Wyoming Tag Hike... So much for hunting there

E

elks

New member
So I found this while searching around. Basically the WYGF is claiming they will be broke if they do not do something... So the solution is to raise out of state tags by over 30%.

While I do understand the reason for nonresident hunters to pay more, I feel they are going to shoot themselves in the foot. With unemployment up, house prices down, and everyone pinching pennies I feel that WY. Is going to loose more by this then they will gain. Also the other aspect is they have anyone buying points stuck over a barrel... In the last few years I have spent 100 per year building points. When you count in my points cost and the new tag price I am going to pay out the rear if I hope to hunt WY again.... Here are the prices:

Resident:
Antelope: from $31 to $48
Deer: $36 to $52
Elk: $50 to $75
Moose: $110 to $175
Big Horn Sheep: $115 to $250
Mountain Goat: $120 to $260
Black Bear: $43 to $52.50
Daily Fishing: $4 to $7
Annual Fishing: $22 to $36

Non-resident:
Antelope: from $270 to $370
Deer: $310 to $520
Elk: $575 to $750
Moose: $1400 to $1750
Big Horn Sheep: remains @ $2500
Mountain Goat: $2150 to $2600
Black Bear: $360 to $437.50
Daily Fishing: remains @ $12
Annual Fishing: remains @ $90


Other Licenses:
Conservation Stamp: $12 to $14.50
Res. Archery: $14 to $17
Non-res. Archery: $28 to $34
Res. Application Fee: $5 to $6
Non-res. App. Fee: $14 to $17


Reduced Fees:
Res. Annual Game Bird: $14 to $10
Res. Small Game: $14 to $10
Res. Combo GB/SG: $22 to $15

Also the special draw where you give up a chunk regardless if you draw or not are jumping as well...

Pronghorn - $512 to $660
Deer - $552 to $810
Elk - $1,057 to $1,330

So ultimately an elk tag that tags 10 years to draw is going to actually cost over 1500 all added up... Yikes. $810 for sepcial deer draw... For those prices I can buy Colorado landowner tags every year.
 
Early in the year they had several meetings asking the public what they would like to see done with the big game seasons. Someone asked the question of how they decide how many licenses to give in hunt areas. I spoke up and said by budget. All G&F people didnt like that. I got the letter in the mail a couple of days ago stating that due to license cuts and etc that in order to keep operating they will have to increase the prices. I think they need to be audited and account for what comes in and what goes out. I told my son he needs to become a game warden. Make 65,000 a year, a new pick up every couple of years, boat, 4 wheeler, smowmobile, camper, house to live in and work one month a year. The game warden house is down the street and I have lived in the same address for the last 13 years and they dont leave home very often.
 
Originally Posted By: DustballsEarly in the year they had several meetings asking the public what they would like to see done with the big game seasons. Someone asked the question of how they decide how many licenses to give in hunt areas. I spoke up and said by budget. All G&F people didnt like that. I got the letter in the mail a couple of days ago stating that due to license cuts and etc that in order to keep operating they will have to increase the prices. I think they need to be audited and account for what comes in and what goes out. I told my son he needs to become a game warden. Make 65,000 a year, a new pick up every couple of years, boat, 4 wheeler, smowmobile, camper, house to live in and work one month a year. The game warden house is down the street and I have lived in the same address for the last 13 years and they dont leave home very often.

I think a full audit would be great. I have never bought a full price antelope or elk tag in WY yet. I have had 3 deer tags. On the flip side since the points I have bought points each year for both elk and lopes... That should help to offset the decrease in tags. The point system has not been around long, where is all that money going?

Just like Colorado they refused to admit that the winter a few years back hammered the populations as bad as it did instead they played out a couple years without reducing tags much and now have no animals. SO they mismanaged the herds, failed to act immediately when the herds drop and now we have to pay.
 
darn elks!! i was thinking about getting the guys togather for a wy. hunt this year. i guess it won't happen !! i love wy. and the people there but not at thoe $$ . i will miss you and the fam. but when we can get the $$ togather.we will try to go. hug them all and if you get bye baggs you can tell the webers i said hello!!
 
Originally Posted By: DustballsEarly in the year they had several meetings asking the public what they would like to see done with the big game seasons. Someone asked the question of how they decide how many licenses to give in hunt areas. I spoke up and said by budget. All G&F people didnt like that. I got the letter in the mail a couple of days ago stating that due to license cuts and etc that in order to keep operating they will have to increase the prices. I think they need to be audited and account for what comes in and what goes out. I told my son he needs to become a game warden. Make 65,000 a year, a new pick up every couple of years, boat, 4 wheeler, smowmobile, camper, house to live in and work one month a year. The game warden house is down the street and I have lived in the same address for the last 13 years and they dont leave home very often.

