Orkan, pheasant hunters bring dollars to SD that is just a fact! The scheels make a ton of money, the restaurants make alot of money if your in an area with decent pheasant numbers. Winner makes alot of dollars for there ca pita from non resident pheasant hunters.To say local economies don't prosper is not factual, as the money spent gets turned back over in the state for the most part!
When you have large numbers of people come into an area your going to have some problems, look at the bike rally! Those people in sturgis for the most part are fed up with the crowds and the rest of it, but it brings in millions to the area, without it their taxes would be higher for sure and they wouldn't have the things they do in such a small town without the rally dollars.
For the most part it amounts to a few weekends out of a year and the trade off is millions brought into the state, again that money turns around in state. As long as we have high pheasant numbers we will have alot of non resident hunters. Huron and other towns promote and want tourism from these non residents, I guess if your willing to pay higher taxes and have less businesses in Huron then try and get non resident hunting vacated from your town, also remember the state fair brings in money as well, even thought it has been a loss leader for the state, many locals benefit from it, how busy are the eating places and the motels? what do rooms go for during state fair and pheasant season? How much more gas is bought and items at C-stores durring these event's?
I'm not personally into pay to hunt, be it pheasant, deer or other species but many are willing to shell out big$$$ to do it. I worry about our youth and less and less have a chance from pay hunting to go hunt on private grounds for sure, WIA's are very important and all sportsman pay into that program count yourself lucky to own land!
This state is Ag dominate and with that your going to get paid hunting and hunters. I don't see the same as some guy from Tennessee willing to shell out 250.00 a day or more to shoot 3 pheasants, but each to his own. Also remember that the GFP runs mainly from dollars generated through license sales and without that big chunk of non resident dollars it would look alot different in the GFP and I would be willing to bet more from the general funds would have to some to the GFP or you risk loosing services provided from the department.