1.Random
2.Bonus
3.Hybrid
4.Squared or cubed bonus
5.Preference
A) I could never be in a max point pool even if I wanted to be because I’m too far behind, and B) since I’d rather go hunting than build points, even if I was in the max point pool today, preference points would just mean that once I go hunting, I’m done for X number of years now unless I’m will to accept a lower quality hunt. In most states with hybrid systems, bonus systems and purely random systems, there is some ability to draw a top tier hunt, while also still applying for a mid tier hunt or a purely opportunity hunt. If I draw one of the easier to draw hunts in AZ and loose all my points does that mean that my name is in the hat fewer times for a top level hunt? Yes! But, because I will never be in the max point pool do draw in the first half, and because there is still a chance at a top tier hunt with zero or very few points, drawing that opportunity hunt doesn’t mean that I’ll never draw that top tier hunt(even though most of us never will anyway). In NM you can shoot for the moon on two choice and shoot for the middle as your third choice, and drawing your third choice doesn’t punish you at all(by liquidating your points). On the other hand, in CO if you have a pile of points and think you can draw your dream tag in 2, 3, or 6 years, and you hear something great about a unit that requires 4-5 points fewer than you have, which do you do? Assume that your dream tag will still be a dream tag in 6yrs, and that you’ll still be alive and healthy? Or, do you spend your points on a tag you know you can draw, that might be great, knowing that now you WILL NEVER HAVE THE POINTS TO DRAW YOUR DREAM. Consider random. 5% draw odds means that most people will draw roughly one time per 20yrs. Could be today, could be never. In a preference system, you MUST WAIT TWENTY YEARS. Will that hunt be good in twenty years? Will hunt codes that are good today become crap and put hunters with the same number of points as you, who are currently applying elsewhere, all on your hunt code, making it require twenty to thirty points, or worse? At 10% draw odds, in a random system, that’s roughly 1/10yrs in a random draw. There’s a 35% chance that in ten years you won’t draw at all, BUT there’s a 1% chance you will draw two years in a row! And, if you draw in your first year(you have a 10% chance) there’s a 61% chance that you’ll draw a second time in that ten year window(10% per year over the nine remaining years). As a guy who isn’t getting any younger, a hunt that requires ten preference interests me A LOT LESS than a hunt with 10% draw odds in a random system. Ten years from now, if I’m alive and healthy, I’ll definitely be ten years older, and then I’ll have to wait another ten years(assuming applications don’t change). In a random system, it’s true, I might never draw, but I have a 10% of drawing this year, a 65% chance of drawing at least once, a 1% chance of drawing back to back, after I draw, I don’t have to wait until I’ll almost certainly be unable to hunt to try to draw again. Furthermore, most point schemes artificially inflate apparent demand. People who have ABSOLUTELY ZERO intent to hunt this year can get in line with people who want to hunt this year and get in line in front of people who want to hunt next year. If you don’t want hunt this year, you shouldn’t be able to get a point of any kind. Getting a point should put you at risk of drawing a tag, and if you draw, you should loose your points outside of extenuating circumstances(medical reasons, death in the family, etc.)
The problem is that like much Gov't activity I think the following sums it up.
