Fire is raging in the southern Snowy Range. Wyoming Game and Fish has offered hunters the option of a refund or carrying over their license until next year IF they had not hunted with that license.
But the "IF" part seems unfair. The notice sent by Game and Fish on September 23rd offered a refund or carryover IF you had not yet started hunting. But September is archery season and some hunters had done some archery hunting prior to the September 23rd notice...which disqualifies them for refund or carryover...even if that archery hunting was for a very short period of time.
This policy especially impacts limited quota areas because unlike general license holders, limited quota hunters are restricted to small areas. The refund/carryover policy has ramifications for 375 deer hunters in area 78, 200 type 6 elk hunters in area 110, 150 type 6 elk hunters in area 9, and 40 moose hunters throughout the Snowies. If archery hunters in these areas had done any hunting prior to September 23rd, they are not eligible for refund or carryover. Depending how the September 23rd notice fit your hunting schedule, you could potentially have ruined your refund or carryover option by archery hunting for as little as one day.
As many of you may know, my wife has a Snowy Range moose tag. While we are still able to hunt the northern portion of the Range, we are annoyed that because we started moose hunting with archery equipment prior to September 23rd we don't have the option of carryover. But this is not just about us. We are determined to find a great quality bull in the area that remains open for us to hunt.
Does this carryover/refund policy seem fair to you? What say you?
But the "IF" part seems unfair. The notice sent by Game and Fish on September 23rd offered a refund or carryover IF you had not yet started hunting. But September is archery season and some hunters had done some archery hunting prior to the September 23rd notice...which disqualifies them for refund or carryover...even if that archery hunting was for a very short period of time.
This policy especially impacts limited quota areas because unlike general license holders, limited quota hunters are restricted to small areas. The refund/carryover policy has ramifications for 375 deer hunters in area 78, 200 type 6 elk hunters in area 110, 150 type 6 elk hunters in area 9, and 40 moose hunters throughout the Snowies. If archery hunters in these areas had done any hunting prior to September 23rd, they are not eligible for refund or carryover. Depending how the September 23rd notice fit your hunting schedule, you could potentially have ruined your refund or carryover option by archery hunting for as little as one day.
As many of you may know, my wife has a Snowy Range moose tag. While we are still able to hunt the northern portion of the Range, we are annoyed that because we started moose hunting with archery equipment prior to September 23rd we don't have the option of carryover. But this is not just about us. We are determined to find a great quality bull in the area that remains open for us to hunt.
Does this carryover/refund policy seem fair to you? What say you?