ORIGINAL: AmanitaVerna
I used to hunt in WI with both gun and bow. When WI hiked up the license fees to 135.00 I quit going up there for bow season. $135.00 on it's own isn't so bad, but my husband and I usually hunt together... so now that's 270.00 for tags, not to mention all the gas and food and lodging we had to pay for.
We still went up for rifle season for a while.
Last year I quit going for rifle season too.
It's just too much money to drive all the way up there and chase around a bunch of small bucks in the Northwoods. Last time I hunted up there I counted 31 deer pass within 50 yards of my stand and only 5 were bucks and every buck was 1.5 years old. (sure I know there are some big bucks in WI, but they are rare compared to the zillions of dinks running around)
If WI raises it's prices too much more, you will see a dramatic drop in NR hunters. (which you might like, but it's not going to increase your revenue any.. and it won't help you get rid of the earn-a-buck or T-seasons)
Yup, And I used to bow hunt a reletives farm in IL ... til my son turned 12. Then I could not see spending $570 in just license fees for the two of us to hunt down there, it would have been/ will be almost $900 in 2005. It is cheaper to hunt and home in Wisconsin, and there is more deer.