WRD’s Quota Hunt System Back On Track

The Aug. 1 alligator quota hunt drawing included some minor errors, but those problems have been resolved.

There was some confusion after the Aug. 1 alligator quota hunt drawing was administered. Hunters reported getting two e-mails from WRD, one stating they were successfully drawn for an alligator hunt, followed up with another that said they were not drawn for an alligator hunt this season. Other hunters reported not getting any confirmation about whether they were drawn or not.

“Due to an oversight related to the e-mail generating function of the program, the system sent at least two e-mails to successful alligator quota applicants,” said John Bowers, WRD’s chief of Game Management. “Successful applicants received an initial e-mail indicating their successful selection and hunt choice. Then the system sent them a subsequent e-mail indicating ‘non-selection.’ The second e-mail was generated as a result of the system recognizing that these applicants were not chosen for their second choice.

“Those applicants that received both a ‘Congratulations you were selected’ e-mail and a subsequent ‘non-selection’ e-mail should disregard the ‘non-selection’ e-mail. These individuals are the successful applicants, and the subsequent ‘non-selection’ e-mail was an error.

“Regarding applicants who have received only a ‘non-selection’ e-mail, this e-mail is correct, and these applicants were not selected for an alligator quota hunt.”

Bowers added that several individuals have been identified who were successfully selected, but it is not clear whether they received notification. WRD will send a follow-up e-mail to all successful applicants. Those individuals without an e-mail associated with their online accounts will receive a tag in the mail.

If you applied for a gator hunt simply to gain a preference point, you will not receive an e-mail after the drawing. This is different from previous years when those applying just for priority points still received an e-mail from WRD stating they were not selected for a quota hunt.

“Applicants who submitted an application with no hunt selected (i.e., to simply acquire a preference point) are actually not applying for a hunt and were not cycled through the actual selection process. Thus, they would not receive an e-mail, but their accounts would still be credited the preference point for which they applied,” said Bowers.

Bowers encourages those who believe they should have received an e-mail and did not to check their  spam/junk folders.

“It is important that customers ensure the e-mail associated with their account is valid and correct,” said Bowers. “The importance of our customers ensuring their accounts contain complete and accurate information can’t be exaggerated. This information is how the department contacts and shares information with its customers. It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure their information is accurate and complete. We encourage our customers to review and update their information any time it changes and any time they log on to the system. This would include prior to submitting any quota hunt applications.”

The technical issue within the online quota hunt system has been corrected, and the system is ready to go for the remaining quota hunt drawings.

“We regret any confusion this minor technical issue may have caused and assure our quota hunt applicants that this error did not have any effect on the integrity of the selection process and was confined to the e-mail generator function of the system,” said Bowers. “This issue has been addressed for the entire quota hunt system. DNR will continue working with the licensing vendor to ensure programming corrections resolve any known technical issues as well as any other issues that are discovered.”

To apply for the multitude of public quota hunting opportunities the state has to offer, go to www.gohuntgeorgia.com and click on “Quota Hunt.”