For readers of this column not familiar with hunting, Limited Entry Hunting (LEH) is a government lottery that hunters can enter to apply for hunting permits to locations where regular hunting is closed. This pertains mostly to areas that need a selected approach to wildlife management and could not sustain a general open hunting season.

Every registered hunter in British Columbia is free to apply for as many of these coveted permits in the selected areas as she or he desires. As with all lotteries, there is a set date for entry acceptance, a date for picking the lucky winners, and a date when those winners will be announced.

It is the time between the application submission deadline and publishing the winners that has always entertained me with some measure of amusement.

As you follow the discussions centered around Limited Entry Hunting on the social media sites, you can feel the excitement and anticipation of winning the hunt of a lifetime, or that special spot where moose seem to grow to proportions that would make an elephant jealous.

As the time of the draw comes closer, anticipation gives way to impatience and anxiety. Phrases like “When will the draws be published?” and “I hope I get lucky this time!” dominate the discussions.

Then comes the long-awaited day when the draw results are published on the B.C. government website, and immediately two distinct camps emerge.

The winners will rejoice in having been picked and will enthusiastically start planning their hunts. On the other side are the “losers” who are often quick to cry out that the system is “rigged” or that the whole thing is a conspiracy of the government against that one person.

One unlucky hunter actually stated online, with much drama: “How else could it be? I applied for seven years straight and never got picked. It must be a conspiracy?”

If you did not win an LEH permit this year, you can rest assured it is not a government conspiracy against you. Neither is the LEH system rigged. The truth is much simpler and less dramatic. It is a lottery — it’s as simple as that. Sometimes you get lucky but most times you don’t.

For consolation, it should be said that hunters in British Columbia are very lucky. We’re all winners because British Columbia has more game species than any other region of North America and access to vast expanses of hunting land that many others can only dream of. In fact, no matter where you live in British Columbia, you’re never more than an hour or an hour and a half drive from good to exceptional hunting opportunities.

I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to the upcoming hunting season and partaking in as many hunting opportunities as possible. I’ll start off with bowhunting deer, then try my luck on upland bird hunting, maybe even go after a bear and spend some time on a lake in my duck hunting blind or on the edge of a field calling to geese.

So what if you didn’t get an LEH permit this year? You’re still lucky. Hunters have many options to choose from here in B.C. and for that we should be thankful.