Originally Posted by
AK Jeff
Good luck repealling I-161. It won by a large margin and isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Your argument about wildlife on federal lands is moot. That's been taken to court and beaten down repeatedly. The game animals belong to the states...end of story.
We live in a free market society so supply and demand dictate price. I'm not a Montana resident so if I want to hunt there I'll have to fork over the market price to play the game. I don't doubt a lot of outfitters are hard working individuals, but there's no reason why they should have a guaranteed business set aside. Outfitters are doing just fine in other western states that don't have outfitter sponsored licenses and I'm sure they'll continue to get by in Montana too.
There is a repeal bill being introduced in the Montana legislature next session, and I-161 didn't pass by a large margin state wide. Additionally, it doesn't take much to get another I -process going to repeal, just a few thousand signitures and it is back on the ballot in 2012. Other western states have land owner tags, wilderness outfitter requirements, OTC etc, apples to oranges. Supply and demand laws are silly when dealing with a non-elastic public resource. I think it is time Montana hunters pony up and start financing some of their own access, instead of crying about those who can afford better access, that is the real supply/demand dicotomy.
As far as outfitters being garanteed a biz set aside, you really have no clue. How does a sponsored tag equate to a garanteed client? Outfitters make zero dollars off of OS tags and the money was used to finance BMP land for residents, who paid nothing for access. Outfitting is a 147 million dollar industry in Montana, a state that ranks 49th in the nation in per capita income. The average return on outfitted clients greatly exceeds DIY dollars by nearly 4 to 1 margin for NR hunters. The state ROI for outfitter tags was much higher with the employment of packers, guides, cooks, wranglers, lodge staff, farriers, tack supply shops etc.
Jim Posewitz founder of the Orion- the hunters institute and author of "Beyond Fair Chase" supported I-161, and when asked how it benefits the average Montana hunter, his response was: "I don't know." To me, that is the perfect statement to discribe this measure.
On a final note, I think it is a bad and dangerous precident to have general elections that set wildlife policy. Sooner or later we will see movement to start chipping away at or hunting heritage here in Montana. We pay wildlife managers and vote for representitives to vote on our behalf, the process here is wrong. We nearly had a vote on banning trapping this year, it will be back in 2012.