Quote:
Originally Posted by CBintheNorth
999 has nothing to do with wait times. I would love for someone to prove to me otherwise.
As I see it, there are only 3 ways to help the wait time situation:
1-Reduce the number of people applying. (see sled's quote on residency)
2-Reduce the amount of draws people can apply for. (again, see quote above)
3- Increase the amount of draws available. (remove outfitter allocations)
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Absolutely, getting rid of the 999 option will do nothing towards lowering wait times.
1- Other than the fraudulent applications, how would you suggest we select who to eliminate from applying?
2- Isn't this another way to introduce "elitism" you mentioned a desire to avoid? Isn't this just another way to segregate those "Committed Trophy Hunters" from the rest? All Albertans should have equal access opportunities to every species of Big Game every year. The only concern I see with people applying for all species is if an individual actually draws multiple species licences in one year. Perhaps limit the number of Draw Licences that can be held in a single year, this would spread the spoils around further.
The further we restrict individual access to the draw system the greater number of "New" hunters will be influenced to join the draw by their friends and family. This is a double edged sword.
3- You forgot about the ability to dramatically increase the number of Draw Licences available simply by managing for the maximum sustainable harvest as opposed to managing for Trophies.
I knew from the first time I brought this up, all the "Trophy" hunters would be to concerned about their Antlers to even debate the premise.
Lots of misinformation becoming "fact"....
The current number of licenced hunters in Alberta is actually less than in the 1980's. There were dramatically fewer Draw hunts in this decade than now. How can that be? A large part of it is the Trophy hunting mentality and management, as mentioned above.
This current Trophy mentality has caused a larger increase in wait times than many are willing to admit. Losing this desire to restrict others so that a few can pursue their Trophy will go along way to reducing draw waits and even reintroducing General seasons.