1/2/2006

East River Any Deer License a Challenge to Draw in Some Units

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota deer hunters are enthusiastic collectors of guns, old licenses and trophy antlers. They may also collect preference points for a big game drawing, although usually with less enthusiasm.

            Preference points are issued to individuals who are unsuccessful in the first choice for the first drawing for licenses in any big game season with limited licenses. In most cases, a preference point insures that an individual will draw a license the next year. However, in some East River Deer units the collection of preference points may grow even more.

            “Data from the first 2005 East River deer drawing shows that four applicants needed to accrue six years of preference to draw an ‘any deer’ license,” said GFP License Office Supervisor Scott Simpson. “There are certain units East River where we annually receive far more applications than we have licenses available. Preference is never a guarantee that an individual will draw a license the next year, and in these particular units that rings very true.”

            Six years was the most preference needed, and all four applicants were successful.

            Of the remaining 64 applicants with four or more years of preference, 17 collected five years of preference points (13 successful), and 47 people had acquired four years of preference (33 successful).

            These figures highlight the difficulty an individual can have drawing a license in certain popular units,” Simpson said. “There are options that can be considered.”

            He noted that East River deer preference points can be used for any East River deer unit, so hunters are not restricted to the unit for which the preference was accrued. They may consider finding access in a hunting unit that is less popular and then applying in that unit. Two-tag licenses often have fewer applicants than one-tag licenses. Applicants may also continue to apply for a popular unit, waiting for the luck of the draw, and make an “antlerless” deer license their second choice. Odds of drawing this license as a second choice are still very good and will give the individual an opportunity to hunt that fall.

            The breakdown for 2005 East River deer applicants with three or less years of preference included:

·        3 years preference: 333 applicants, of which 256 were successful.

·        2 years preference: 1,233 applicants, of which 1010 were successful.

·        1 year of preference: 9,319 applicants, of which 8,394 were successful.

·        Applicants with no preference: 29,047, of which 23, 562 were successful.

            How does the drawing work? A South Dakota limited-license drawing is broken down into four sequential categories:

·        Landowner preference.

·        Nonlandowner preference.

·        Nonpreference.

·        Second choice.

            Each applicant’s hunter ID is entered into the drawing for the application that was received, and one additional time for every year of preference that is associated with the application. If a hunter is unsuccessful for the preference category under which they entered into the drawing, they fall to the next category as long as licenses are remaining. Finally, if an unlucky hunter passes through the nonpreference group and second choice without successfully drawing a license, a refund is issued and another preference point is awarded for next years drawing.

-GFP-

Click Here To Return To The Previous Page