I disagree that the tag lotto is crooked. It may have been at one point - but I have confidence in the way it's managed now.
As to the special tags, there are three types: (1) Commission permits, (2) Landowner Access permits, and (3) Voucher Cooperator permits. Each has there place, especially in an elk zone that is >85% private.
The Landowner tags are issued for each 5,000 acres of land enrolled in a public access program. This is what Trump has used (by my count four times now). Kentucky Fish & Wildlife has done a better job of ensuring that the land is appropriately sized and actually open to the public, but I still think a better job could be done of enrolling land that is actually accessible and huntable. Another problem is that these large tracts are in Limited Entry Areas that require a second lotto - kind of like lightening striking twice. So while they're technically open to the public, its not wide open. For example, the Trump's unit is just over 15,000 acres that is limited to 1 bull archery, 2 cow archery, 2 bull firearm, 6 cow firearm, and 1 youth hunters, and most of the property is not open for any other hunting. So for land open to 12 public elk hunters (with a 100% success rate), they get 3 tags a year.
There are 10 commission permits issued each year to non-profits to used to raise funds to support Kentucky conservation projects.
The Voucher program is my favorite. It rewards private landowners who allow drawn hunters to be matched to their land, and is point-based. They don't get a tag until ten elk have been harvested on their property through the program. This seems to me to actually incentive productive hunting property.
