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Got an email from Idaho F&G that they pushed the start time back to 10:30 today because of "slow sales channels".....aka servers can't handle the load. I'm not in line this year but curious who's in line now and what's it looking like. Anyone get a low number or have success yet?
My brother is in line. He is #26,071. I don't think he is getting anything, since there are only 12,815 elk tags left. He has his fingers crossed that there are a lot of guys looking for mule deer tags!
I am 17,000 back... yikes! My little green walking man isn't walking very fast!
Only a few short years ago I would buy my tag when I got out there... Times they are a changin
Stupid how they do it now. Not even 2023 and selling 2023 tags online with a mega wait.
Been crashed forever now….
I think they need to just move this to a no point draw like all their controlled tags. Much easier it would seem and they’d make money. Today, they’ll make zero dollars off those that can’t get the tag they want. If they had a draw, they could charge us 5-10$ to put in and at least make some cash plus it would be easier on the consumer.
Probably sold out by now…. I participated in this process… a workout for sure
The demand for elk is crazy
All that for an “OTC” tag….
I figure I will be sitting here at work long after the lights go out before my turn... started at 11 central..
What a shit show that was.
Stupid system… only allows for those that can sit in front of a computer all day to even have a chance. Put these tags in the regular draw.
Whats worse is a guy could probably jump on tomorrow and find a tag that didn't sell out and be in and out in a heart beat
OTC now means Over The Computer.
The system has done nothing but get worse year after year.
It was worse this time than the previous 2!! How the hell can they have issues and get worse each year
Also, they created drama for their tags which I believe has made people panic and try to get tags they likely wouldn’t have otherwise!!
If the system was left alone like before I think there would be less demand
I feel like I had a sense of humor about this for awhile... Thats way over now.. Not to mention its Burger and a beer night with ma tonight and I guarantee I will be here until atleast 8 o'clock at this rate! My brother missed his evening hunt with the muzzleoader tag that took him 10 years to get... I'm really getting cranky now! Ha!
I was about 5k in line, got in around 3:45 pm, there were a few tags left but the zones I wanted were all sold out so I left the rest for the other guys as I SHOULD draw WY next year.
This is what its been telling me all day. I coukdnt even log in. Other guys i know have been waiting all day. Nobody under #10k.
I'm 14003. It says I'll be able to buy in about 20 min. Been waiting since 9:30 this morning...
I was number 5586, got on line as soon as I could and finally got my turn at 4:15 PM central time. Everything I wanted was sold out. The message at the bottom of the screen showing what was sold out was no where even close to being up to date.
7 hours in, got a deer tag. Not my first choice but it’ll do.
It updates but never changes! If it does I can't see it... I am down to 3,000... Never been part of something so crazy..
I had number 2527.. wasn’t much for elk tags even at that number.
Well that was disappointing. Finally got through and only a handful of lousy units were left. No wonder things are moving fast. I'll pass.
"Also, they created drama for their tags which I believe has made people panic and try to get tags they likely wouldn’t have otherwise!!"
I believe sasquatch is 100% correct.
Finally got in the queue. After 530 p.m. only 40,000 people stll ahead of me. Also from a friend who was ahead of me, they arent updating the Unavailable list. So most of these people are prolly waiting on tags that are already sold.
Hopefully they find a way to smooth this out next year.
what a pluster cluck that whole stupid is :(
with no cheers from me on this one
My bud and his buddy had pretty low numbers, not 100% what but the both drew elk and his buddy also drew mule deer for the unit next door to their elk unit
It’s a bummer they’ll let you get more than one tag. I personally thing you should have to choose deer or elk then get in the back of the line if you want a second tag.
What a shit show , sure isn't like it used to be. You'd think the whole state was full of trophy elk in every unit. Not the case.
I also had a friend that lives in Idaho , he went to a vendor and stood in line for 5hrs and the line hardly moved. He finally had to leave. It was like this all over. What's going on? I talked to a girl at the Salmon ranger station and they told me there were 67 archery tags and 2 hundred and some gun tags available for that unit. Why are there so many more gun tags? Also my friend that lives there has told me everywhere he goes to hunt nowadays is overrun with hunters , mostly non residents. Idaho has turned this into a panic buying spree. Ever since covid hit the world has been forever changed.
Thought i would share some final thoughts on this craziness. This could be the pendelum swinging a little hard to one side. Here's my theory: Covid got a lot of people to move out of the cities and got a lot of folks into all the outside activities including hunting. I think that's behind some of the crazy demand spike we're seeing for western big game tags lately. No doubt it was heading that way already due to the internet and such but the pace the last couple years is nuts. Anyway, most of these folks aren't going to be lifelong hunters. Most of what they know about hunting comes from the outdoor/sportsman channels and YouTube. They're sucking up a lot of tags and heading into the woods to have some fun. I think most of them are going to figure out pretty quickly that it's a tough game. Even those of us that have been hunting for decades go home empty a lot of the time. Plus it's dang hard physical work if you do it right. My point is I think most of these folks won't last long. The reality of hunting will set in and demand may drop back down a bit. Maybe never to what it was, but combined with the aging boomers maybe opportunity will improve in a few years A lot of these things are cyclic. Of course it could also be just wishful thinking on my part...
