Stand By Hunters

[sqiggy]

Well, this past week, I used my last 3 days of vacation, being that this was probably the only time I could take them. So last Monday, I called out to Colorado Bend State Park to see if they would have any stand-by positions available for their either sex hunt Wed thru Fri. They did. I was told that we needed to be there at 10 am and the drawin, if any, would be at 12. So I had my dad drive the 3 hrs to my house and spend the night. Then we left early Wed morning and drive 3 hours to Colorado Bend. When we arrive, there are 5 other stand-bys for 4 openings. Our chances looks good. Then at 11:57, a guy strolls in, wearing a nice pair of dress slacks and pull over type shirt, hair all nice and neat and in place. Looked like he just came frome the "office" or just off the golf course. You know the guy. The rest of us are all in camo, ready to get drawn and go hunt. Well you guessed it. At 12 o'clock, this guy was the FIRST one picked. Talk about me gettin ticked off. Here we've been sittin around for 2 hours and this guy was there for a whole 3 minutes. I'm gonna send in a complaint to TPWD on how they conduct their stand-by drawings. The draw hunters have a dead-line to send in the money part. I think there ought to be a deadline on what time the stand by hunters need to be there as well. That way, if they really want to hunt, they will be there on time. It sucks sittin around for 2 hours and then see this happen.
What do yall think??

[Shane]

Well...sounds like the deadline was 12:00, or whenever they drew for stand-by. Stinks that you didn't get drawn with such good odds (I assume you didn't get any of the other spots). Just bad luck. That's the nature of the stand-by drawings - at least that's how they work every time I've been there. I've never gone as a hopeful stand-by hunter, but I've seen the drawings when I've been on hunts I was drawn for.

I guess that's why I've never gone hoping to get a stand-by spot. I figure my luck would be like yours was.

[sqiggy]

Nope, we didn't get drawn. I'm 0-2 on rifle hunts and 3-0 on archery hunts as a stand-by.
What makes me mad is they tell us to be there by 10!!! Why not say be there before 12!!!

[Pat Miller]

Well guy.........you can't blame the other guy or the drawing. They did say the drawing was at 12 and telling you to be there at 10 isn't a guarantee that you will get drawn just a surety for them for an accurate head count of people that want to get drawn!
It's happened to me too. Disappointing..........YES.....but you can't be angry at them.......it is just luck of the draw!

[buzzcut]

Ditto what Pat said. Be thankful when you do get drawn on a stand-by but take it like a man and just walk away when you dont.

[ShockValue]

That sucks but its always a gamble when you go for standby. 3 hours is a long drive to make for such a gamble.

Not sure how the guy dressed made any difference in the outcome. You've been to enough of these things to know better than me, but the 2 standby hunts I've been on, they always tell you to get there early and never draw when they tell you.

By the way, I've duck hunted with suit pants and an button down on under coveralls before!

[Peta-hata]

Next time show up at 11:57 AM and you won't be so ticked when you don't get picked.

[sqiggy]

Next time show up at 11:57 AM and you won't be so ticked when you don't get picked.

That I will do!!!
Then I won't have to sit around for a couple of hours!!!

[sqiggy]

They did say the drawing was at 12

Well, actually, the drawing was supposed to been at 11. But when I called a couple days before, the lady that answered the phone made the mistake of saying 12. Soooooooooooooooo, since she didn't know whom she told it to, they decided to keep it at 12.
And I'm not mad at the other stand bys, just TPWD. They told me to be there at 10. I took that if I wasn't, I wouldn't be in the drawing. If they told me just be there by 12, then I could've left home a little later. Oh well, live and learn I guess.
And the guy that showed up "dressed up", well, guess you had to be there. I mean, when everybody else is in huntin clothes, ready to go, just kinda looked out of place!!!

[Bloodhound]

I think it would be myopic to file such a complaint, Squiggy. I've attended 15 standby drawings & been drawn 13 times. Each location has the right to do it the way they see fit. I attended a drawing last September in which a guy showed about 2 minutes before the draw. He wasn't drawn, but I'd have been upset if he had been. Regardless, I would not have filed a complaint. Jealousy never helps anything. I hope to be drawn on Dec 12th at James Daughtrey. The odds will likely be stacked way against me as this place has monster bucks & lots of guys will be there trying to get on standby.

By the way, Colorado Bend has NO exotics. They don't tell you that unless you ask.

[boss bowman]

Hey you've got nothing to be ticked about I was at granger last week and was told a guy showed up who hadn't paid, there were 21 hunters drawn, and 20 pre-paid, two others didn't show up so there should have been two standby positions, but since those 20 spots were paid they wouldn't let the guy or any stadby's hunt.

[Longstick]

Hey you've got nothing to be ticked about I was at granger last week and was told a guy showed up who hadn't paid, there were 21 hunters drawn, and 20 pre-paid, two others didn't show up so there should have been two standby positions, but since those 20 spots were paid they wouldn't let the guy or any stadby's hunt.

how'd ya fair? see anything worth shoooting? when I was there in early Nov I didnt see a thing

[Thorson]

but since those 20 spots were paid they wouldn't let the guy or any stadby's hunt.

This actually makes sense based upon what they told me at Kerr. My wife and I got drawn and she could not make it. When I talked to the guys at at the Kerr about it, they told me that once someone pays they will not let the spots go to a standby hunter. I told them that she was for sure not going to be there, so they could release it to someone else, they said they would not. It was not a big deal anyway. There was only 1 standby and 2 other standby positions. I was told that sometimes people do not show up for the first morning. What does seem odd about it to me was that I was lead to believe that if I did not show up on time that I would lose my spot.

[buzzcut]

You might lose your spot unless you call them and tell them you're going to be late(or cant make it until day 2).They will usually work with you on such matters,but you have to call them and let them know what's going on.

[Shane]

Well, actually, the drawing was supposed to been at 11. But when I called a couple days before, the lady that answered the phone made the mistake of saying 12. Soooooooooooooooo, since she didn't know whom she told it to, they decided to keep it at 12.
And I'm not mad at the other stand bys, just TPWD. They told me to be there at 10. I took that if I wasn't, I wouldn't be in the drawing. If they told me just be there by 12, then I could've left home a little later. Oh well, live and learn I guess.
And the guy that showed up "dressed up", well, guess you had to be there. I mean, when everybody else is in huntin clothes, ready to go, just kinda looked out of place!!!

Just think how mad you would have been if you'd shown up at 11:55 only to find out that they went ahead with the 11:00 drawing, as planned, after telling you 12 on the phone. They want everybody there at 10 so they can have all the names in the hat early for the 11:00 drawing and then can get the hunt started on time. They know there will always be people that show up several hours early (just cause that's the way some people do things) and others that will screech into the parking lot at the last minute still wearing their street clothes (just cause that's the way some people do things). They also know that there are going to be some folks that went to a lot of trouble only to watch everybody else go hunting after they don't get drawn.

I sure hope you have better luck next time. Maybe you should try the business suit at the last minute deal. Who knows?