Preston00
Senior Member
I just started using the quota hunt system a few years ago. Last year I was selected for the Sapelo Primitive Weapons hunt. I think the quota was 125 -- however there were only around 40 people on the hunt. It concerned me that only about 1/3 of the selected hunters actually attended the hunt -- and I heard that there were hunters with Sapelo as their first choice that wanted to go and were not selected. It is my understanding that currently it is not required to have a hunting license to apply for a quota hunt. From what I understand -- if anyone has ever purchased a land use permit or a fishing license in the past they are in the system and thus are allowed to apply for quota hunts. My concern is that anti hunters that have purchased a fishing license or land use permit could be applying for these quota hunts to prevent actual hunters from attending the hunts. I do not know what the statistics are for actual attendance vs quota on all the quota hunts -- but it is something that should be looked into to determine what percentage of hunters are actually attending the hunts. If hunter turnouts are low on many quota hunts -- then perhaps it should be a requirement to possess a valid hunting license each year in order to be eligible to apply for the quota hunts. Has anyone else on quota hunts experienced low hunter turnouts?