I cannot believe after all the hunts that I put in on that I didn't get picked for even one hunt. Very disappointed.

...and the ??? was "why"...

Why do you ask? ...this is like playing Lotto with the odds stacked for the House and not the bettors, and not a game of skill anymore...the more Non Resident folks allowed to enter on the same terms as a Resident Property Tax Payer the lower the chances a Texas Resident will win ...then add the reduced number of Places to Hunt, from weather issues like the several years worth of drought, and add in the increases in Texas's population not accounted for from the current & previous State Administrations lack of funding TPW adequately to begin with, in order to accomodate the ever increasing demand....and decline in expendable income to pay for private game lease's ...yadda yadda yadda is how the ever boring broken record sounds...

Really is simple when you think about it.

If you are serious about doing something about a service that is not performing in State Government to your satisfaction...become a dedicated respectful ONE ISSUE Voter to everyone represented on your Ballot and remind them of YOUR ISSUE frequently & often...and don't be shy about supporting your issue. Just Sayin' whadda ya expect anyway.
Ron

Preach it! I've been a public hunter for 14 years now and am very upset at TPWD and the new draw system. Out of staters should not be able to draw, this ain't BLM or federal land...

Well if its residents sitting at home while out of state folks hunt.....

I was told by a TPWD rep. "off the record" With the new drawing rules, he would not put in for the hunts. Your odds are NOT good. I guess that is why they call it a "Lottery"

I agree.

I bet nearly every bighorn tag has been given to nonresidents.

I am not at all surprised at what Boonee was told, it's never been "just easy peasy" to get drawn for something you wanted.

My 1st Drawn Lottery Hunt was in 1999, after having put in for something for mebbe 7-10 years on an irregular basis, as I always was involved in a Hunting Lease or 2 at the same time. After the Lease crowds I ran with began to break up I started putting in for the Lottery Hunts, and started actively studying the stats and strategy's for getting drawn.

Over the years it had occurred to me that TPW uses the Lottery System as a protected revenue source, for whatever that is worth. The Park System was being consistently underfunded by the Lege and in jepeorday of collapsing from lack of maintenance, and the General Fund contributions by Hunters, Boaters and Fisherman were being pilfered and used for things other than what the money was intended for. IMO, Ann Richards was the last Governor who balanced a budget honestly, partially by cutting TPW & every other non essential state program, but she didn't cook the books to do it.

I do believe that TPW is doing the very best they can do with the short stick they are given to provide what they are mandated to perform. In Other words...TPW is NOT ...IMO ... the primary problem. So in order to come up with an innovative way to capture a revenue source that could be kept in house the Hide the Pea game of the way the Lottery Hunt was rebuilt , as part of the updating of the decrepit computer systems they were working with. IN the not so recent Old Days, All the Lottery App entry's, money etc was hand done by a small handfull of in house staff. I've paid StandBy fee's in cash at the gate, that had to be hand driven to Austin as there was no facility to otherwise handle my Permit Payment...what a PIA crude system it was...but it worked for the small #'s of folks entering. With todays system, who knows how many people will put in for a GDA Hunt anywhere in ther State, when they can enter ALL of the Locations Drawings in a single Category instead of just 1 at a time per year....including however many millions of Non Res Hunters who want to play at $3's a pop as well. Think About it....

With the new computerization program in place everything connected to the Lottery Hunt has changed for the better IMO.....except TPW is using a Resident Property Tax funded State Owned Asset as bait for the their revenue scheme - allowing Non residents to enter on the same basis at the same prices as Residents without Penalty - and capturing the increased $$'s on Non Resident License Fees to use the on Lottery Hunt Drawn Permits when Non Res Hunters are drawn....and I'd bet bigtime that Those Non Res License $$'s never go thru the General Fund and are kept In House by TPW. Pretty slick huh?

About the only way IMO that TPW could improve the current system, is what some other States are already turning to...making Non Res Hunters buy a Non Res License to even qualify to make an Application for a Texas Lottery Hunt... or copy just like is most common for Non Res Hunters...and then reduce the # of Permits available at the higher Non Res Price on top of that. I haven't looked at every state, but this is what I remember from a couple years ago looking at the Rocky Mtn & upper Midwest states like Nebraska.

You wanna change the Texas Lottery Hunt System??...make YOUR Own State Senator & Congressman "aware" of your concernswith personal contact, because thats where the problems originate from.

Meanwhile buy a GW lunch someday and see the surprise and thank you on his face...there are more than few GW's freezing their 'nads off today and for the last several days in front of my house looking on Lake Texoma for a fisherman who's boat and life jacket were recovered without him in them last Friday...as cold as the water is that guy won't surface for a looong time. Prayers for his family.

Hope they'll come looking for me when my many times tinkered with heart finally has had enough of my foolishness, tramping thru the woods with a rifle in my hand looking for the critter I chose to chase that day, on State Land.
JMHO & YMMV
Ron

Other states do basically the same thing on Federal Lands for Non Res Hunters by jacking up the License's, App's & Permit Fees.

LOng

How would non resident licenses not go through the General Fund?



