Originally Posted by
txhunter58
So now I have to pay $300 more before I ever spend a dime in your great state. And since we don't contribute to your taxes , etc. for the rest of the year, and you have such a poor opinion of us, I suggest that all nonresidents try not to spend a dime they don't have to while they are there to hunt.
In other words, buy all your groceries, ammo, gear, ect at home and bring them. Don't stay in a hotel, bring in a tent, etc. Buy only gas. Just give all that money to YOUR local economy, since we pay taxes, etc all year there, so why not support them even when we go huntin?
Remember, the Fish and Game didn't vote this in, the PEOPLE of Montana did. So, they are the ones who need to get the message. Only way to do that is not spend a dime you don't have to when you go. If you can't go whole hog, then just buy a hundred dollars of groceries you normally don't and bring it with you. And give up 1-2 nights in a hotel you would normally stay in.
As as far as selling hunts to your great state to the highest bidder, then you and I have a very different view of what hunting should be, and you won't be welcome at my fire, not that you will care.
What if you could still sell basically all your hunts for $5000? Still fair? $10,000? If you can get it, why not??? Because it is wrong to price normal guys out of the game. Sure, hunting big game in Montana or any other state is not cheap, but it should not be prohibative and beyond the means of ordinary guys.
That ten gallon hat must be blocking your peripheral vision there tex, causing you to miss my location. Tip that Stetson up a little and you'll see that I live further from Montana than you do...hence the "AK" in AK Jeff...as in Alaska.
What so many of you keep missing is that the state of Montana is actively trying to price some of the non-residents out of hunting there. License demand has exceeded supply for years, so they're driving up the price because they have surplus demand. They don't care in the slightest if any of you think it's unfair. It's not fairness, it's business.
As far as the economic threats they're really reminiscent of the tourism boycotts that were lobbied against Alaska because of our aerial wolf control programs. There was a lot of crying (howling actually), and threats about how it was going to crush the economy. In the end what happened...absolutely nothing.