meboyles

Just a thought from an average work two jobs everyday midwesterner,
If I'm really lucky after my kids are grown and I can still get around, all my bills are paid and my wife lets me I might be able to come out west and enjoy maybe 6 or 7 hunting trips in my entire life. Yet I pay taxes to support federal lands that residents hunt most every year of their lives or at least get to see whenever they want.
The odds of me drawing a tag from a 10% pool in my life time are worse than winning most state lotteries.
My question is why can't residents share their bounty with their fellow hunters?
Most people who use "licensing agents" such as USO are usually to busy or lazy to do the research and apply for themselves.
Maybe you should limit out of state outfitters to 10% and allow another 10% or so for out of state hunters who would use local guides or hunt on their own.
Hey look guys I love the west as much as anybody and when I come to hunt it's about the hunt not the harvest, taking an animal is the icing on a very wonderful cake.
I believe your states will come up with a good and fair plan for us all, Thanks for listening,
always wishing for a mountain of my own, meb from the midwest

TXhighrack

No. I lease out my place to dove hunters each year during the opening weekend, and I lease out one pasture to 5 guys for the deer season. But I dont guide or outfit on my ranch, I do guide alitte on a friends place, but thats just mainly to help him out and to give me something to do.

NVMIKE

Texas - quit blowin your texas hot air, YOU may be able to pay to hunt in texas, but your full of it when you say it doesnt stop anyone from hunting. My wifes family is all from the texas coast, the older generation ALL hunted, now none of the current gereration do because they couldn't afford to do it every year to instill it in their kids. There are alot of poor people in texas who have been locked out of hunting for years because of high costs. Where i grew up nearly every poor family out there hunts. In Texas only those w/ money (dont have to be rich)hunt. Another question, if Texas is so perfect why dont you stay there to do all of your hunting? I'm sure Texas is great, but the whole point of going to the rocky mtns is to do something different, NOT like Texas. Right? if you just want to go "do it like we do here in Texas" whats the point of ever leaving home? Go out west, hunt like your in the west(not texas), and maybe you'll have a truely unique and magnificent experience that can be had no where else. It still wont be home though.

Wolf killer

meboyles
Arizona does not have enough elk to accomadate everyone that wants to hunt. Colorado offers non-resident cow elk tags for around $200. Bull tags are around $475. There are some areas in Colorado that you can draw a tag every year. Some units will even let you buy more than one elk tag. The Panhandle region in Idaho has never sold out all of there non-resident elk tags. The elk hunting in the Idaho panhandle is almost 100% national forest land.
My point is if you want to hunt elk you can. Colorado or Idaho may not be the states highest on your list? Colorado does have more elk than any other state in the nation.
I think the draw odds in Montana are about 60% for a non-resident? I think thats darn good odds.

If you really want to hunt elk go to Colorado. You can have a do-it-yourself hunt at a low cost.
You can apply for Arizona every year. Get your refund check in the mail & buy an over the counter elk tag in Colorado or the panhandle of Idaho. Then the year you do draw an Arizona elk tag you will finally get your chance to hunt the "dream state".

RON G.

I lived in Texas for 15 years, and NEVER hunted because it was too expensive. Everything is private land, and people want a small fortune to hunt on they're land. My father in law owns a large cattle ranch here in WY. He doesn't charge people to hunt his ranch, not even for Moose. Can you imagine what a landowner in TX would charge to take a moose on they're land? USO is only out for itself, more tags for out of staters= more tags for him to sell. If were going to let them set the game laws, why not just have Teddy Kennedy write them since the game animals belong to "everyone". The state is in charge of taking care of the game animals, but are hamstrung by the feds. Here in WY we have a terrible problem with the Wolf reintroduction. They are decimating the Elk and Deer heards. WY wants to declassify them to control them because they know the extent of the problem, but the much "wiser" feds wont let them. I have an idea, lets reintroduce the Wolf in Texas and see how long your excellent hunting lasts!

NVMIKE

Ron - I like the way you think, wolves for texas, grizzlies for central park & L.A. Just joking but seriously I traveled through my old stomping grounds north of Cody and the moose are decimated by the wolves.

TXhighrack

Those wolves are not native to Texas. So just like elk, if they were brought into Texas they would be considered an exotic animal, which means we can hunt them 24/7 and kill as many as we want to. So either way, no wolf problem............

wyote

TX
If the federal goverment put the wolves in Texas, "THEY WOULDN'T BE CONSIDERED EXOTICS" and the state wouldn't have any say about it!!!!!

MT, ID, and WY can tesify to that. Also the wolves they put here weren't native either. THEY CAME FROM CANADA!!!!!!!!


If everyone owns the game on federal land and folks from east of the misssissippi DONT WANT YOU TO SHOOT THEIR ANIMALS on federal ground in the rocky mountains. Then they have every right to shut down the hunting ON FEDERAL LAND.

THE STATE OWNS THE WILDLIFE, LETS KEEP IT THAT WAY!!!!!!!!!

rather_be_huntin

First in my little "what if" scenario I didn't say only 1% of the states population puts in for the hunt, I said 99% of the applicants to the state were non-res's. Let me show what I'm talking about. In Arizona there is approx. 35,000 elk. Lets say with the new rules everybody and their dog apply to Arizona to hunt elk. You could have in theory a million people from around the country apply. If 10,000 people from Arizona apply for an elk tag they would still only represent 1% of all total applicants and therefore only receive 1% of the tags. And with 35,000 elk how many tags do you think that is? I don't believe in discrimination but if you live in Texas you have nothing to do with the elk herd in Arizona. It is your PRIVILEGE to be able to apply and hunt Arizona even at tough odds.

Elk are resources but unlike the rocks and trees on public land the elk are owned, managed, and funded by a mojority by the state and those citizens who live in it. Based on that point alone people who live in each respective state should get preference. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE LAND!!!!! THE ANIMALS ARE MANAGED BY THE STATE!!!!

There is another reason why residents should get a majority of the tags.

I am not a rich man. That means I cannot afford to go to Colorado, Wyoming or any other state to hunt. Sure I might be able to buy the tag but I cannot afford to scout the land on multiple long distance trips or hire an outfitter every year. That means my hunting experience for me and my children would be seriously diminished if I could not hunt my state. I love hunting and I love the hunting in my state and if resident tags were cut way down I would have to sit many more years for a hunting opportunity. The places I hunt in my state are family and longtime traditional meeting places. We have nicknames for canyons and great stories about the places we hunt and I fear that if non-resident tags are increased the trips will be so few and far in between that those traditional hunts and meeting places that are in our hearts will die. I may never get a chance to hunt a trophy unit again in my own state. I may be faced with getting a general tag once every 5 years in my own state.

Think about the long-term implications of this deal. I guess if you're rich you don't care but if you're an average Joe, this could ruin hunting the way we know it forever. This is an example of state giving an inch and people taking a mile. Whats next? Tags should be the same price for non-res's because thats discrimination too?

Fieldmouse

Doesn't every non-resident face this exact problem? I think they do and for this reason you won't see the flood of people coming from out of state. The ones that applied before will be the ones who apply now. I have all the faith in the world that your state will be able to keep the 90/10 ratio you all want.