Are WY preference points transferable?
Elk
Right now I have 3 points - due to medical issues (back and knee) I'm pretty sure I will not be able to do a WY elk hunt. Obviously I'm looking ahead to 2023.
I'm hoping/praying that I will heal enough by January that I will be able to go - time will tell. If I can not make it, are my points transferable to someone else?
No.
You can apply for a hunt with another person or group of people and WY will average your points as a group. This probably won’t be any benefit in your case as you don’t even have enough to guarantee to draw a general tag now anyway.
If they were transferable everyone who wanted to hunt would work out deals with friends and family who don’t to get points and then funnel them to the hunter. People could have dozens and dozens other a years time after starting with 0
In Az they are... thru point guard, exactly like Bou described. Stupid... and G&F allows it. Ed F
But in Wyoming they are not transferrable.
Does WY offer a "donation" like other states? Meaning if he wants out and does not know someone can he use his points to get a wounded vet a tag?
I did not know AZ point guard let you do that. Yikes. Not ok.
Don, Wyoming does have a donation program. This is straight from the regs:
Donate a License
Wyoming Statute 23-1-705 (k) authorizes the holder of any valid big game license may surrender said license to the department for reissuance to a veteran with disabilities or a permanently disabled person who uses a wheelchair as established by commission rule and regulation selected and sponsored by a nonprofit charitable organization providing hunting opportunities for disabled veterans or persons with permanent disabilities who use wheelchairs.
As a condition to surrender the license for reissuance to a disabled veteran or person with a permanently disabled person who uses a wheelchair, the license holder agrees to the following: The unused license shall be submitted along with a form provided by the Department which indicates the license holder’s desire to surrender the license issued in their name and donate the surrendered license to a disabled veteran or a person with a permanently disabled person who uses a wheelchair. The unused, unaltered license with all coupons intact shall be surrendered to the Department’s License Section. The person surrendering the license shall sign an affidavit verifying that the license was not used during any season. Any person surrendering a valid big game license to be reissued to a disabled veteran or a person with a permanently disabled person who uses a wheelchair shall not be eligible to receive a duplicate license for the same species, hunt area and type as the surrendered license. Any person surrendering a valid big game license to be reissued to a disabled veteran or a person with a permanently disabled person who uses a wheelchair, for which preference points have been accumulated, shall not have preference points restored for species of license surrendered. Any license donated and reissued shall not be sold, traded, auctioned or offered for any monetary value and shall not be issued to, or used by, any person other than a disabled veteran or a person with a permanently disabled person who uses a wheelchair selected and sponsored by a nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to providing hunting opportunities as defined in Commission regulation. Holders of donated licenses shall NOT be exempt from the provisions in Chapter 44 limiting the number of licenses an individual can possess in any one (1) calendar year.
With demand and point creep for big game hunts escalating at a shocking pace across the west and elsewhere, IMO point averaging and similar schemes should be abolished anywhere it exists. At one time it may have been a luxury that was reasonable to offer, when demand was minimal, but that time has long since passed. As a side note, besides AZ and WY with their point averaging, one of the other most egregious schemes is the subpermittee option on NE moose hunts. Someone gets drawn, anyone can be named (or pre-named) their subpermittee and kill the moose. Thus you better enter any and every non-hunting friend and family member that will go along with the scheme. I assume it’s the main reason that you see a disproportionately high number of female names on the winner’s list every year.
If you could transfer points, people in China would be buying and selling them.
^^^ That would be awesome knowing that when I die with 43 points my kids could use them in another ten years before they die.
I predict next year we will see people selling 10+ points in the classifieds to help prospective buyers increase their odds for general tags.
No kidding YZF. I never thought, 8 years ago when I started buying points in hopes of a top tier unit, that the general tag minimum might surpass me in 10-12 years. I probably need to cash in pretty quick on a general tag before they are out of reach.
"Can Wyoming Fix Its Preference Point Problem for Big Game Tags?"
Damn Bob, I never realized your knees and back had gotten so bad.
Hang in there as we all have got a New 100% over the years from some form of pain/injury.
Good luck, Robb
I take several disabled vets every year in WY on donated licenses via my nonprofit, rmheroes.org. The licenses are actually donated to a nonprofit, who then assign it to a specific 50%+ disabled vet (verified via VA Benefit Letter). We have received licenses from hunters who just couldn't make the trip, or wonderful landowners that provide us pronghorn buck tags in a trophy unit (takes 11 pref pts) every year.
I take several disabled vets every year in WY on donated licenses via my nonprofit, rmheroes.org. The licenses are actually donated to a nonprofit, who then assign it to a specific 50%+ disabled vet (verified via VA Benefit Letter). We have received licenses from hunters who just couldn't make the trip, or wonderful landowners that provide us pronghorn buck tags in a trophy unit (takes 11 pref pts) every year.
If they were transferable everyone who wanted to hunt would work out deals with friends and family who don’t to get points and then funnel them to the hunter. People could have dozens and dozens other a years time after starting with 0
Red Meat I sent you a message.
Red Meat, do you happen to know if Colorado has any similar program to donate points to vets ? Good on you for doing what you do. Badbull
I've got max on Wyo Antelope, maybe I'll reach out to Brian and see what I can do for a fellow vet.
Good luck, Robb