This one really chaps my hide. If the Feds had any spine they'd stand up these(western) greedy states and threaten to shut down ALL hunting if they didn't start sharing their permits with nonresidents.

WTail...as I understand it all License fees gathered by TPW stay in the TPW system, like SP entrance fees yadda yadda and do not pass thru to the General Fund. What I am PO'd about is the self imposed, outside, and federally taxed funds that are supposed to be dedicated to TPW Only that are being absorbed into the General Fund, and not passed back to TPW as the outside funds were directed to.

As far as other states take a look at ALL the Rocky Mtn states and see how many Permits are authorized for Residents Vs Non Residents in a given Game Category. Big fight going on Ummm in Montana or Wyoming right now abour the additional reductions in Non Res Permits statewide limits....really too complicated and TMI for here but look at 24HourCampfire's on going conversations about Fee's, Permits, and Bag Limits. Understand it's a totally different system than Texas's ... with true Preferance Points and Lottery Drawings weighted to PP #'s ...ie...the more PP's you have for a given location and Hunt category Hunt, those folks with the highest # of PP's for THAT Hunt & Location will be Awarded first, in decending order of pertinent PP's. Some really small # Permit hard to draw Hunts can take 10-20 years or a lifetime to draw....Moose in Montana for example and see if you as a Non Res Hunter can ever hope to draw that Permit on Federal Land in your grand childrens lifetime...Prolly Not and why so many Texans go to Canada or Alaska for moose, if they want one. Just Sayin'

See if you can get "Dawaba" on THF to comment since he's been at it for lots longer than anyone else locally that I know of...or mebbe "Muley Mike" the guide. Good on Dawaba too for figuring out the system loooong time ago and taking the time and bux to play that game for all these years. I am appreciative of his effort and dedication.

As far as the Feds shutting down Hunting on their land in the West ....take a look at the guy who's taken over the Federal WMA in Oregon and daring the Feds to come take it back away from him, 'cause the locals think they still own the land or at least control over it for free, to harvest the timber, game animals and mining rights...just like his father, Cliven Bundy, had done in Nevada for over 30 years before the Feds tried to shut him down.
Ron

I have draw several hunts in the last two years under the new system. It has it's up and downside. I used to wish you could able to apply for multiple hunts, but now that i have that option it seems that the hunts just got harder to draw. I kinda agree about the nonresident thing, but I don't like they way I am treated by other states so I don't want to do that to them. Two wrongs don't make a right. Oklahoma makes you have a valid huning license prior to applying. Maybe Texas could do that to the same thing. This could increase revenue for TPWD and maybe cut down on the number of non residents who are applying without restricting the percent of nonresidents that could be allowed on a hunt.

There's a big difference between hunting Federal land and State land. The vast majority of public hunting in Texas is on State land whereas the vast majority of hunting in the West is on Federal land.

I failed to mention that this is 2 years in a row that I have not been picked for a even one hunt. Before that I was picked at least once per year if not more. See a common denominator here? New rules and draw system.

Are you just applying for the buck hunts? Those were always a hard to draw. The hunts I have been drawn on we're management and doe hunts.

I make it a point to apply for every category and then I go in and pick individual hunts that I like as well. I probably had around 25 potential hunts. The last two years I have put in on more than ever before because now I have the option to do so. Like I said, before we were more limited and yet I always got picked.

Reality sucks...and why I have several categories with more than a few LP's including 15 LP's in EXO...

Got drawn this year on a 2nd round, out of the 6 GDA Hunt App's and 10-12 others I put in ...got sick with the flu last week & a good thing too based on my sprints to the toilet all night I had already dropped out for a Hunt that starts today....and blew off 8 LP's & 8x$3 App fees and the $80 Hunt Permit Fee. But I'll start all over again next year, donating $3 App Fees for places I've never hunted before. Life is a Journey and "stuff" happens everyday too.

Under the old system I was always drawn every or even every other year, but always at least every 3rd year since 1999, entering 5-6 categories, 'cause I did the homework before there was archives on ;ine by keeping records posted the in year befores App Location Guide success %'s by location...and was drawn for 4 Hunts one year that way when I knew I was going to have th time to travel....but never scored for the Hunt I wanted most, an EXO at South Llano River SP. Got a 3rd season StandBy GDA at Garner ummm 5-6 years ago so I got that one out of my system, and won't try for the Hunt again....too far for not enough Hunt and not enough ROI... ( 9+ hours each way for a total of 12-13 hours of time in the blind in 4 Hunt sessions, set in the middle of an RV paved Parking area is not what I wanted the Hunt to be.

FWIW, Mark Cuban in today's DMNews on the subject of playing the Powerball...@ $2 for strictly entertainment value, I'd buy a ticket, but if I had $10 to spend on entertainment, I'd buy a Dallas Mavericks ticket. So with that in mind I'll continue to buy Lotto Tickets and TPW Lottery Entry's...since BBall is not interesting to me, and the cost of parking and food at the game is higher than I want to waste on something I'm not interested in regardless of how cheap it is for a ticket.
Just Sayin'
Ron

PREACH ON, THE NEW ONLINE SYSTEMS HAS CAUSED THE ODDS TO SUCK ARSE!!!