see, it is nearly opposite of what you suggested. You said a majority of residents hold max points. I have no idea as to what the numbers are statewide (I couldn't find the stats on that) but I would guess that the most difficult to draw unit in the state would have the highest proportion of max point holders...and it doesn't.
Now for the non residents:
doesn't participate in bp, 273
0, 204
1, 86
2, 55
3, 28
4, 15
5, 11
And non residents are show a point holding pattern that is roughly the same as residents, with a majority of point holders having 0, 1, and 2 bonus points.
Now lets look at the draw odds
with the points. Remember, MT's BP system isn't as strict as other states so people the people with the highest points don't always draw the most tags in any given season. But over the course of time, MT's BP do give you better draw odds as a general rule.
For those that don't participate in the BP system in 2008:
Residents: .38%
Non Residents: 0%
For those with participating in the BP system (but have 0 points):
Residents: .49%
Non Residents: .49%
For those with 1 BP:
Residents: .88%
Non Residents: 1.16%
For those with 2 BP:
Residents: 2%
Non Residents: 0%
For those with 3 BP:
Residents: 3.04%
Non Residents: 3.57%
For those with 4 BP:
Residents: 2.72%
Non Residents: 0%
For those with 5 BP:
Residents: 3.33%
Non Residents: 0%
Now Buzz, you'll probably point out that those non residents with 2, 4, and 5 BP had a 0% success rate. That is true for 2008 only!!! I mentioned above that MT doesn't have a strict of a BP system as other states, and so that is why 2, 4, and 5 point holders didn't draw in 2008. But look what they did in 2007 and 2006 when compared to resident tag applicants:
2007 (4 pts was the max):
Residents: 2.66%
Non Residents: 7.14%
2006 (3 pts was the max):
Residents: 3.42%
Non Residents: 0%
Obviously, lady luck has alot to do with the MT draw. In 2008, the NR applicants holding 1 and 3 bonus points did
better than the residents holding equal numbers of points!!! Those with 0 points had an equal chance as the residents. And the year before, the NR max point holders had double the draw odds as the resident max point holders.
I don't see how you are "suffering" as a non resident in the MT draw. We all suffer year to year because of how the point system works. Some years the NR applicants with a certain number of points will come out with better odds, and some years it will be the residents.