No wonder Non Residents aren't Deer Hunting

[Terry G]

I never really thought about it. I buy my Resident Sportsman's License every year for Fishing, Small Game, and Gun Deer. $60.00, hardly painful. I was talking to a Game Warden and I remarked I hadn't encountered many out of state Hunter's in the last couple of years. He told me your basic Non-Resident Buck only license was a cool $200.00 and processing a Deer if you don't do it yourself could add another $300.00 to that plus lodgings, food, and travel expenses. He said the non-resident license sales had dropped by almost half what they were 10 years ago. It just costs too much. I hunt on my own land so I don't encounter other Hunter's much, but I used to see a lot of out of state cars at Grocery stores and Bar/Restaurants. Not any more.

 

[Sawdust1]

On the flip side of that if there aren't as many non residents hunting ,lease prices go down some

 

[Show Me]

On the flip side of that if there aren't as many non residents hunting ,lease prices go down some

Don't kid yourself. They are everywhere

 

[EIB0879]

I paid $225 to hunt deer for five days on family land out of state. The land is going to be hunted by family regardless so, at least in my case, if I decide to not hunt, that land won't be freed up for leasing.

 

[Captcurt]

I used to hunt Missouri which is only 20 miles from home. My BIL had 180 acres and I had invites from other friends. To be honest, I had access to more land in Missouri than in Arkansas. Counting Turkey tags, rifle, archery deer tags, and bonus doe tags I would spend about $300 a year. Now it would cost me $779 for the same license with one bonus doe tag. The only money that Missouri gets from me now is a White River Boundry Lakes license shared with Arkansas. $10. Bye!

A good friend invited me to bow hunt his farm in southern Iowa. Said he could get permission from some friends too. I was really hyped until I saw the $540 license. Nope, I'll stay in Arkansas.

 

[Sawdust1]

Trust me, I know they are still around. However the number in the area that I hunt has gone down from what it was 35 years ago

 

[Oldschool shooter]

Not sure what Michigan charges for non-resident deer license. When I was in my teens and early 20s, a Sportsmans licensecovered everything minus the Federal duck stamp and a trout stamp. It also included a bear license, which was not done by lottery back then. I know prices are higher and not complaining about that, but you got alot more for your money. Just in case you were wondering, in 1978 a Sportsmans license was $24, a deer license was $7, a doe permit was $2, and small game was $4. Geez, I feel old now.

 

[Dr T]

A non resident hunting license in Texas is $315 for a year (Sept to Sept). It covers all game statewide, but there are some special tags required. I need it to hunt on the family ranch, but could hunt all over the state. For whitetail, the bag limit is 5 deer(no More than two bucks) in my home country for a season that runs from the first Saturday in November to January 7. Then there are two more weeksfor doors and spikes only.

I consider this a bargain compared to the in state license with short seasons, tag drawings, game management units, etc, in Colorado.

 

[tactikel]

Wisconsin non-resident increase in deer tag, and a price jump at the place we were staying, caused me and my SIL to take a year off. We also factored in: gas, food, deer processing. We decided to hold off until spring Turkey for our next hunt.

 

[crestoncowboy]

Ours in NC was always 150 ish out of state and was 40-45 for in state for years. I think I paid 60 this year. My buddies from TN buy an out of state to hunt my land in NC and its only a few more dollars than "in state" in TN.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I think there are simply less hunters and as the #'s decrease there are less to teach people who want to get into it. If you don't have a mentor and the tags for a place you can hunt are too much $$ then you'll stay home.

Politicians who don't care for firearms have used the fees to raise money for their other agenda items over the years.

 

[mcb]

I hunt my own land but I still have to pay $308 every year. Live in Alabama, own land in TN and thus still have to by a non-resident license to hunt my own land.

 

[jmr40]

I don't mind other states charging more for non-residents. It is their state, they pay taxes and live there year-round. If someone from out of state comes in and is hunting game in the same area where I am then they should have to pay more. It also discourages them from coming.

