Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

I just heard about another increase in Ohio licenses. This is getting rediculous! Why are we expected to continue to pay more for licenses when others who use the same land and areas (public) that we do are not required to pay anything? Watchable wildlife costs nothing to observe, but hunting wildlife is getting more expensive. What gives?

Please state your opinions and thoughts. I am not mad, just a little ruffled.

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

Yes, it is ridiculous. I don't know the actual amount, but no doubt it's well over a couple million dollars that hunters and fishers pay to hunt and fish each year. It's ridiculous that they're trying to raise it. I hope it doesn't get to be like other states where you have to buy a general license, then an archery license, then your big game stamps, etc. They may try to requite stamps for upland game also.

Brandan

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

ODNR has not come out to say this. But Our Governor does he wants to raise Hunting and Fishing Tags for his TAX PLAN. $15 to 19 on the Hunting Tags.

[Deleted]
 

[Deleted by Admins]

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

Personally, I am getting tired of paying these politicians to waste our money and then tax us on the things we enjoy just so they can mis-spend more.

I do not mind paying more for a tag or license if it is going to benefit ODNR (me in the long run), but I really do not like giving it to the big resorts through our middle men politicians.

Let them fly coach, eat a burger instead of a steak, drive a compct car not ride in a limmosine. If they had to live by the same rules as the "Ordinary Joe", maybe they would be more respectful of OUR tax dollars.

This is STILL the BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! We just have some small problems.

Sorry, I did not mean to get this deep in politics...

Edited by - OhioDuckHunter on 02/06/2003 18:05:08

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

This is the first raise in license fees in over ten yeas according to our local Ohio Department of Wildlife Officer that gave the report at my gun club last night. The fee raise is a reasanable one. If you do a little digging you will see the number of hunters is down and the department is in jeopardy of losing $1 million dollars in funding from the general fund. The department has already cut back 10% across the board. They are now going to have to rent a truck to take their tractors back and forth to maintain the parks. They lost the only truck in their fleet that is powerful enough to pull their tractors to each park. The employee count went from over 500 to 400 in the past few years. Personally, I support this license hike even though I am unemployed. I would rather donate teh extra $4.00 to the Department than spend it on a burger of a box of shells in order to do my part in helping Ohio help it's hunters and fishermen. I mean really, what is an extra $4.00 for the license and another $5.00 for a deer or turkey tag. All that means is that you skip McDonald's or Burger King once or twice a year.

Another thing to remember is that every license dollar goes right back into the Department's budget, not the state's general fund. Try looking at other states and then complain about how bad it is here in OH.

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RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

I agree with he last two posts. It' s apparent that many people really don' t understand where the dollars go or how the system works. I' m sure everyone here expects a raise at work each year. ODNR hasn' t raised the prices in over 10 years, and it' s only $5.00 more. That' s only 5 cents a week extra to hunt. The ODNR does a great job managing our wildlife, and your going to gripe about an extra nickle a week?

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

There' s a poll on this very issue at http://www.ohiosportsman.com right now. Check it out.

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

You Guys have a point But the Money isnt going to the ODNR. Its going into our GOVERNORS BACK POCKET.........

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

whitetail72,

That is where you are WRONG. You should read up on the facts before posting anything. I am NOT sticking up for the Governor either, the money goes into ODNR. The governor does NOT have the power to overide current legislation which states that all license fees goes to ODNR.

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

No I dont think I' m WRONG. You Should read be for you POST. It was put in most all news papers with his TAX PLAN. OHIO PAPERS Go And LOOK IT UP, and you will be inlightened in what you read.

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

I give up. If you want to stay uneducated on this issue then so be it.

You can only lead a horse to water, you can' t make it drink!

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

OH YOU POOR THINGS:(you have to pay $19 for a hunting license, is that a combo (hunt and fish license)??

arizona over the counter
hunting only $25.50
hunt and fish $44
trout stamp $8
urban fish $16
archery deer tag $17.50

draw hunts
deer rifle $27.50
elk $76.50
antelope $64.50


i think that $19 sounds pretty reasonable. you can go to www.azgfd.com to check out buffalo,big horn sheep,bear and turkey. page # 5

