I am curious as to how many preference points individuals have had when drawn for the Margaret Unit for Elk in Washington. Does anybody have any input on this?
Thanks

I got one about 5 years ago. First and only time I applied. Modern Bull.

big problem then was that most of the big bulls had been scattered by archers, ahe guys and our native American brothers before the 30 of us got in.

I'd love to get that permit. I've done some hike in fishing there and I've seen some huge bulls.

My brother in law and i have 9 points and we can't draw it.

I am currently at 8 and still hoping.

Well lets take a little lookie loo at the odds.

Margaret 4547 applicants/ 23 selected/ 288 selected for other hunts.
Toutle 4096 applicants/ 91 selected/ 214 selected for other hunts.

Margaret chance of drawing 1:198
Toutle 1:45

But now think about it that since you have been puting in for those hunts that a total of 1900 of those people applying have less points than you now, so that leaves 22-2500 with more than you... Assuming that some havnt been drawn more than once, which i know for a fact has happened. Guy got drawn for margaret in consecutive years.

Your chance was better 5 years ago than it is now.
So effectively we have a snowballs chance in hell of drawing.
We have 7 in our party puting in for special permits. My brother and i have 9 points each, we can't draw.
The old guys drew in 2002 Toutle, they had 4 points. Now they put in for a draw where 1:7 draw, and they now have 4 points again, they can't draw a tag where 1 of them should draw every year.

Ya, this points system really SUCKS! From the sounds of it, there are alot of people that are feeling the same way I do. In my hunting party there are 2 guys(group hunt) that have drawn 1 margret and 2 toutle tags over 10 yrs. In that same time The rest of our hunting party (10 other guys) have drawn a total of 0 tags. Now how in the [Bleeeeep!] can that happen. If each time you are drawn your points go to 0 and I think each time you are not drawn your name goes in the hat 8-9 times for each point. Just goes to show you that it doesn't matter if you have 1 point or 15 points. Something needs to change with this system. Maybe once you are drawn for a tag you can't put in for that tag again for 5 yrs. Just for the record, I'm talking about archery tags here. Any one else have any IDEAS!!

You can read the FAQ on the website but what happens is when you draw your points go to 0. If you do not draw you get one prefference point. They square your preference points and that is how many names you have in the drawing. I have 9 points so i have 81 names in the drawing.

Now what i understand is they take all your names and attach a number to the name, the lowest number wins. If one of your names has #000000001 you are the winner. And so on. It matters not if you draw for first, second, third, or fourth hunt you lose all preference points if you draw.

my friends dad has been drawn 3 years in a row for a cow elk permit where he hunts. but has been applying for a long time for this hunt and have never been drawn yet. i thnk he has 9 points or something.

at least he is getting drawn for something i guess.

deerslayer, if he has drawn a cow permit 3 years in a row, then he has zero points. When you draw a permit, you lose your points, doesn't matter if it's your first choice, or your last choice.

Something you guys have to think about, and Big Tule talked about this too, but think of the number of people applying for Margaret, and then think how many of those people probably have the max number of points, or close to it. When you look at the numbers (over 4000 applicants,) it becomes obvious that it really doesn't matter how many points you have, your odds of ever drawing the Margaret permit are just about ZERO. It's not the fault of the system, or the WDFW, it's simply mathematics.

oh yeah i overlooked that. it doesnt matter anyway he is still getting drawn for something. he is just one of the lucky few that always gets drawn.

i know next eyar im gonna start putting in for permits again. i had good luck getting drawn for a couple hunts.

It's not hard to draw cow permits because most people apply for bulls. My dad and bro-in-law have been drawing rifle cow permits roughly every other year. If you apply for the likes of Dayton B or C (roughly 1:5 odds each) with your four hunt choices, you should get drawn on a fairly regular basis. If you are holding out for the rifle bull permits, good luck.

I drew the rifle tag for that unit in 2003 with 11 points. Incredible area in there with elk all over! Saw some good size bulls, but could never get close enough to the really big ones for a shot and settled for a respectable 5 x 5 that I dropped right next to a logging road. No complaints there! One thing to keep in mind with that area is that it’s on weyerhauser land and if it’s been a dry fall (which has been the case the last few years), they don’t hesitate to close access to everyone if there’s any hint of fire danger. I know the year I got in there it didn’t open for access until the end of October, which screwed all the bow hunters.

If you really want to increase your odds of getting drawn, keep an eye out for poachers. A couple years prior to me being drawn, I witnessed a guy shoot a doe in a closed area, walk up to it, then walk away. A quick call to the poaching hotline, the guy got nailed, and a couple months later I had 10 points. Now I watch hunters nearly as much as I watch deer or elk when I’m out in the woods. Really want that Desert A mulie tag.

I keep encouraging my hunting buddies to break the law so I can turn them in and get 10 points but so far no takers. LOL