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I will be sending a letter to the Governor, Wyoming Wildlife magazine and the head of G & F. If this passes for 2014, I'll be using all my points next year and finding a different place to hunt. This is absolutely assinine!
I just went to the Wyoming G & F website and found the article. It's under "News" and if you read it carefully. you'll find a place to comment. I did...and they probably won't like what I had to say!
Here is what I left in the comment section
After reading the proposed fees increases for big game, I have a few comments to make. First i will be coming out in October to hunt some cow elk. I planned this hunt last minute and hope to have a good time. I chose to come to wyoming because I have been building points for antelope and wanted to come out and check out the land before I do an antelope hunt. I bought the tag and will be buying supplies and gas in your state. I also rented a cabin to stay in. So there will be about $2000 spent in your state on this trip. Next year I will burn my antelope points to beat the increase. And I will not be coming back. I quit hunting colorado over this same kind of stuff. Maybe you should vote in a sales tax to help fund your department like we do in Missouri. Sure glad I didn't buy those mule deer and elk points yet! Montana isn't that much further of a drive.
Thank you for your time
Chris
Just did a little number crunching....for NR's. Antelope & Elk go up 37% & 30% respectively. Deer a whopping 61%!!!! These are for regular permits, not specials. $520 for a deer tag is a bit much. I think I'll start looking in Canada, not much more to drive for me. Last year I spent almost $10,000 for my guided elk hunt, motels, meals, guide tips, fuel and incidentals. They sure as hell need to find a way to get some of the tree huggers and wolf lovers to pony up some bucks to help run the G & F Dept.
I love wyoming b/c it can still be hunted by the average joe. Its a state that if you work hard and do your research, you can have quality hunts without paying a ton. Its sad that average joes always get the shaft. But.....its always good to look at the silver lining. You could reduce the number of overall hunters. So lets say a unit now take 5 PP's to draw for an elk. 5 PP's x 50.00 is 250. Add that to the 575 of the current price, and your at 825. If the elk tag is at 750......and b/c of less hunters, you only need 2 PP's......your still at 850.
So that would be the bright side. It would be hard to pay the 520 though for a "marginal" type unit, like Region C where I am hunting this year. But maybe that would also reduce the number of hunters in a Region C..................so you never know. In the end, it may have some benefits.
If the tag prices go way up, I would like to see the price of the points go down......they should make it simalar to colorado. If alot less hunters put in they will easily make up the differance in the higher priced tags. The bottom line is outa-state hunting is expensive no matter where you go these days, that's just the way it is.
The article said the price for NR points would remain as they are...no increase (or decrease for that matter).Quote:
Originally Posted by Muleys 24/7
Good idea, CC, and for those of us in the upper midwest, there's probably good hunting in Canada that closer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Colorado Cowboy
At least Montana has the decency to give you a break on a combo Elk/Deer tag.
Ugh, lets all rape the non-residents some more, why not they have no say in the matter.
$520 for a deer tag is a lot, you better have 180 inch deer behind every tree to make it worth peoples while.
IMO all this does is make the better units harder and harder to draw and the marginal units easier.
WOW, I guess I got a deal on that special antelope tag I drew this year. I hope I kill a big one because I probably won't be able to afford WY tags after I retire in a year or two. MT is none to cheap either. I guess I'll have to hunt here in WA and hope to draw a good tag, pretty sad. With zero points and the tag increase, I have to ask myself if buying points in WY is worth it at age 62.
I'm glad I got to hunt WY a bunch of times. Made my first hunt out there in 1977. Drove out there from up state NY in a beater 1960's chevy pu. Good memories.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a guide required to hunt big game in Canada? I'm pretty sure that's the case.. That rules out Canada for me with the exception of a couple "bucket list" hunts I want to do in my lifetime. Guided hunts in Canada certainly aren't any cheaper than free lance hunting in Wyoming or Montana.Quote:
Originally Posted by Murdy