Forgot to add that I had a bad problem with Mexican bean beetles, stink bugs, and SVB's.

Thank Mother Nature for such a moist year which just exacerbates pest problems. To keep slugs and snails in check, keep mulches to minimal heights. Grubs are the larva of beetles. In April/May apply an insecticides to kill the grubs. This will help reduce the adult population. The safest and the best way to control your six legged friends is to hand pick them and them put in a pail of soapy water. Begin looking early and always on the underside of the leaf.

As you get organic matter worked into the soil, and as you cover that soil with mulches you create idea conditions for snails and slugs to live and grow, a cool, moist environment. I find however, even with a fairly large population of slugs, that there is little damage done to plants most likely because the slugs have another food source they like better, the mulches. You could spend a fairly large amount of money for products containing Iron Phosphate but I find that if needed spraying the foliage with cold, caffienated coffee will discourage the slugs from eating that foliage.
What is the nutrient balance in your soil? What is your soils pH? How much organic matter is in your soil? How well does that soil drain? What does the soil smell like? How many earthworms (one indication of soil health) do you see with each shovelfull of that soil?

Reeldoc, Whatever method you use, now is the time to begin a regular slug control program. Fall is an important time of the year to control slugs because it is one of their major egg-laying times. (Eggs look somewhat like little BB-size balls of colorless jelly. Squash them when you find them)

In this zone, slugs are active almost all year round, sometimes taking a break around January :) Start with some kind of program - I bait, the type of bait you use is your choice, read some labels and decide what you are comfortable using in your area - but begin now to reduce the population and save yourself some grief when you introduce young plants in Spring.

I had Thousands of snails a few years ago. I went out for three nights, two weeks apart, and picked every last one of them. I stuck them into a very unfriendly bucket of dish soap & water. They have about a two weeks gestation period, hence the repeat sessions.
My garden stayed snail free for two more years.
I wouldn't want to go around picking up slugs though, even with rubber gloves on. Ew.