We have a similar, although lame and totally mismanaged, depredation program in Washington. There is a "call list" for the areas that have large amounts of damage, namely around Yakima and Ellensburg. AHE hunters, myself included, have an antlerless season from August through February, and can give their name to the "hunt-master," who is a volunteer not employed by WDFW, and hope to get called. The problem is that it is administered by the Ellensburg good old boys, and good luck getting called unless you know the hunt master. I think this AHE damage season would be a much better way to go than landowner permits if it were administered properly. It is basically the same thing that B-Run is talking about but it is administered very poorly. Landowners end up not wanting hunters on their land for various reasons, including the stupid things that hunters do such as running over irrigation pipes, gates, and the like, but also for all the reasons that you would assume. The problem could be taken care of by not giving landowner permits or giving very few, and then not compensating those landowners who don't allow hunters access to their property for damage caused by elk during the hunting seasons. Basically what we have in Washington is the landowners and their buddies (read good old boys club) cornering the market. Also, when I say good old boys I'm not just talking about excluding the so called "coastees" from access, but people who live 20 miles away and are known to the individuals in charge. The problems associated with the current AHE system are why the system is currently on hold. Examples of the current problems include road hunting, trespassing, elk slaughters (meaning 6 good old boys pull up and shoot 8 elk out of herd, leaving the extras in the farmer's field), and the like.