I am in favour of proposal …

I am in favour of proposal #2 to advance the tag claim deadline of the second chance allocation to be prior to the opening of moose seasons.

I am also in favour, in principal, of proposal #3 to create a new ‘last chance allocation’ step in the process, where any unclaimed and unawarded moose tags would be made available for purchase by resident hunters, but only if it is an allocation (draw) the same as the second chance draw is presently, where hunters can use their points in a first choice and a random draw for the second choice where no points are used. (there is no need for a 3rd choice in the 3rd draw). Also the applicants must purchase the tag and a licence if they are successful in the draw. This can be done by having applicants provide a credit card payment and simply giving them a return credit if they are not successful in the draw.

However, I am not in favour of proposal #1 to have hunters who are awarded a tag based on their first choice in the ‘second chance allocation’ forfeit their points, whether or not they decide to claim the tag, for two reasons.
Firstly, if you implement proposals # 2 and 3 there should be no need for proposal #1. In fact you even state that proposal #2 may by itself encourage tag claiming and address concerns raised by some hunters.
Secondly, it will restrict hunters who are in groups from using strategies to maximize their odds of getting a tag and/or getting a tag by using the minimum number of points in the group. Proposal #1 effectively forces the groups to apply as individuals only.

The following is an example of a strategy that could be used by group hunters to maximize their odds of getting a tag that they want and using the least # of points. I have used actual numbers from the 2023 draw as presented in the moose tag allocation results (https://data.ontario.ca/dataset/moose-tag-allocation-process-results) using WMU 47 and a group of 4 hunters.

The group has one hunter with 20 pts, one with 17 pts, one with 9 pts and the last hunter has 5 pts. They want a Bull gun tag, but they really want to hunt this year too. So in the Primary draw they have the hunter with 20pts apply for the bull gun tag, the hunter with 17 pts applies for the cow/calf gun tag and the other two apply for a calf tag.

After the primary draw only the hunter with 9 pts is successful for a calf tag in the primary draw. They discuss their options. They really want an adult tag. They see that the minimum points for a Bull tag published in the hunting regulations was 20pts so they know they are close to getting a tag. (in fact there were actually 30 applicants with 20 pts and 10 tags available in the primary draw so they had a 30% chance) , so they decide to try again for the Bull tag in the 2nd chance draw and, since they only want one tag, they do not claim the calf tag since they are confident that the hunter with 9 pts can apply again and get another calf tag if they are unsuccessful getting the bull tag. They also have the hunter with 5 pts apply again for the calf tag in the hopes that he might get the tag and the hunter with 9 pts will not have to use his points. (the hunting regs published minimum pts required in 2023 was 6 for a calf). The hunter with 17 pts does not apply in the 2nd chance draw.

After the 2nd chance draw all three are awarded a tag. (the actual results in the draw from the data set show that there was 12 applicants with 20 pts applying for 5 tags and that all applicants with 5 pts or more got a calf tag.). Under the proposal #1 they would all lose their points even though they really only want one tag. This means that if proposal #1 is adopted that this group would have most likely just applied for the bull tag in the 2nd chance draw and if they were unsuccessful (they only had a 42% chance) then they would have to hope that they got a tag in the last chance draw or they would not be hunting that year. However, if they are allowed to use their points in the 3rd draw for a first choice they would have a much better chance of getting a tag in the third last chance draw.

In conclusion I feel that the proposed change #1 is not required if proposed change #2 is adopted and the 3rd draw is also adopted with the applicants being allowed to use their points in a first choice and no points lost in the second choice. (Of course they would always be allowed to apply in WMU 99 in the first choice). This will ensure that hunters will get a chance to get the tags they want while lowering the points required for other hunters, and reducing the number of unclaimed tags at the end of the year.