1sagittarius

You might be too young to remember ... but Tommy Thompson is the main reason the Wisconsin DNR, CWD, and license fees are such a mess right now.

Thompson had cut the DNR down every chance he had and made it so political it can't act in the best interest of the wildlife or environment. The DNR does not raise/set license fees, that is done by your elected officials to state government. Any income raised via license fees goes to the state, Not the DNR, the state then sets the DNR operating budget.

The best thing for Wisconsin would be to take the DNR away from the politicians and give it back to the wildlife and environment management professionals. JMHO

Wildlife is easy to manage, it's the people that are the hard part.

1sagittarius

It sounds like you missed a golden opportunity to mold a positive attitude toward proper deer management in a begining hunter.

My experience with my 12 year old son, Ryan, first gun deer hunt was quite differen, in a EAB unit. 30 minutes into shooting time, a 14" 8pt comes trotting in behind a doe and fawn. With out question, he shoots the doe, 40 yds, clean double lung, she traveled 70 yds after shot. The eight pt. runs off. 30 seconds later, a forked buck stands 135yds down the shooting lane. Ryan asks if he should shoot him, I said, only if you can make a good shot. He shoots, double lungs the buck, it makes it 10 yards.

Basically, since I had not instilled a "gotta shoot a buck" attitude into my son .... letting a buck walk and shooting a doe is/was not an issue. Shooting a doe first is just good management learned through knowedge of the enironment. Later that afternoon we each shoot another doe.

Manageing deer and wildlife is easy, managing people is the hard part.

Spatrat

I have no problem with paying a little more to enjoy such a great past time. However I do have a problem with the non-resident hunting fees here in WI, they should parody those of surrounding states.

Sagitarius; What you said does not make sense. Generally speaking, revenues generated by a particular fund stay in that fund to offset that fund's expenses. Any shortfalls ,if approved, would come out of general purpose revenues, grants, etc. Where did you get your information? I have no doubt that the legislature sets the license fees and approves the DNR budget.


Spatrat

1sagittarius

Yes, you are right, it does not make sense. The legislature would like you to think everything is the DNR's fault, it takes the heat of them.

turkeyhunter_15

I dont wanna pay more period. Hunting is becoming a rich mans sport.
32$ for a deer tag...get real then no less in some units its earn a buck..
12 more dollars..it goes towards "CWD" you cant prevent it no matter what you do exept kill every deer in the united states. There Is no "cure" to it. Its a crock. And if this money goes towards "CWD" what does fishing have to do with hunting nothing...guess this is what happens when you have a liberal as governor

uwpce

I thought that the plan was to raise the resident fees, but not the NR fees? At least for this year.

Being a NR hunter, I hope they don't raise the fees. For the few days I get to hunt during the season, it's getting extremely expensive. I own land near the U.P., and even though I am 5 minutes south of the WI border (no I'm not a Bears fan), the gas for that trip can cost me around $200, plus the food, plus the processing fees, plus the license, plus equipment, plus my taxes, electrical, gas....

Why should I have to pay $300-$500 for my license, when the majority of my money for my hunting trip goes to the state of WI to begin with. Want to talk about tax dollars? I pay taxes on my property. A lot more than the resident fees for the hunting license.

I don't understand why there has to be a difference anyway. NR comming into the state spend money. NR who will no longer come into the state due to excessive license fees will spend their money elsewhere.

1sagittarius

uwpce, you are preaching to the choir. 3,4,5, years ago I argued with IL residents on the same issue when IL raised the combined fees on a deer license to $285.00. When my son turned 12, there was no way I was going to afford buying licenses for both of us to hunt the family farm in Pike county IL. Do you really think it is fair for Wisconsin residents to pay $285 to deer hunt in Illinois when Illinois residents only pay $160 in Wisconsin!?!?!? AND the Illinois Legislature is currently considering raising NR Deer license fees to between $400 and $500.

uwpce

1sagittarius:

No I do not think it is fair. I don't like the hunting here in IL, that's why I continue to hunt in WI. However the attitude across the borders is that of "screw me, screw you"!

I still hold the opinion that raising the fees for NR to outrageous dollar amounts only takes away from the overall total dollars brought into the state during whatever hunting or fishing activity one needs a license for. That goes for IL too. I don't want IL to raise the NR fees for the simple fact that when one state does it, all the surrounding states will too.

I still don't understand why there has to be different fees. Someone please explain to me why it makes a bit of difference if you are a NR or not.

WI residents should consider themselves lucky, at least they do not require the FOID (Firearm Owners Identification) card.

tofer

1 sag u own the familiy farm? if so why not get landowner tags they are cheaper

1sagittarius

No, wish I did. But I could hunt, and stay there for free. It was a good deal til the license price went up. The farm was sold last year. Being from Wisconsin, I really can't imagine paying fees (non-license) to hunt whitetails, in any state, no matter how good.