60% Resident increase?

[Flatrock]

The nonresident elk tag went up $15 last year. I'm sure it'll go up another $15 next year.

I have absolutely no problem with the prices they charge NR's for the amount of opportunity they provide but residents should also be willing to pay up a little more too.

And noharley is right about putting it on a CPI increase every year. Then everyone doesn't make a huge deal of it when they want to raise it 60% in 10 years.

 

[vanish]

They've been talking about this for a year. I attended the Fort Collins meeting last fall. There's tons of documents out there on the CPW site outlining where money is being spent and what they'd like to be spending it on ( which I see is linked above ). An increase in the resident license cost makes sense. We haven't had one in what, 12 years? Makes no sense that the NR license is tied to CPI but the R licenses are not.

 

[1_pointer]

Also, you guys from back East that say we shouldn't complain...when you get a $30 deer tag, how many of them can you get and how long are your seasons, and how many doe tags are you allowed to get?

C'mon John, you can come up with a better red herring than that! Indiana is the second smallest state west of the Appalachian Mountains (only Hawaii is smaller) and harvested 123K deer in 2015. If I'm reading the report correctly, there were 73K deer killed in CO that same year. Indiana has a bit over 6.6 million people. Colorado has just under 5.5 million.

FWIW...
We can get one OTC buck tag and unlimited doe tags. Extra buck tags can be had through drawings for state park/military reduction hunts. Counting urban reduction areas, we can hunt deer from Sept 15 - Jan. 31; main statewide seasons run Oct. 1 to Jan. 1. Our buck tag costs $24 bucks and doe tags are $15.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

C'mon John, you can come up with a better red herring than that! Indiana is the second smallest state west of the Appalachian Mountains (only Hawaii is smaller) and harvested 123K deer in 2015. If I'm reading the report correctly, there were 73K deer killed in CO that same year. Indiana has a bit over 6.6 million people. Colorado has just under 5.5 million.

FWIW...
We can get one OTC buck tag and unlimited doe tags. Extra buck tags can be had through drawings for state park/military reduction hunts. Counting urban reduction areas, we can hunt deer from Sept 15 - Jan. 31; main statewide seasons run Oct. 1 to Jan. 1. Our buck tag costs $24 bucks and doe tags are $15.

I think you forgot to add that it would cost Cushman 10x the price of a resident to hunt in Indiana....

 

[JohnCushman]

There's always the risk vs reward possible issue that should come into play. $74 for an elk tag that you have to pick a specific week for 7 months in advance is kind of silly. Sure, keep the draw for the units, but if you want the money, give us the time and opportunity to fill the tags. LIke I said earlier, second season was unseasonably warm and there was a small chance of filling your tag, no matter how hard you hunt. Third season was even worse. I hunted both, one on a draw and one OTC. If we had more than a few days there might have been more success across the board. The state is overrun with bears, but there isn't sufficient time for many people to fill the tags, so the people that voted for doing away with Spring bear season are the ones whining when bears are coming into the cities and getting in their trash. In my opinion, the state would sell more tags if there was more opportunity to hunt on the tags. Keep the draw for favorable units, but go with a Montana or Wyoming style season where you get more time to hunt. Like I said...risk vs reward. I bet with the warmer weather the past couple of years in much of the state, people are less willing to put in for draw tags 7 months in advance. Sure, they make a killing off of OTC rifle tags, but many people who put in for favorable draw tags are taking a huge risk 7 months in advance. I feel bad for the NR's who take vacation and spend the huge amount of money for a tag and travel costs and whatnot, just to come out into areas that end up with a small chance of tagging out. Yes, there was success in these units, but from what I saw in supposed favorable units, there weren't many trucks with elk and deer in the back and people camping were pulling out by wednesday due to not seeing anything. I think there would be more revenue coming in with a different season structure, but that is MY opinion. Yes, I am willing to pay more for my R tags, but for more money I'd like better opportunity. I'm sure many NR's would agree. I also think CO should do a disabled veteran price difference like other states do for NR's.

 

[vanish]

They calculate the percentage of harvest success into how many tags they hand out. If you expand the dates we can hunt, expect to see tag numbers cut to match.

 

[JohnCushman]

Then there must not be too much harvest in the OTC units, or is it just a cash cow?

 

[jlmatthew]

They calculate the percentage of harvest success into how many tags they hand out. If you expand the dates we can hunt, expect to see tag numbers cut to match.

With current management practice for Elk (max revenue) it wouldn't make any difference how many tags got sold or season length because after opening day of the 1st rifle season most elk are safe on private refuges where only a handful of bulls & cows get picked off.

 

[shootbrownelk]

Honestly I don't mind paying more for my license, I generally think our fees go towards good things. That being said given that Colorado is by far the most generous state in the country with non-resident tag allocation (can someone confirm, I don't know of another state that is more than 10% to non-residents) I would like to see non-resident tags get the same percentage increase. There should be a fixed cost ratio between the two types of tags, and the cost of each should be tied to inflation.