I live in GA but have hunted Colorado a few times. A non-resident bull elk tag is $700+. Colorado resident hunters are already complaining about too many hunters. When I hunt there, I try to remember that I'm just a guest. $700 for a tag in a state where 5-10% success rate is the norm on public land is a lot of money. But still the best option for me to kill an elk.

FWIW, GA started a lifetime license many years ago. It was $500 to hunt and fish here for life. Even if I later moved out of state. It covered everything except a federal duck stamp. When I bought mine, I figured it would pay for itself in 7 years.

If you buy one before age 16 is was $350. My son got one for his 16th birthday.

 

[kmw1954]

While listening to a morning talk radio program from Milwaukee on the Friday before deer gun season opened. Of course the discussion was about the deer season in Wisconsin. They reported that the number of licenses being sold state wide has been dropping steadily for the last 30 years. Reason being they figure is that Boomers are retiring from the hunt and the younger generations just are not picking it up. So there is talk of extending the gun season, changing the hunting zones or reducing out of state fees to help manage the deer herd.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I personally want out of staters to pay out of every orifice to get a non-resident license. This is coming from someone who pays for a non-resident MI license every year too. The last thing I want is out of staters competing for my states land and wildlife resources without paying a premium for the privilege.

We don’t pay property tax, we don’t pay sales tax when we are not there. We don’t live there so we don’t frequent the state parks and other state facilities which also contribute to the same things hunting licenses contribute to. We barely make a dent in the “tourism” economy by staying wherever it might be for a spell since we generally live on the cheap while we are there.

In my case, I am originally from MI and am hunting on the very property I grew up on so some might think that is different. Well, it isn’t. I don’t contribute to the general economy or the deer management economy in any meaningful way anymore by not living there.

Big buck states like Iowa and Illinois should charge even more yet for non-residents so their own residents who have chosen that state as their home get better hunting opportunities. You have a scarce resource (trophy bucks) that many hunters in the whole country want so you might as well make them pay for that scarce resource while letting your own residents reap the benefits of living there. Especially in Illinois where the entire state has to absorb the financial problems of one municipality.

The states that have good elk hunting are in a bit of a conundrum though since they could sell nearly every elk tag in the good areas to a non-resident and hang their own residents out to dry and make more money that way. That’s not great long term though and they know it.

As for the number of licenses sold every year dropping, that isn’t going to be made up for by selling more non-resident licenses at a reduced rate. If someone wants to hunt some other state they will pay for it regardless. Fewer and fewer licenses are being sold in every state.

 

[Txhillbilly]

Just another reason that I quit hunting several years ago. Financially, it just isn't worth it anymore. Lease prices are crazy high, Out of state license fee's are crazy high in most states.
I can save more money buying a beef steer, and having it processed than I can hunting anymore. Plus have a lot more meat in the freezer!

 

[Legionnaire]

I won't hunt deer in TX. I grew up hunting PA and NY, and paying a lease to shoot scrawny deer over bait doesn't do it for me. Looking forward to retiring soon and getting back to hunt NY. I have a lifetime sportsman's license with an archery endorsement I bought years ago when I lived in Central NY. They send me my tags every year.

 

[Txhillbilly]

I won't hunt deer in TX. I grew up hunting PA and NY, and paying a lease to shoot scrawny deer over bait doesn't do it for me. Looking forward to retiring soon and getting back to hunt NY. I have a lifetime sportsman's license with an archery endorsement I bought years ago when I lived in Central NY. They send me my tags every year.

South and West Texas deer are on the small size. North and East Texas deer are pretty decent size. I've always hunted deer in North Texas, mainly along the Red River or the Brazos River.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Non Resident license in Kansas is $97.50 but the deer tag is $442.50 and you have to apply to be drawn for that.
On the "up" side, you are allowed two deer, one buck one antlerless, on the permit.

 

[buck460XVR]

Here in Wisconsin, non-resident hunters has significantly dropped because deer hunting in our neighboring states has greatly increased. Growing up as a kid, there were very few deer in the southern Agricultural part of the state. Nowadays, it's where most of the deer are. Used to be Illinois and Iowa hunters came here because it was the same......deer had not yet acclimated to living in Ag areas. Similarly, Illinois and Iowa have become known for their large bucks and I see more Wisconsin residents going out of state to hunt than I see out of state hunters coming here. While the cost of a license may be a contributing factor, IMHO, it contributes very little to the decision for non-residents to come here and hunt.

