Boy I'm gone for a few days and things get interesting.
Ryan the youth hunt is now by drawing, I believe that started last year just for the reason you state. The kids were not shooting the deer the adults were. In my oppinon, they were stealing from their kids just to fill a tag.
The bulk of the breeding here is done by the big migratory bucks and not the smaller bucks. I live here and get to see who's doing what. The smaller bucks pick up the doe's that stray out of the big guys control. The Gardner unit was a 3pt unit before the rest became that way and I could always get a good buck out of there even when everyone else was shooting any buck. Since they went 3pt min for all mule deer I have seen alot more big bucks every year.
Now as far as elk go, not sure exactly what to think on that. But because of the size of the overall herd on the eastside of the state and the number of hunters, I foresee in the future that it will be a set number of tags and when that number is sold thats that. Alot of other states have it and it seems to work ok. From what I know of, it's pretty much first come first sever on those tags sales, least that is how it is in Idaho. Lets face it if you are going to go elk hunting you will be first in line or on line when they come up for sale. I think that will weed out alot of the fly by night hunters that feel they must fill a tag at any cost. Also with a 3pt or better rule on the elk it wouldn't be that much of an impact. I just don't think our elk herds can keep taking a unlimited tag sale policy like we have right now.
Now for the new local critter report..... still seeing lots of bucks and now I'm starting to see alot more whitetails since the weather cooled a bit. The fire up Twisp river is not a factor anymore so thats good. Also I've seen 4 bears since I last posted, the latest was last night on the way home, not 100 ft from my house.