If I'm not mistaken, Wyoming gives out either 20% or 25% to non-residents.....Buzz??

 

[BuzzH]

If I'm not mistaken, Wyoming gives out either 20% or 25% to non-residents.....Buzz??

They give out 16% of all limited quota elk tags, 25% of sheep, 20% of the moose permits...etc. etc.

 

[1_pointer]

I think you forgot to add that it would cost Cushman 10x the price of a resident to hunt in Indiana....

Nope. Buck tag; $24 for residents and $150 for non. Bonus tags; $15 residents vs. $24 non

 

[cedahm]

Then there must not be too much harvest in the OTC units, or is it just a cash cow?

Both. Some simple math - in 2015:

• 2nd/3rd combined Bull/Cow success is ~14%.
• Taking out Draw units - it's closer to 10%
• Total Hunters (R/NR) = 95,400
• At an 80/20 split, that's ~$14,000,000 in tag revenue accounting for antlerless tags

Big money, low harvest.

Note that I'm still in favor of a Resident Increase, but I do like the idea of longer seasons/combo seasons. I would guess that many wouldn't take advantage of it, but it's a good idea.

 

[brownbear932008]

I can't say they are out of line with other states. I think our fwp agencies are cash hogs anymore. It seems to be getting out of line and it is costing hunter recruitment in my opinion. Hunting is expensive these days and it's getting worse by the day.
In Virginia if I want to hunt deer during archery,muzzy and firearms. I am looking at roughly $102. I can also go the sportmans license route which most avid sportsman do it cost $133 and this includes a bear tag and fishing. It has sky rocketed in the past ten years or so.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Nope. Buck tag; $24 for residents and $150 for non. Bonus tags; $15 residents vs. $24 non

Sorry merely 6.25X as much...

Wyoming's 16% for elk doesn't touch Colorado's 35%

 

[BuzzH]

Sorry merely 6.25X as much...

Wyoming's 16% for elk doesn't touch Colorado's 35%

Good deal, apply in Colorado.

Forgot to mention all the cow tags, leftovers, and general tags that are not part of the 16%.

 

[JohnCushman]

Good deal, apply in Colorado.

.....then complain about the NR prices

 

[sbhooper]

I am done spending hunting dollars in the Peoples Republic of Colorado completely, because of short, packed seasons among other non-hunting reasons. If I go elk hunting now, I really enjoy picking up a left-over cow permit in Wyoming and going for as long as I can stand it. Two years ago, I spent the total of a month hunting in NW Wyoming. Elk or no elk, you cannot beat that opportunity to have fun, see the country, have an adventure and visit friends.

Colorado can kma!

 

[fwagner]

Asking for way too much me thinks! Already have the largest budget of any western state and with the worst STL access, lowest resident draw percentages, and short & crowded seasons. The least bang for the $$$$$ already and now they want it to be even more so.

http://www.koaa.com/story/34619090/co-parks-and-wildlife-wants-to-raise-fees

Boo whoo!!! About time Colorado residents pull their weight and increase the fee on residents instead of breaking the backs and pocketbooks of non-residents. Every single year they raise the fee on non resident hunters with no rhyme or reason. I have zero sympathy for you and I think you whining about it is a absolute joke! You can get TWO deer tags in Wisconsin for $80 as a first time buyer and $180 every time after that! Plus each doe tag after that is $20!! You get now sympathy from me. Time for colorado residents to pull their weight!

 

[fwagner]

Here is an email from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation:

"Fean; Thanks for the email and I apologize that we didn’t respond to you the first time.

The issue you raise is a very good one and an important topic. Right now we are discussing this here within RMEF and how we can play a role in addressing it. I will tell you it is a tough one, and particularly when we have large memberships in some of these western states. Colorado is looking at a fee increase again and I believe the proposal is going to look closely at the resident fees. We can’t continue to fund wildlife management on the backs of the non-residents but the state legislature’s often control this and you know who votes for them.

I believe RMEF is going to engage in this topic more in the future than we have in the past. It is my hope, and I talk about it regularly, that residents are getting a sweet heart deal in many states now but they need to ante up a little more in the future.

I hope you will consider supporting us.

Sincerely,

Blake

 

[dcopas78]

As pointed out in the table that was posted on the first page, Ohio doesn't charge any different price for the tags, just the license which is good for small game and must accompany the deer or turkey tag. You could harvest a buck and doe in the fall, come back in the spring and harvest two gobblers and have a grand total of $125 for the license, $48 for the deer tags, $48 for the turkey tags. I do wish that ODNR would increase the NR deer and turkey tag costs though. I think it would eliminate a lot of the "weekend warrior" types we get from neighboring states like Kentucky, W. Va. or Indiana if the tags went up comparable to what some other premium whitetail states charge.