Rog's Rod & Nimrod

While I generally like to keep the contents of my column on the light side, today I am going to throw some numbers around to prove my point on the SD Game, Fish, & Parks proposed change for the 2019 deer hunting license applications. Neither I nor the general public wants the change.

I’ll begin my argument with a personal example. Neither my partner nor I drew a West River tag this year for Corson County where I have hunted for the past 49 years. This was our own fault. Both of us made “Any Deer” our first choice and “Any Whitetail” our second choice. All Corson County applicants who made “Any Whitetail” their first choice received a license, and 136 of the 243 who made “Any Whitetail” their second choice received a tag. Mike and I had a 57% chance of hitting our second choice, but we failed. There is nothing wrong with this system.

We then looked at the second draw for leftover licenses, and applied for Unit 45A11, “Any Whitetail” in Lyman County. We drew our Lyman tags. Were we lucky? 174 applicants drew for leftover 45A11 tags, and all 174 of us drew tags. Again, there is nothing wrong with this system. Lyman County is choice deer hunting terrain.

Let’s take a hard look at Gregory County as its tags may be the most coveted of West River units. It holds great deer, prime public land opportunities, and is closest to our population centers. Gregory County is unique in that it is separated into “A” and “B” seasons in order to accommodate more hunters. The “A” season runs Nov. 3-6 and Nov. 19-25. The “B” season runs Nov. 10-25. Gregory County had no leftover tags for the second draw.

All the Gregory County 30A01 and 30B01 tags for “Any Deer” went to landowners, and not all landowners received an “Any Deer” tag. All landowners who applied for 30A11 or 30B11 “Any Whitetail” tags received a license. This is as it should be as they feed the deer.

How did non-landowners like you and me fare with Gregory County tags in 2018? For the 30A11 “Any Whitetail” unit, all First Choice applicants received a tag, and 63 of 226 Second Choice applicants received a tag. For Unit 30B11, “Any Whitetail,” all applicants with one or more preference points received a tag, and 385 of 441 applicants or 87% with no preference points received a tag. That’s a one year wait at the most! Again, there is nothing wrong with this system!

The 30A18 and 30B18 Units were for one “Any Whitetail” and one “Any Antlerless Whitetail.” For the 30A18 unit, all applicants with one or more preference points received a license. 45 of 131 applicants with no preference points received a license. For the 30B18 Unit, all applicants with a preference point received a license. At the most, Gregory County whitetail hunters are looking at a one year wait, and probably no wait at all.

In fairness to the SDGF&P “change” advocates, the single most coveted West River tag might be 58A01, an “Any Deer” tag in Stanley County. This is all about trophy mule deer. After the landowner draw, 207 applicants with two or more preference points drew for 76 tags. 848 applicants with one or no preference points drew for zero tags. Applicants using the new proposal with their making a single First Choice might be helped very slightly if at all, but with the bulk of tags going to landowners, a resident “Special Buck” tag for $175 might be the only solution to Unit 58A01 draw problems.

East-River wise, I failed to draw my First Choice Charles Mix County “Any Whitetail Tag,” but I did draw my Second Choice Brule County ”Any Whitetail” tag. For the coming season, I have two tags in my pocket. And some people think this system needs fi xing?

According to Emily Kiel of SDGF&P, the commissioners will make a final decision on this matter on October 4th at 2:00 p.m. MDT at Deadwood’s Cadillac Jack’s Spring Hill Suites. I plan to be there. Let SDGF&P know how you feel. Send your thoughts, full name, and city of residence to https://gfp.sd.gov/forms/positions/.

If the commissioners were inundated with “don’t change the format” messages, they would have a hard time voting in favor. If apathy rules, we deserve the change. What will you do?

See you next week.