It's okay guy's they said sorry. But it'll still be a sh@#show next year.
It’s a ridiculous system. Gotta go to draw. Myself and 3 friends got in the system and all got 8000 or higher except my brother got 1700. Wasn’t much left even at that level. Had a friend who’s buddy was in-line in Idaho for tags and once online went on hold, everyone in line was buying up the tags before online started. He got his first choice. I think it’s the first draw of the year and there are a lot of hunters like my groups that has plans to hunt elsewhere but might as well logon and see if I get a lucky number below 1000. Once I saw my number I immediately got off the computer. They gotta change to a draw system
I know many will be ticked off….but I have to give Id credit for trying to make it equal for everyone…they gat an atta boy for that.
Would you rather wait 10 years + for a tag like everywhere else? Heck, its 3-4 yrs min for a gen tag now in MT, Wy…and most other states ( except Two- shusshhh) don’t have gen elk tags.
Considering the demand….I think IDGF did a great job.
Beendare normally people who do a good or even adequate job don't issue public apologies for how crappy a job they did.
How does this "system" work that you have to sit on a computer for hours?
BC has always been random draw for all species and some of us have really bad luck. But it cost $7 to enter for each species and done online in about twenty minutes for several entries. You don't need to buy a hunting license to enter or even buy the tag if you do draw. Lots of unlucky hunters are always complaining that we need a point system and I just keep pointing them to some of the states that do.
Maybe they should try to get a tag in Idaho to.
Ambush
They call it OTC and first come first serve
Yet, you log in 15 minutes before the sale starts. Get put in a “waiting room”
From there when the sale starts, they randomly assign you a number. That number represents your place in line to buy tags. “Imagine being in person in a waiting line and you number 10 or so”
Yet, tens of thousands are all logging on at the same time to hopefully get assigned a random number that’s low enough to have a shot at getting a tag before they all gone
The system crashes over and over and before you know it hours have past before your number in line comes up to where you can get in and try to buy a tag
Ambush
They call it OTC and first come first serve
Yet, you log in 15 minutes before the sale starts. Get put in a “waiting room”
From there when the sale starts, they randomly assign you a number. That number represents your place in line to buy tags. “Imagine being in person in a waiting line and you number 10 or so”
Yet, tens of thousands are all logging on at the same time to hopefully get assigned a random number that’s low enough to have a shot at getting a tag before they all gone
The system crashes over and over and before you know it hours have past before your number in line comes up to where you can get in and try to buy a tag
Thanks sasquatch. I can't imagine somebody thought that was a good idea! Why would that be better than a random draw?
Somehow they say it’s OTC and not a draw lol.
It needs to be a draw (no point system just random) with a decent size app fee or make you buy a license or something to eliminate people putting in just to see what happens. That would eliminate the ridiculous drama they created
Do residents have to go through the same dumb process?
I do not really know the resident details but I don’t believe, when the resident tags go on sale they just buy them OTC as they please for the most part.
There’s also some sort of details about they can’t buy an OTC tag for a certain period of time if they apply for a controlled tag
They def don’t have to sit on the phone for 8 hours I don’t believe lol
Equal for everyone??? Seriously? How is this setup to be equal? When anyone that has the free time to drive or fly to idaho and buy a tag, ahead of everyone else? That’s equal? Or everyone that has the free time to park their ass in front of a computer for 12 hours vs the people that actually have to work? That’s equal? The whole thing is absolute bullshit. Equal my ass…
Well I sat my ass in front of my computer (phone) all day and still didn't get one. The system is definitely broken. It's hard to believe that as recent as 2019 after I killed my bull in Wyoming I was able to buy a tag in Idaho and go hunt...
Did someone say it’s equal for everyone? Lol
I’m really bummed about not being able to get a tag yet again. I miss hunting one of the “overrun with hunter units”. This entire system is genuinely disappointing. Crazy demand, cost increases, and yet again very, very poorly run system has chipped away at my enthusiasm a little.
Good luck to the few that successfully got through that mess. Come September I hope you get to walk up on a nice Idaho bull!
Like I've said before, if I don't like a state for what they have changed to I simply just don't apply there anymore.
No more frustration.
I have great memories of the Bear River Zone from the past.
Good luck, Robb
Yeah Beendare, nothing “equal for everyone” about this system. They pause the 10’s of thousands of people online while the people on the phone or in the store commence to buy all the great tags. I had a position in the top 1800 and felt great about it for the first time since they adopted this system. Until they paused for nearly two hours and all the top tags were long gone by the time they let us back in. Unbelievable and certainly not “equal for everyone”. Not even equal for the people that are willing to take hours out of their day to sit on the computer.
Just not applying because you don’t like the system is a foolish idea for guys that want an elk tag. I got friends that had others get tags by standing in line for them and they agree the system is messed up and needs changing. I’m sure the top 200 or so online think the system is messed up to. We all like elk hunting in Idaho, just their process is pathetic
Everyone has their own idea of “Fair” …IDGF can’t win.
Maybe they should raise the price of non res elk tags to $3500…that would lower demand and keep the riff raff out….grin
