Resident fees did go up.I agree that we all need to support the efforts to preserve wildlife and the right to hunt. I believe some of the money is probably not allocated properly, but that's just government. I do feel that resident fees should also have increased to some extent in an effort to also assist in wildlife preservation/management.
In large, I believe the increases will only effect those who were going to START putting in for moose, bison & goat. Those just starting the PP process are additional income and those already in the PP race have little choice but to continue.
This may affect a large group of folks in the draw in 2018 due to folks being upset and 'cashing-in'.
The increases also may effect the monies folks can donate to organizations like RMEF, etc., in turn causing a negative effect on those organizations. It may also increase poaching by non-resident hunters and those hunting/crossing state borders. I guess the positive of this will be more episodes of Warden (fill in the state).
What I do know is that the previous costs were already tough for me to achieve a wife and 3 kids. Now, I'll really have to plan and perhaps will not make it out every year. And I was only hunting lope, deer and elk all DIY.
Like you said, the Federal BLM & NF ground belongs to all United States citizens. The Wildlife on said ground DOES NOT. The wildlife belongs to the State and is managed by the State. Like it's been said here before, you can hike camp and birdwatch for free, but you can't hunt. If you don't live here, you pay more....way more.I'm all for everyone paying their fare share. I don't mind paying a bunch as a NR. It's when all the increases are borne on the back of the NR that it sticks in my craw - especially for a state with a lot of FEDERAL land. That's all of ours that we pay for resident or not. BLM and Forest Service is as much mine as yours. Maybe everyone that wants to hunt any Federal Land should pay NR tag fees.
Then in WY outfitter welfare for wilderness areas - another insult.
It's just us bitching though, the systems are too entrenched to change. They will continue to milk the non-represented class for funds until they cease participating - and as everyone has said we are a WAYS off from that. And I'm a hypocrite, I'm not going anywhere, I'll still apply for deer/elk/antelope/mountain goat. Just did a 10 day elk hunt in NM, Tag fees at $800 were still only about 30% of the cost of the hunt coming from out of state - wholly DIY.
One thing it does do IMO is create bigger creep at the top and hollows out the middle. People think "if I'm paying that much for a tag, I only want to hunt the best units in the state." They don't apply for a middling unit or one w/ less than great success rates. I think everywhere will all end up like NM in 20 years - demand keeps growing and supply keeps shrinking.
Antelope: R $33 to $37 vs NR $272 to $326 regular or $512 to $614 specialResident fees did go up.
https://wgfd.wyo.gov/Apply-or-Buy/License-Fee-List/2018-License-Fee-Changes
Being that they're a government agency, they should be able to furnish information regarding funding usage upon request. Not sure how it would be formatted on a state level, but on a federal level it would be a FOIA request.In all honestly. I could care less that the fees are going up. I just want to know where all of the money is going. If they provided a breakdown of where the money is going I think guys would be a little less sour about paying extra.
Example 1 :
In 2002 I paid almost half of what I pay for an elk license now and in my opinion the elk population isn't half of what it was then in those areas. So why should I pay twice as much to hunt half as many animals?
Example 2:
In Pennsylvania the Game commission got tens of millions of dollars for oil and gas rights during the Marcellus Shale Gas boom. Nobody really knows where all of that money went. Honestly. Its like it vanished. Then they raised the price of licenses to cover whatever shortfalls they had that year.
Good for you. I couldn?t I agree with you more.I live here in Wyoming and dont like to see any hunting fees go up for anyone. The G&F do the best they can and alot of people blame it on them when its actually the legislature and the State government doing this. So hope everyone understands that and doesnt have a sour taste in their mouth for our G&F department. On that note, i see and read alot of complaining on here of fee hikes. Most people are talking about the 50-200 dollar ones. I would bet that alot of these kinds of people waste more money than that on a 60,000 dollar truck or a 45,000 dollar camper or 300 dollar hunting pants or any of the high end hunting clothes just HAVE to have to hunt! There is alot of things us hunters can do in the year or years leading up to ACTUALLY drawing the tag to save money for it when the time comes. It seems like most people CAN'T save money anymore! If they dont have it right at the time for liscenses they complain about the costs. I'm sure we can all walk around our houses and find things laying around we dont use or rarely use that cost way more than the 300 dollar hunting tag we want. I think people should prioritze what you want to do in life and put your time and effort into that, instead of having 3 or 4 hobbies that all cost money. I will give you an example what i did. I have hunted most all my life and have the most money and time invested in hunting things. Well about 5 or 6 years ago i went full bore into demolition derby cars and bought a few because i always liked that and wanted to do it. I built a few and ran them a few years and it was expensive to be competitive. I seen my favorite hobby of hunting and being outdoors was taking a hit in the finance department when you have a 10,000 dollar derby car. So i decided i love and enjoy hunting and being outdoors more than derbying and i sold all of my derby stuff, every bit of it and used that money for my passion of hunting. I plan WAY ahead for liscense fees, i hunt 2to 3 states most years when i can. I try to make some extra money doing euro mounts for friends for extra cash to purchase tags or put in for tags . Or i go out in winter and hunt various animals for hides to sell to fur buyer and use that money for anything hunting related. I think if alot of people would try to use alot of their money for 1 or 2 things and not a little bit of money for 5 or 6 things we would all be better offf financially for tag increases that ARE gonna happen. Sorry about the rant but thats one example of what i do to offset fees associated with what i love to do.
Just remember, anything thats fun to do WILL cost money!
I'd figure out 2-3 units that take the least PP to draw, and go scout them this coming year. Then with the draw odds from 2018, and your scouting make your decision based upon what you had seen, and what you can draw/best odds of drawing.Ok, I use to pay $7.00 for a Moose preference point, then $75.00 and now the new projected price of $150.00, knowing that I need a lot of PP's to draw in unit #1, 34, or 42. Why these units? Because I have hunted in the Sheridan area many times for Deer and Antelope and know there are good moose numbers there. Unit #38 is also a consideration, but also hard to draw.
Unit #1 needed 21 points to draw this past year, and there are around 18 applicants with 16 points. I have 15 points. I'm invested heavily in time and dollars, but I just turned 61 and time is ticking away for me to be able to get a hunt in, and that's not looking good in these units. So what do I do? Cut my losses and bail? Keep at it and may get drawn? Or should i just try a unit I could draw soon?
It's crazy what the cost is to hunt today vs what it was 30-40 years ago, but I like many of you-enjoy it, but there comes a point in time, that cost may play too large a factor for many. Not sure how to handle this one at this point.
Until I retire, my time out there is limited. If I do it the next couple of years, I may go guided. If I wait to when I retire, then that is an option and something that would be nice to do. I just don't know how my physical ability will be at that time. I Typically walk several miles a day, but the vertical climbing ability is not what it use to be.I'd figure out 2-3 units that take the least PP to draw, and go scout them this coming year. Then with the draw odds from 2018, and your scouting make your decision based upon what you had seen, and what you can draw/best odds of drawing.
Good luck!