Anti-Hunters are Applying for Wyoming’s 1st Grizzly Bear Hunt in 44 Years
Adam Scepaniak 07.23.18
The state of Wyoming has not had a grizzly bear hunt in 44 years. So you would think that hunters would come out in droves to apply for a tag, right? Well, the likelihood of the them being outnumbered by non-hunters looks to be pretty high. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department has estimated that 7,000+ people have applied for the possible 22 tags to be given out. At a figure of exactly 7,000 applicants that imputes a 00.30% chance of getting drawn.
The 22 hunting tags available will be dispersed throughout 6 zones inside Yellowstone National Park and one extra zone outside the park as well. A lot of anti-hunting organizations and individuals are fuming over the idea of this hunt. As a result, thousands of anti-hunters have applied for the grizzly bear tags in hopes of taking them away from actual hunters.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is not pleased by this because their intent was to curb the growth and presence of grizzly bears in certain areas of the state. This defiant act by anti-hunters will hurt their management efforts.
Renny MacKay, a spokesperson for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, shared these words with local news media concerning the grizzly bear hunt:
The drawing odds are going to be very low. There definitely were a lot of applications for very few licenses. If somebody had never applied or bought a hunting license here (Wyoming), we could tell if they were a first-time applicant. But that doesn’t tell you what their intention with that license was.
When it comes to applying for other wild game hunts in the state of Wyoming your odds can often be really low. This is not something that is unheard of. When hunters apply for bison or mountain goat tags the likelihood of being drawn can range between 1-3% most years. To see estimates that a grizzly bear tag recipient is looking at a 00.30% percent chance (and that is an optimistic calculation) is straight up abysmal.
While odds for getting a tag are horrible at best, Renny MacKay from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department defended his staff’s integrity stating:
This is the same process we’ve been using for years, and it’s a random process. We definitely stand by that we’re going to do this ethically and fairly. Everyone who enters legally is going to have an equal chance of drawing.
The official drawing for the 22 grizzly bear tags is to take place on August 2nd. So soon we will find out if actual hunters will be given the opportunity to buy tags for this hunt.
