I've been a life member of NAHC for over 20 years. Their forum used to be really good. But they have really messed it up. Most of the long time life members have left it.
Here's the scoop on preference points. In my native Colorado a lot of the tags are limited tags and you have to apply for them. If you don't draw the tag the state gives you a preference point. The system is weighted so that those with the most points will draw the tags first since they have been trying the longest. Some of the really premium areas can require a lot of points. Right now I have 20 points for elk which means I have applied for a special elk tag for 2 decades.
But that doesn't mean I haven't hunted a lot of elk in that time frame. When you apply for a tag you can put down up to 4 choices and only the first choice generates a point. The unit I've been holding out for elk generally has a bunch of cow tags available. So I put in for a bull tag in that unit for my first choice and a cow for my second choice. If you draw the first choice your points drop to zero but choices 2-4 don't impact the points. By drawing the cow tags I hunt the area a lot and do scouting for big bulls nearly every year. If I don't draw any of my choices I can still hunt by getting a leftover tag or a general season over the counter bull elk tag.
Since I've ben in the Navy, I've been stockpiling points for when I retire. The only species I don't have a lot of points for is Mountain Goat. I drew that tag in 2001 and got a really good billy. In Colorado if you take a sheep or a goat you have to wait 5 years before you can apply again to give others a chance at the tag. Since I really don't care if I ever shoot another goat I haven't been too concerned about building up points.