Colorado V - You need to read my post more carefully. Your tirade is full of misrepresentations about what I said.
I did not say Colorado only gave nonresidents 10% of tags. I said most states in the West aside from Colorado and Wyoming give 10% or less of their tags to nonresidents. Go back and read it. Also, I did not say the guys standing in line is what crashed the system. I don't know where you got that from.
You say you "don't know of one single eastern state where myself as a NR can get a premium white tail or elk tag over the phone that was turned in along with land to hunt." That's because most eastern states (not all, but the majority) don't have drawings for whitetail, don't have premium whitetail tags and don't have returned tags that are put up for sale. Only three eastern states I can think of off the top of my head even have a season on elk and they probably don't total 100 tags.
Also, I did not cry foul because I didn't get my tag. I didn't really expect to get a tag, although being locked out because the State set up a new procedure that was bound to crash, was annoying. I responded to Ganby Guys's post that said residents should get preference in returned tags. My response was that when nonresidents provide the majority of the license revenue for western Fish and Game Depts, we should not be put at a disadvantage to residents in every single way.
Even in a very generous state like Colorado where an average of 30% of deer tags might go to nonresidents (some units are less), nonresidents provide far more revenue to CPW than residents do. If 7 residents pay $34 each, that comes to $308 total. The 3 nonresidents pay $389 each = $1,167 total, not far short of 4X the total revenue from residents. In most western states it is far more lopsided. In short, it is nonresidents that provide the vast majority of financial support from tag sales for Fish and Game Departments.
As far as time invested in a tag, do you drive a 60-hour round trip to go hunting one time in Colorado, like I do? Even if you make several scouting trips, you probably have not invested as much time as me. Do you pay several hundreds of dollars in gas just to get to your hunt, not to mention meals and motels? Did you pay $389 on top of that for a deer tag? Are you limited to doing internet scouting and just what you can fit in a couple days before the hunt because you had to allot four days off work just for travel?
As far as choosing where I live, I have a business in NC and 12 grandkids. I love Colorado, but I'm not going to live 1,500-1,800 miles away just so I have a better chance at a deer tag.
Please have the courtesy to read what I wrote carefully enough so you don't misrepresent me several times.
. i appreciate every opportunity to hunt, whether in OR or out-of-state.
