New revenue streams for Colorado
 

http://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Com...018-PWCMtg.pdf

Looks like Colorado has found a bunch of ways to increase revenue in the future, and now has the ability to raise resident fees every year the same way they can raise NR fees, tied to a cost of living increase!

And they can now charge up to $100 per species for a preference point! Don't look for them to raise if to that level in 1 stoke. They will turn the heat up slowing so as to boil the frog slowly

Please read the first paragraph of the first page..............

And the start of the second: "While it is time to celebrate, there is much to be done......"

Pretty ominous from our point of view. Of course, if you trust government to do the right thing when it comes to money, we have nothing to worry about

I like the idea of a low income resident discounted license. I can easily qualify for it. If instead, they raise the prices for me it will be time for me to retire to fly fishing only. I wonder if they'll take away my free senior fishing license?

If they do raise prices on you, then just remember what residents have been telling us each time they raise prices on us. It is even more true for residents: The tag is one of the least expensive things about hunting. You spend more in powder/bullets and gas than you do for a tag. After all, things go up in price. How could a 1-3% increase per year hurt you????

Sounds like they slipped this one in through the back door. No change in prices this year, but they can raise resident prices starting in 2019 and then in 2020 there can be a yearly increase based on CPI!

Gas is a non issue for me. I can hunt all 9 days of a hunt on less than one tank of gas and I drive to the hunting area every morning. I don't camp anymore.
I live on just my SS check. It's stretch as far as it can go now. Any extra money spent comes from food money. I paid non resident fees to Colorado for 50 years before moving here. I paid my dues. I don't want to retire from hunting because I can't afford it. I want it to be my choice because i'm too old to do it. At 75 i'm not ready yet. The low income resident hunting fees may be my salvation if it goes through. We'll see how it goes.

You misunderstand Muley. I was being sarcastic. Those are the arguments that have been used by residents for years talking to NRs. If we try to say that the ever increasing fees are unfair, we are "whining". I truly hope you don't get priced out of the market, as some of my NR friends have. But it is ironic to watch residents start to "whine" I hope you get your low cost senior license fees, but if you apply for a tag, your cost is going up regardless.


Will the amount of money they take in ever be enough? If anyone thinks so, I have some oceanfront property......

Sorry, I usually catch the sarcasm. I hunt for elk, deer, and bear now. If the prices get too bad I can cut back to just one tag. Which one? Well, since elk is the best tasting and gives the most meat. That will be my choice.

txhunter58:

Maybe it won't be so bad as you think. Many markets exhibit price point sensitivity, and I bet hunting licenses are one of these. Looking at Colorado hunting licenses across the board -- not just applications for coveted trophy areas -- I'm guessing supply and demand are closely matched right now. If increased price drives down demand, over supply will exist -- which means unsold license opportunities. Would that happen? Only time would tell the tale. What are the economic effects of, for example, fewer elk licenses sold? Potentially diminished revenue for CPW . . . but also diminished revenue for hotels, restaurants, etc. I don't think they can willy-nilly jack up the price to any figure they like without suffering diminished demand.

But that is just my opinion, and I have no monopoly on the truth.

Come on Pete, you have to be kidding me. Right now a resident CO elk tag is $49, a deer tag is $34 and a bear tag is $44. Total cost to you is $127. Even if they raised them all 50% your cost would only be $191 for all three. What would the increase be spread over a year? 191 minus 127 equals $64 a year divided by 52 weeks comes to $1.23 a week. Are you really trying to tell me you couldn't come up with less than a buck and a quarter a week to keep hunting? Go shoot 2 coyotes a year and sell the skins to tourists and you're good to go.

Stuff happens. I just got a $2000 bill for Jeep repairs. I'm making payments to the shop. My bamboo rod broke and i'm trying to dig up the money to repair it. Fly fishing is a bigger passion than hunting for me. I'm not giving it up. I could go on with more examples. I'm trying but there isn't enough money to work with. If the DOW wants to raise the prices i'll compensate by hunting less. It's not just the tag money. If I drop two animals I save a lot more than just the tag expense.

It's a moot point right now. Let's see what they do.

There are already 30,000 less Colorado NR hunters due to increased prices. The current round of price hikes I would put down as smart marketing: $10 for a Habitat fee and $40 for a preference point, $20 application fee, etc. doesn't seem so bad by themselves, but when you add them all up...........

I know that western hunting is expensive any way you slice it, but just hate to see more people being priced out of the "market". Would hate to see hunting reduced to supply and demand, and it is headed there

Just got my YES email on an elk tag for this fall, and I can pretty much afford the tags regardless of price, but know a fair amount of guys that have just had to say enough!

LOL...with the new system, I failed at all my draws. Tags that I used to get easily every year. Nice going DOW. Way to screw the residents.

I might go for an OTC bull tag for 2nd season if they can manage to get the repaving done before fall on the Cottonwood Pass. It was closed all of last year too. 2nd choice will be to get lucky with a leftover tag but i'm not holding my breath on that one.

Won't really know for a while how the new system affected the normal draws. But certainly, the 0 point units have the most to lose. My nephew and I were both able to draw E/S muzzy elk tags with 0 points.

They added 50 bear tags to my unit from 200 to 250 tags and I still missed it. It's always gone to a 2nd pick before. I failed with a 2nd pick and 50 extra tags. A buck tag that i've gotten the last 5 years I failed this year.

Yes, the system is hard on zero point units but when you're a resident and want to hunt every year those are the units you go for. I put in for units that are hard to hunt they're so steep. Well, good luck to those who got my tags if they're not in shape.