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

I guess your right Hyhuntsman. You would die of Dehydration. And for being uneducated that would be you.
But I should understand that you wouldnt GRASP what was being said here. TAX as in TAX PLAN.
The ODNR isnt increasing our TAGS at all this year. If the ODNR were they would have done it already. Becuase March 1st is when TAGS go on sale for 2003/04.
They are still the same price as LAST YEAR. BUT and a very Big BUT if our Governor has it his way there will be a 4 Dollar TAX on OUR TAGS each.
There it is the increase.......
Its not going into the ODNR AT ALL....
If you would have read my post right the first time or understood TAX PLAN I wouldnt have to type this out for you.
FOR the wildlife officer that lead you astray on the report that was gave to your club. He was wrong . Like I said before our TAGS are still the same price as last YEAR. The increase is the TAX.
Here is the web site for our ODNR that you shoud read up on.......
www.ohiodnr.com

As for dartanian
I' m glad I dont live in Arizona, but if I did I would pay the Price for my TAGS.
At lease your not being TAXED 4 dollars . dont get me wrong Ohio isnt being Taxed at this time. But the tax would be going to a GOVERNOR That would waste the Money. And Not help our wildlife here in Ohio or the HUNTERS That PAY ALREADY.

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

hopefully the raise in rates goes towards the game and fish dept. it cost me alot but i love to hunt and fish so i' m willing to pay it. that' s not even counting the beer i take with me[:o];)

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

Really hated to read this thread lol If there is a TAX on my tags I for one will not be buying any.I will still buy a hunting license to support ODNR but will not even consider buying a tag that has a four buck tax on it .Hopefully this gets worked OUT but if the only deer I ever shoot again is foam or out of state so be it. I have no interest in lining politcal pockets Just my rant sorry

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

Troy...Nice to see another central Ohio boy in here. We' re probably only about 15 miles apart.

I agree with you...if the $4 is a tax...it' s a joke.

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

well how many deer are you allowed on a tag? i mean common guys if you hunt and fish like we do then you' ll pay the $4 and be glad that you don' t have to pay our prices. i pay for an archery deer tag and put in for a rifle deer tag and am still allowed ONLY 1 DEER PER CALENDAR YEAR. seems like ya' ll have it pretty cheap and pretty good.

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

Hey, Dart, do us a favor and go back a read a few posts. I' m not complaining about paying a higher price for licenses. I know it' s pretty cheap compared to others. What I don' t like is that it' s part of the governor' s tax plan. The ODNR is supposed to be runnin out of resources, and have been for a long time. However, I haven' t heard anything about it ' till Gov. Taft starts runnin his mouth about raisin taxes on everything in Ohio. It wasn' t until then that I heard about raisin the prices on hunting and fishin licenses and stamps. Do you really expect me to believe that under these circumstances that this money is really about the ONDR losin money? Furthermore, do you really expect me to trust these politicians with my money? If you do, God help ya. If this $4 increase is part of a tax plan, then we aren' t payin $4 more for the licenses and such, we' re paying $4 more in tax. A tax that goes to the state, and not the ODNR. If you' ve listened to what I' ve said before, I don' t have a problem with paying more for a license. I realize prices go up and $20 to fish all year is pretty reasonable. $20 to hunt all year, exluding special stamps, is reasonable too. That' s not where my beef is. My beef is suddenly there' s these deficits all over the nation, and the federal government is puttin the burden on the states to get it sorted out. So Gov. Taft is raisin the prices. Now I realize officialy it may appear that the ODNR is settin the prices, but c' mon, I wasn' t born yesterday. Whether that' s the way the system is supposed to work or not doesn' t mean that isn' t the way the system is workin. I wonder if the states are gettin all the money they' re supposed to. It wouldn' t suprise me a bit if some of the money is bein embezzled into other funds.
A lot of people in Ohio can only have one deer per season also. In some areas it' s three, in some it' s two, and in some it' s one. So you could get more deer, but you' re going to have to drive half way across the state to get to it, depending on where you live. I live in the Toledo area. Lucas country is an urban unit so that allows four does in addition to the special deer stamp. But in Fulton and Henry county, and most of Wood county, there' s only one deer. Most of Lucas county, almost 50%, is the city of Toledo. That makes half the urban deer unit unhuntable. Then there' s other towns like Oregon, and Northwood, Rossford, and Perrysburg where it could be hard to find places to hunt because of all the schools and such and residential areas. Sure if you live in Southern Ohio you' ve more options, but the folks up around where I live shouldn' t have to drive all the way across the state to justify a $4 tax on the licenses.
Around where I live, you only get one deer, excluding urban units, per season. That' s regardless of what weapon you use or the season it' s taken in. I can' t take a deer durin bow season, then take another durin the shotgun season. If I take a deer durin bow season, I' m done ' till next year. If I take it durin the shotgun season, I can' t take another one in the later part of the bow season. $35 is pretty cheap to hunt deer and a bunch of small game all year, that' s not the issue. The issue is that it' s pretty obvious that there' s other factors involved. If the ODNR has been runnin out of resources, why didn' t we hear about it before? Why did they wait ' till the govenor is raising taxes everywhere, and cutting resources on schools, libraries, and a slue of other public services to say anything about it? So please, quit yappin about having it better than others when it comes to the price. It' s not about the price! It' s about the Ohio sportmen feelin the government is taken advantage of our passion to fish and hunt to pay for the debts of the rest of the state. Others may not agree with this. If you don' t, fine, but that' s the way I' m seein it. I' m not sayin this as fact either, but the way this is comin about, don' t expect me to trust it. Especially if you know the history of the way Ohio works their taxes, why would you trust another increase in prices? If the ODNR really needs an extra four bucks then I' m cool with that. I just don' t want to pay four bucks for the governor to take and waste on some stupid I-280 entrance ramp then not even open it when they finish it.

