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This past Friday morning, the Fish and Game Department sent out a Newsletter, which among other things, presented a novel feature in the online tag/license process: the 'waiting room.'
This bullet reads, "For highly sought-after tags where sellouts are expected within minutes (like the Sawtooth Elk Zone tags), nonresident hunters should log on about 15 minutes in advance. Everyone logged on in advance will be put into a “waiting room” and randomly selected to make a purchase, so there is no benefit to logging in well in advance of the sale."
We followed up with Fish and Game staff in an effort to gain more clarity on this 'waiting room' and what it will mean for outfitters attempting to purchase tags for their outfitted clients online come December 1. Below is a summary Informational outline provided by IDFG, with some added notes from IOGA, denoted by text color.
= IDFG NOTE/LANGUAGE
= IOGA NOTE
From IDFG:
(IOGA NOTE: IDFG notes to please be sure to note the “advice” bullets at the bottom.)
~At 9:45 am MT December 1st, all current logged in customers for “GoOutdoorsIdaho” will be kicked out of the sales site and placed into a virtual “waiting room”. Those users will see a screen saying that they are in line and the sale will start at 10 am.
~Customers who log in between 9:45 and 9:59 am MT will join those users who are already in the waiting room.
~At 10 am MT, the system will “randomize” all customers in the waiting room, and place them in order. (This is done so that there is no advantage to logging in extremely early in the system.)
~The first 300 or so customers will be allowed to enter the site, and choose products to purchase. Brandt will be monitoring the system’s performance, and if favorable, the count of customers allowed in to purchase items will be incrementally increased.
~Customers who “login” to the site AFTER 10 am will go to the back of the line, in order of their login.
~Customers who select items and have it in their cart will maintain possession of that tag/item for a set period of time. Those customers must “check out” and pay for that item before the timer expires. THIS IS NEW - the customers holds the “tag” until checkout, until the timer expires. This is similar to how concert tickets/ or sport game tickets are sold.
ADVICE:
For those outfitters who have already sold hunts for 2021, it is recommended to:
~Bring the outfitter form/customer information to the regional office on Monday, November 30 so that a profile can be set up in GoOutdoorsIdaho PRIOR to the sale. This will prevent time lost entering demographics for a hunter instead of issuing a tag. (IOGA NOTE: Many of you have hopefully already created said profiles. Nevertheless, it could not hurt to confirm those have set up completely and correctly beforehand. PLEASE BE KIND TO THE PERSON ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT COUNTER; THEY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY OF YOUR FRUSTRATION, WARRANTED THOUGH IT MAY BE.)
~The issue with attempting to go online and purchasing all outfitter tags online is that while it is possible for the outfitter to log in “as the customer” using their information, there is no option to “toggle” to another customer. Meaning, if an outfitter logs in as John Doe to get the elk and deer tag, there is no option to switch to Jane Smith and stay in the system. Once items are purchased, the only option is to either purchase more items for John Doe, or log out. Logging out and logging in as Jane Doe will put the customer at the back of the line. (IOGA NOTE: Along the lines of what we have already suggested, having multiple computers with multiple respective operators may be key to your success in purchasing the tags you need.)
~Some regions are reserving one terminal for Outfitter transactions. I recommend contacting the region to see what they can accommodate on Monday, to be prepared for December 1st.
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