I would like to see them find places that are suitable to spread this idea. There are certainly a couple in Montana. Then if a few could be opened in Idaho, and maybe another in Wyoming and they all opened at the same time, that would spread out the growing demand.
That's my thought as well. If we can promote the idea of the Unlimited style hunts, not just the 5 districts that currently allow them. I think financially, States would benefit from a hunt or two like this where it is feasible. Participation, Conservation, Observations made and shared with the biologists, and "straight cash homie" are just a few of the benefits that come to mind.
UL hunters in Montana are largely responsible for the observations that allowed for a new Goat hunting district in the Beartooths. They're also almost soley responsible for the very few Wolverine sightings that have been reported in recent years. Throw in observations of Moose, Grizzly, etc., and it's safe to say that UL hunters are a huge resource for the local biologists to get "on the ground" reports.
Monetarily, Just looking at the quick math on it from 2020: for HD 500, 18 Non-residents each paid $1250 for a sheep tag. 37 residents each paid $125 for a tag. That's $27,125 for 3 rams (quota of 2, 3 killed). Over $9000 generated per ram, and typically ~$13,000/ram for an Unlimited district. This of course doesn't take into account hunting licenses or application fees, other tags purchased such as deer, wolf, bear etc.
Meanwhile, in HD 302: 6 Residents were successful in the draw- $750. 389 total hunters applied for the hunt. I don't have a R/NR break down, but even if 383 of the total were NR (6 residents drew, so clearly not all 389 were NR), and each of the 383 purchased a bonus point when unsuccessful at $75/person, then the state pulled in $28,725. That's a total of $29,475, again not including other tags purchased or hunting licenses. $4912.50/Sheep (assuming in a typical year all 6 tag holders fill. In 2020, only 4 of the 6 did- $7368.75/ram killed).
On top of that- the draw hunters, however small, benefited from the 268 hunters that participated in the UL hunts last year, and weren't in the draw pool. 31,855 hunters applied for a sheep tag in Montana in 2020. So UL hunters make up less than 1% of the draw. 482 and 680 applicants alone make up 13,777 of the applicants. Imagine how many draw hunters would be pulled out of the point pool if each of those districts offered a 10 day, 1 ram quota, archery UL hunt? I imagine it'd exceed our 268 current UL hunters.
More importantly though, is that regardless of how busy we feel the ULs may be getting- we make up less than 1% of prospective sheep hunters in Montana. This should be on everyone's RADAR. As goes the 99%, so goes the 1%. We need a voice to continue to advocate for the "why" behind the Unlimited hunts. There is a growing demand for sheep hunting opportunities, and I believe we have a responsibility to advocate for that to ensure the current 5 districts don't become overrun or worse, go by the way side.
Some good stories in it. Can't remember the grizzly photo though.
