host posted on July 25, 2004 22:00
Record number seek hunting licenses
Last Update: 07/01/2004 8:43:41 AM
By: Associated Press
(Santa Fe-AP) -- The state Game and Fish Department has finished its annual computerized lottery drawings for elk, deer and other hunting licenses and this year’s draw was a record.
Officials say hunters turned in nearly 106,000 applications. That’s a 15 percent increase from last year.
Pat Block heads of the agency’s drawing process. He says the increase doesn’t mean there are more hunters. He says much of the boost is due to a new, online application process.
Hunters pay only six dollars for each application under the new system.
That option wasn’t available in past years, forcing hunters to write checks for the full license amounts and wait for a refund if unsuccessful.
Hunters vied this year for more than 28,000 elk licenses, more than 8,700 deer licenses and about 1,400 antelope licenses.