https://www.jhnewsandguide.com...00-e961577e0031.html



7K-plus folks vie for 22 grizzly hunting tags

Odds of drawing coveted licenses will be exceedingly low.

By Mike Koshmrl 1 hr ago 0

Twenty-two licenses are in the pool for Wyoming’s first grizzly bear hunt in 44 years. Some 7,000 people applied, so the odds of snagging a tag are low.



The masses took the time to vie for a chance at participating in the first Wyoming grizzly bear hunting season in 44 years.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department recorded a “rough total” of just over 7,000 applications received between July 2 and the time the lottery closed Monday, spokesman Renny MacKay said. Pending a routine agency audit, expected to be completed later this week, there’s no saying exactly how many of those applications were from Wyoming residents or out-of-state people. It’s also still unclear how many applications were for the six hunt zones in the Yellowstone region’s interior, versus a peripheral hunt area farther from the national parks.

But regardless of how those numbers shake out, slim chances of getting a tag are all but assured, MacKay said.


“The drawing odds are going to be very low,” he said. “There definitely were a lot of applications for very few licenses.”

Twenty-two licenses, to be exact.

If Wyoming’s hunt isn’t first snagged by lawsuits, up to 10 of those tags would be distributed one at a time to hunters who would be eligible to hunt in the six interior zones, where most Wyoming grizzlies roam.

The remaining dozen tags are for hunt area 7, where Wyoming has total control over the population. Grizzlies are fewer in that expansive area, and state managers are making a concerted effort to trim their ranks further using hunting as a management tool.

Opponents of the grizzly hunt were among the 7,000 or so applicants, though their true numbers will never be known with certainty. Over the last 10 days a civil disobedience campaign called Shoot ’Em with a Camera sprang from Jackson Hole, and it motivated an untold number of people to apply.

“If somebody had never applied or bought a hunting license here, we could tell if they were a first-time applicant,” MacKay said. “But that doesn’t tell you what their intention with that license was.”

Lisa Robertson, one of the Shoot ’Em with a Camera founders, was encouraged by the numbers of applications Game and Fish received. Of the state’s 7,000 hopeful hunters, a good portion, she figured, would be toting a camera and not a firearm.

“We’ve got at least 1,000, maybe 2,000 — maybe more,” Robertson said. “People signed up. Their whole families signed up. We had some big heavy hitters sign up as well.”

Conservation icons Jane Goodall and Cynthia Moss were among those applicants, National Geographic reports.

Cody resident and bear hunter Joe Kondelis was underwhelmed by the tally of applications the state received.

“I thought it would be in the twenty thousands,” said Kondelis, director of the hunting advocacy group Western Bear Foundation. “Figure how many residents in the state of Wyoming have hunting licenses. And how cheap it was to get on the [interior hunt area] issuance list.”


Nevertheless, Kondelis wasn’t exactly optimistic about his own chances.

“There’s some bad-odd tags out there,” he said, “but these are going to be some of the hardest odds there are.”

Drawing odds data posted to Game and Fish’s website corroborate the claim. Some 754 nonresident hunters, for example, sought one of 14 bull bison licenses that were dispersed a year ago — a 1-in-53 proposition. Nonresident mountain goat hunters faced among the worst odds in Wyoming, roughly 1 in 100 when averaged across hunt areas in the state.

Hunts of other large carnivores, like wolves and lions, aren’t comparable because those licenses can be purchased over the counter.

Wyoming plans to complete its grizzly hunting draw by Aug. 2.

Everybody who applied, MacKay said, will get a fair shake.

“This is the same process we’ve been using for years, and it’s a random process,” he said. “We definitely stand by that we’re going to do this ethically and fairly. Everyone who enters legally is going to have an equal chance of drawing.”

Contact Mike Koshmrl at 732-7067, env@jhnewsandguide.com or @JHNGenviro.

A lot better odds then for the Wisconsin elk tags.

Still better odds than a Montana sheep tag! At least the state of WY gets the fees from people who wouldn't otherwise buy a hunting license.

Ski+3

[QUOTE]Originally posted by p dog shooter:
A lot better odds then for the Wisconsin elk tags.[/QUOTE
Yup,over 36,000 applied for 4 tags.

I'm one of the 7,000...

There is one FACT that cannot be disputed!

It really does not matter what the ODDS are, if a person does not put their name in the hat, they definitely WILL NOT be drawn.

As an example, Texas Parks and Wildlife has a drawn hunts program every year and one of the hunts is for Pronghorns on the Rita Blanca National Grasslands thru an arrangement with the Federal agency in charge of managing the Grasslands.

There are between 8 to 12 permits issued annually, with 3 to 4 thousand people putting in each year and each person can only put their name in the hat one time every year.

The entry fee was $2.00 and has now gone up to $3.00, anmd there is No Permit fee if a person is drawn.

In 1997, I was at work at the zoo and about 10 a.m. Lora called and said a man with TP&W had called and needed to talk with me.

I took his number and called and he informed me that myself and my hunting partner at that time had been drawn for the hunt.

When it comes to hunts such as the one for the grizzlies, or anything else for that matter, don't worry or think about odds just put in for it.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
There is one FACT that cannot be disputed!

It really does not matter what the ODDS are, if a person does not put their name in the hat, they definitely WILL NOT be drawn.

As an example, Texas Parks and Wildlife has a drawn hunts program every year and one of the hunts is for Pronghorns on the Rita Blanca National Grasslands thru an arrangement with the Federal agency in charge of managing the Grasslands.

There are between 8 to 12 permits issued annually, with 3 to 4 thousand people putting in each year and each person can only put their name in the hat one time every year.

The entry fee was $2.00 and has now gone up to $3.00, anmd there is No Permit fee if a person is drawn.

In 1997, I was at work at the zoo and about 10 a.m. Lora called and said a man with TP&W had called and needed to talk with me.

I took his number and called and he informed me that myself and my hunting partner at that time had been drawn for the hunt.

When it comes to hunts such as the one for the grizzlies, or anything else for that matter, don't worry or think about odds just put in for it.

Agreed!!!