Any thoughts on second choice options. When running the numbers, seems pretty limited on units that can be drawn as a second choice...if I'm reading them right.
CO second choice options
- Thread starter Elkhunter96
- Start date
In God We Trust
Very Active Member
I have noticed that second choice options have become more limited in the last 3-4 years as well. There are still some out there but you have to do some digging. One thing to keep in mind is the stats on the Colorado DOW website show how many people put in for a unit 1st - 4th choice. Those numbers are a little bit deceiving. Say I put in for unit X as an example and I draw it is my 1st choice then I am done. But if I put in for units Y and Z as my 2nd and 3rd choice then the stats will still show that I put in for those 2 units as my 2nd and 3rd choices even though I didn't effect the drawings for those 2 units. Also if there are any leftover private land tags in some units then the DOW puts those into the general pool as well so your odds of drawing a second choice tag are a little bit better then the stats show. I was pouring over drawing odds a couple of weeks ago on the DOW website and the math wasn't adding up so I called the Denver office and the guy in charge of this explained it to me. I hope I made it clear as mud.
Just so Im clear, the leftover private land tags are put into the second choice pool and then are changed to public land tags? I guess I've never quite understood how the private land tags work since it isnt something I have any use for...thanks btw
In God We Trust
Very Active Member
Yeah that is correct in certain units. The guy explained it to me that way. The unit I deer hunt should have had x amount of deer tags left over for 2nd choice applicants last year. More guys drew the tags then what the data showed should have been left. So I called him and asked him how that happened. He said they threw the 80 leftover PL tags into the the normal pool because out of 80 something tags available only 3 guys put in for the PL tags. I am not sure what dictates whether or not they do that on each unit.
So if you look at two different stat pdf files from the website Deer Draw Summary and Deer Hunt Recap they show conflicting numbers.
This info I am showing is from 2014. One of the deer areas had 986 general and 170 Land owner tags allotted according to the Deer Hunt Recap. The actual draw numbers from the Deer Draw Summary were 1138 general and 22 land owner. Same number of total tags plus or minus 4 but different allotment. That happened because Land owner tags were moved to the general pool. This unit also shows 438 tags going out second choice out of 738 second choice applicants. which would mean a 59% chance at drawing as a second choice. But not all 738 second choice applicant were in the draw because an unknown number of them drew their first choice unit and are not even a factor. So the odds drawing second choice are better than 59%. The DOW doesn't track the last part so it is unknown.
So if you look at two different stat pdf files from the website Deer Draw Summary and Deer Hunt Recap they show conflicting numbers.
This info I am showing is from 2014. One of the deer areas had 986 general and 170 Land owner tags allotted according to the Deer Hunt Recap. The actual draw numbers from the Deer Draw Summary were 1138 general and 22 land owner. Same number of total tags plus or minus 4 but different allotment. That happened because Land owner tags were moved to the general pool. This unit also shows 438 tags going out second choice out of 738 second choice applicants. which would mean a 59% chance at drawing as a second choice. But not all 738 second choice applicant were in the draw because an unknown number of them drew their first choice unit and are not even a factor. So the odds drawing second choice are better than 59%. The DOW doesn't track the last part so it is unknown.