 

[Speedo66]

Surprisingly, NY only charges $100 for out of state licenses, which includes small game, plus deer and bear.

Kids 12-15 out of state, $5.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Funny thing, 30+ years ago Kansas didn't allow any out of state hunters for deer and tags for residents were on a draw only system. Southern Kansas hunters would just drop down to Oklahoma and buy a tag and license to hunt there. (Oklahoma has some large areas of Corps of Engineers and state hunting land along the border.)

 

[ThomasT]

Just another reason that I quit hunting several years ago. Financially, it just isn't worth it anymore. Lease prices are crazy high, Out of state license fee's are crazy high in most states.
I can save more money buying a beef steer, and having it processed than I can hunting anymore. Plus have a lot more meat in the freezer!

I am almost the same way here in Tx. A resident combo license isn't that much but an out of state license is ridiculous. I have heard our deer harvest is more than some states total deer population. We have plenty of deer and now plenty of hogs. I won't hunt in Colorado anymore. I can't justify the cost. Like you stated I can buy a large amount of beef for what the elk tag cost. Not counting all the other fees. And you may not get an animal on top of that.

A combo license for me since I am over 65 is $16. Less than a couple of hamburger meals for me and the wife. My friend is a retired butcher. He suggested that instead of buying a side of beef just watch for meat to be on sale and stock up that way. Then you get the cuts of meat you really want. I'm not a big meat eater anymore anyway. $300 of beef would hold me for the whole year. I mostly use stew meat and hamburger and an occasional steak to make into steak Fajitas.

 

[wgp]

I own land in Kansas so that's where I hunt, even though I have to buy a hunt-own-land tag (at a discounted price). I quit Colorado years ago over cost but also overcrowding. One opening day, after hiking in some distance from the road, at daybreak I counted 13 blaze orange spots on the opposing ridge. Then a 4-wheeler drove right through. Another day hikers walked right through the spot I had staked out, oblivious that there was a rifle season going on (they had every right to be there, I know, but still....). Kansas brought the out-of-state thing on itself because the magazines were telling everyone that Kansas was a big-deer mecca, landowners were thirsting for the non-resident/outfitter money and citizens were hollering for fewer deer to hit on the highways. I gather that we still have plenty of demand for non-resident permits.

 

[Savage30L]

In Kentucky, even resident fees have gone up. I buy a sportsman's license every year; this year it was $95, and I've bagged one deer, nothing else all year. For many years I bought one, and ended up with no place to fish or hunt. Next year (although not early enough in the year to be practical), I'll be eligible for a senior license, and I plan to take advantage of that....$12. We also have a resident senior lifetime sportsman's license, which is $180; I doubt I'd live long enough, or be spry enough for all those years, to make that one worthwhile.

If you want an example of non-resident fees that are truly worth complaining about, look at the Canadian provinces. Most of them gouge American hunters outrageously with their fees.

As for hunter numbers dropping, I believe that in my state, at least, there is no shortage of hunters, or potential hunters, even though license sales are indeed down. Desire to hunt among the populace is as great as I've ever seen it. The problem is a dire shortage of hunting opportunities near the population centers, especially near Lexington. A lot of potential hunters get discouraged, and just don't keep buying licenses.

The property I currently hunt is very small, but because of its habitat mix, it's very attractive to deer. The landowner is constantly pestered by people asking permission to hunt, some of whom offer him crazy lease fees, and by people wanting to buy his land for hunting purposes, even though it's only 18 acres!! One of the neighboring landowners is wealthy, and has repeatedly offered him twice what he paid for the property only 4 years ago, just to add it to his land so he could use it for 2 weeks out of the year. That same scenario is played out regularly all over this part of the state, and I don't see that trend slowing down in my lifetime.

Edited to add: I think that nonresident hunters are actually increasing in our state; Kentucky is now the trendy spot to pursue a B&C buck. What happened to Kansas a few years back is what's happening here now.