Brandan

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

geezzzzzzzzzzz. sorry if i stepped on your toes irishlad. but what makes you think that i didn' t read from the top? just giving my 2 cents, no harm intended.

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

Hey didn' t say you didn' t read from the top, but judgin by the content of your posts you didn' t grasp it. To me at least, it isn' t about the extra money. It' s the politics behind it. I' m not tryin to be a jerk, but it' s a little irritatin when someone who hunts outside Ohio comes up in here sayin we should quit whinin about $4 more ' cause we have it so good compared to other states. Well you' re right, we do. When I first started gettin into huntin I was lookin at license prices in other states. I kept seein all this junk about archery stamp, conservation stamp. etc. all in addition to a huntin license. In some places they even sell separate small game huntin license. That equals buyin three license to hunt all year-general, small game, big game. Then you have to buy the stamps and weapons permits on top of that. I know Ohio has it easy compared to other places, especially in areas where there are higher quality animals, but that' s not the issue. I know you wouldn' t like it if your bank put an fine against your account to pay for some other guy' s overdraw. That' s the way a lot of people from Ohio are lookin at this. The government wasted their money, now they' re in a deficit and are making the Ohio sportmen pay for it.

Brandan

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

I,m Glad to see someone eles knows whats going on around here in Ohio. IrishLad32 you are So very Right on everything you said.
I hope everyone here in OHIO Calls there district and or politican and vent to them as well and let them know what you think of there TAX PLAN.
I Hope everyone Has a great Hunting Year 03/04.

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

Hey, Whitetail, I' m not tryin to say it' s an absolute that it' s all part of the tax plan. I' m just sayin, what am I supposed to think when I don' t hear anything ' till the governor is cryin for tax money? I don' t trust politicians anyways, especially in situations like this.

Brandan

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

Ok Ill make this simple[:@]

License fees and tag revenues go to Ohio General Assembly,A certain amount based on scale of amount of license sold get put back into ODNR,(not ODOW)
The ODNR then budgets for ODOW.
1. OGA only puts in whats required and pockets the rest, goes in there pockets.
2. ODNR Budgets money they do get, Yes you foot bill for every non hunters recreation and some pretty sad programs.

The money generated will make up for lost revenue for lower license sales. The effect is now filtered to us in higher fees

You will not benifit one bit from higher fees only politicians scamming you will.YOU WILL BE PAYING MORE FOR LESS.

How any of you guys can justify that I dont know. Im not sure but I heard cost resident 140$ to hunt all seasons.

Heres some reading help you guys understand where your money goes.

“Funds are allocated to the Department according to available resources of revenue projections and cash balances in all funds including the GRF.”

How are we funded? The Department of Natural Resources is funded by many different funding sources. All divisions and programs are funded from multiple sources of revenue be it from licenses and permits, user charges, registrations, federal funds, fees for services, and various taxes. Most divisions are funded in part from the state' s General Revenue Fund (GRF). The Ohio General Assembly authorizes the Department to spend money on programs via the biennial budget process. Funds are allocated to the Department according to available resources of revenue projections and cash balances in all funds including the GRF. Some funds are established for specific purposes or to receive specific types of revenue. These funds are typically restricted for specific uses, but are all ultimately controlled by the General Assembly. The Department is charged with operating programs within the finite resources authorized by the General Assembly. http://www.ohiodnr.com/hr/budget/faqreorganization.htm