Dang!
That sounds like a great job!!
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I had already seen those increases a few days back and me and the group I go with have done decided this is the last trip to Wyoming. Wyo has been a good value to grab some leftovers while doing the points buildup. At those prices there are now some much better values for the $ (at least for us).
As far as the herd management goes, I have spoken to 2 different biologists from 2 different areas who both told me they have "no real idea" how the winter had affected the herds. One of them in particular mentioned that they did not do much in the way of surveys on the public areas (this was an area that had significant public holdings). The wyo g&fc has a business partner; you can see it in most things they do. I spoke to a senior biologist who told me the tags were issued based on the assumption that there would be access to the animals, regardless of public or private. I told him that the assumption was flawed. He acknowledged such and told me "that's why some areas have so many left-overs."
Here is something I think is stupid: one area I know very well has had a large whitetail increase the last decade and the ranchers and outfitters are moaning & groaning because it's MUCH harder to sell a whitetail hunt in Wyoming than a muley. The g&fc responded by increasing the number of whitetail-only tags. The irony is there were already whitetail-only tags available every year for the area left unsold. Making more available only increased the number of unsold tags.
At the end of the day, the Wyoming g&fc is a business selling a state-owned commodity. I believe they are willing to risk losing numbers of hunters in the hope that the increased tag prices will offset any lost numbers.
 
Originally Posted By: Grandpa Fudgedarn elks!! i was thinking about getting the guys togather for a wy. hunt this year. i guess it won't happen !! i love wy. and the people there but not at thoe $$ . i will miss you and the fam. but when we can get the $$ togather.we will try to go. hug them all and if you get bye baggs you can tell the webers i said hello!!

I love their flank steaks.
 
Sure would like to know the train of thought that decided that a mt. goat was monetarily worth more than a bighorn sheep??? I don't think I've ever seen that before in any state or province.
 
Here is what I do not get... As a business model it is never a good idea to increase cost of a product to offset a decline in revenue. It is always better to cut back services, decrease overhead, leverage assets etc. For example if I owned a resturant, and it was struggling due to economy etc. The last thing that would really help my business out would be increasing my prices by over 30%. In this case I believe that many states fail to realize how they are in direct competition with other states for hunters dollars.

Instead of making proper adjustments 5 years ago they are now looking at having me foot the bill of poor management. We are customers and will be trying to find the best bang for thier buck. Litterly.

Grandpa,

YOu could always come out next summer and do some trout fishing here in CO.
 
hhmmm thats an idea!! do they have trout there?? lol i fished for a week and caught 3 suckers and a can of sardines ( the guys caught a sucker too) will see what i can do!
 
They say they have not had a price increase since 2008. Comparing the price they list as the current prices and the prices on the ones in my pocket there is a 2.00 difference on every one. They dont even know what they are charging.
 
Originally Posted By: Dustballs I told my son he needs to become a game warden. Make 65,000 a year, a new pick up every couple of years, boat, 4 wheeler, smowmobile, camper, house to live in and work one month a year. The game warden house is down the street and I have lived in the same address for the last 13 years and they dont leave home very often.

Could somebody get me an application for a game warden job in Wyoming?
I could live in the house the one month that I worked, and I could bring the new truck, boat, 4 wheeler, snowmobile, and camper to KY for the other 11 months, and they could forward my paychecks to my address here.
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Seems to me tags are more expensive every year. I guess i could be wrong but hunting isnt cheap anymore. Im not that old but i remember paying 25 for elk and in the teens for goats. 5 for a conservation stamp.

I do think its funny that op is in colorado complaining of wy elk when so many wy elk hunters go to colorado
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Originally Posted By: Yoteless in OhioI was planning to go antelope hunting next fall in Wyoming. Several hundred dollars in preference points and now $370 for an antelope buck??.?

F them.

A Thank You card and a box of chocolates from WYGF should be arriving any day now.


Come to CO.... We have plenty of cactus goats and most farmers/ranchers will show you where they have the hole dug for any *extras* that happen to get killed.
 
Ya I sent them a email and told them I wont be back. Going out on a cow elk hunt next month. Picked the tag up as a left over and was going to start buying elk points and keep doing the cow thing until I had the points and knew the area to go after a bull. The increase doenst take effect till 2014 right? I will be burning my 6 lope points next year. Glad I didnt buy the elk and deer points this year. I think I will stick to coyotes and squirrels and start doing the africa thing every 4 years.
 
Originally Posted By: doggin coyotesOriginally Posted By: Yoteless in OhioI was planning to go antelope hunting next fall in Wyoming. Several hundred dollars in preference points and now $370 for an antelope buck??.?

F them.

A Thank You card and a box of chocolates from WYGF should be arriving any day now.


Come to CO.... We have plenty of cactus goats and most farmers/ranchers will show you where they have the hole dug for any *extras* that happen to get killed.


I think a complimentary reach-around would be more appropriate.
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Wyoming hunters don't like this either, and, its crap thats being said about tag prices not going up since 2008. We've seen the little increments($2.00) every year for the last 5. What G&F will tell you is alll those 'special projects' like sage grouse, preble's mouse, etc. is what is eating up that money. It will get to the point where we, who eat that wildlife, will find its cheaper, net wise, to buy beef on the hoof first and use our spare time and money hunting predators.

I wonder if F&G has done an economic impact study to go along with this plan. I'll bet they haven't. This whole thing COULD be an attempt to extort more money from the Wyoming legislature rather than raise those prices to cover their additional costs.
 
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