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

HAS ANYONE SEEN ANY NEW PUBLIC LANDS,SHOOTING RANGES,OR ANYTHING ELSE.I KNOW AROUND HERE WE HAVE NO PUBLIC RANGES,LIMITED PUBLIC LANDS. FOR ALL OUR MONEY WE GET A COUPLE HUNDRED PEN BREED CHICKENS OOPS RINGNECKS,AND 2,500 TROUT THAT DIE OFF WHEN IT GETS ABOVE 65 DEGREES. FOR THE PHEASANTS ITS FIRST COME FIRST SERVE AND CAN BE JUST PLAIN SCARY! THE TROUT ARE A LITTLE LESS SCARY BUT JUST AS IF NOT MORE CROWDED. MY WHOLE FAMILY HUNTS AND I KNOW WE SPEND AT LEAST 3500.00 A YEAR ON TAGS AND LICENSE FEES.WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE A LITTLE MORE MONEY GO TO THE HUNTERS AND FISHERMAN AND WOMAN SORRY. INSTEAD OF ALL THE QUICK FIXES LETS MANAGE OUR LAKES AND LANDS FOR WILD FISH AND GAME.JUST MY 2 CENTS

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

THIS IS FOR ALL WHO THINK INCREASE IS JUSTIFIED AND FYI
From : " Ruth, Beth" <[email protected]>

To : News <[email protected]>
Subject : U.S. Sportsmen' s Alliance Sportsmen Alert
Date : Mon, 10 Mar 2003 11:32:33 -0500
U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance
Sportsmen Alert!
For information about the following message, please contact:
U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance
801 Kingsmill Parkway, Columbus, OH 43229
Phone: 614 888-4868 Fax: 614 888-0326
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ussportsmen.org

Debate on Sportsmen' s Dollars and the Division of Wildlife Budget Scheduled
for This Week

Sportsmen must help protect Ohio’s wildlife funding from drastic cuts by
attending the House Budget Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, March 12, 2003
in Columbus.

In an effort to balance the state budget in 2003, Governor Taft has proposed
to raid the coffers of the Ohio Division of Wildlife. The budget proposal
makes outright cuts to wildlife programs and diverts sportsmen’s dollars to
non-wildlife expenditures.

The budget proposal would rob Ohio’s state wildlife agency of an estimated
$5.5 million, a 12 percent budget cut. A slash this drastic would mean cuts
in agency personnel and conservation programs for game, non-game and
endangered species. Land acquisition, wildlife area improvements, wildlife
law enforcement, fishing access and fisheries management would also be
scaled back considerably.

The Ohio Division of Wildlife is nearly self-sufficient while providing
recreational opportunities for millions of citizens who do not hunt, fish or
trap. This will continue as long as funds meant for fish and wildlife are
used for that purpose.

Ohio sportsmen must attend the House Budget Subcommittee hearing on
Wednesday at 3:00 PM in House Hearing Room 115 at the Statehouse. Meet at
the Statehouse Rotunda at 2:15 PM and wear an orange hunting cap with
appropriate attire so that our group is recognized as individuals who oppose
cuts to fish and wildlife programs. Those who cannot attend should call
their representatives today. To find your legislator and to leave a
message, call (800) 282-0253 or use the Legislative Action Center on the
U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance website, www.ussportsmen.org
<http://www.ussportsmen.org>. Ask them to protect the Ohio Division of
Wildlife' s budget for the good of all Ohioans.

If you have any questions about attending the committee hearing, contact the
U.S. Sportsmen' s Alliance Ohio Committee at (614) 888-4868.
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance protects the rights of hunters, anglers and
trappers nationally in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress
and through public education programs. For more information about the U.S.
Sportsmen’s Alliance and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website,
www.ussportsmen.org <http://www.ussportsmen.org>.

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

This sucks,.... the guys at http://www.ohiosportsman.com are livid about it!

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

If I had to I would scrape up 500.00 just to be able to hunt.But I think a general license is ,what 15.00 if you want two deer 40.00, two turkey 40.00. If you hunt waterfowl, Ohio wetlands stamp 11.00? No wetlands around these parts. Not including 15.00 federal stamp and sales tax on countless things hunters buy each year. 145.00 is about what I spend every year to hunt my home state. I know its my choice but I think that is plenty from my wallet.

RE: Raise in Ohio license fees again?
 

It' s getting ridiculous!