AZ Hunters Ed bonus point

[NoWiser]

I was on the verge of drawing my tag. Looks like 3-4 more years of waiting now. Oh well.

 

[Slm864]

I’ll be forking my money over. That’s peanuts compared to RT airfare and a hotel and also having to take time off work.

 

[Carnage2011]

Did it today. Much cheaper than flying to AZ.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

Overall I’m happy it’ll give some people an opportunity they otherwise didn’t have, but wish they still required a field day in some capacity. When I took it the field day was fun and educational even for an experienced hunter. Never hurts to reinforce what you already know as well.

 

[Trial153]

All done here as well.

 

[Bluffgruff]

$10 million from nonresidents alone?

 

[goodhunt]

$10 million from nonresidents alone?

You're probably close. Last year there were 52,687 NR point holders for elk alone. To get $10M in revenue from this they need ~33.3k of them to buy an extra point, or ~63%. Interestingly they only need 1/3 of last years resident elk point holders to buy this point to generate $12.5M in extra revenue. So I think it's safe to assume they will generate an extra $25M to $30M at least from current point holders. Their advisor screwed up, they should have recommended this point expires every 5 years and you had to retake the course to maintain your bonus point.

 

[coleslaw]

Their advisor screwed up, they should have recommended this point expires every 5 years and you had to retake the course to maintain your bonus point.

The "good idea fairy" strikes again!

 

[LCH]

I feel kinda bad for the guys that took time and spent money to go to an in-person course. This will certainly devalue their point to some degree.

 

[goodhunt]

The "good idea fairy" strikes again!

Haha, you are probably right. I was being sarcastic but it may not be a good idea to float those types of ideas out there.

 

[jabber]

This should be the third "extra" point. 1 for doing the hunter safety in person, 1 for loyalty and now you can get the third one by ponying up a couple more bucks.....

On second thought, nevermind.

 

[coleslaw]

Haha, you are probably right. I was being sarcastic but it may not be a good idea to float those types of ideas out there.

I'm sure it was already brought up in some legislative think tank. It will probably be $500 in the next couple of years and poor bastards like me will still find a way to justify paying it.

 

[Kiwi]

I have purchased a few points for my son, so considering having him do the course. Of course doing the in person wasn’t an option for my son but $300 is a pretty expensive point :0

 

[lastlight]

Man, Id be furious if I had taken the time to drive there and do the in person which I wanted to do eventually. Now a holes like me are just going to easily fork over the money and the extra point will virtually be meaningless, especially to those who drove to the state in the past. I find it hard to see this anything other than a money grab. But I'm all ears...

 

[WapitiBob]

I spent $1,000 to get my point at Don's special one day NR class 8 years ago. It was "meaningless" back then, but I drew the next year, in the Bonus Pass.
Yea, it's a money grab. Really sucks to see the Dept generate voluntary nr revenue to help manage some of the best hunting in the West.

 

[Fishnride]

Ya I’m kinda disappointed in the way they went about it too. I was down in Phoenix in January 2020. I left a wedding late one night and drove to Kingman to make it to a class that I booked months in advance just to turn around and drive like 4 hours back the same night to catch a plane early in the morning.
A big effort for a point that as of now is basically worthless.
Not super surprised I guess, but kinda bummed I never even got to draw a tag yet when the point was an actual advantage.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

So this matters if you're in a max point pool, but I wonder who is going to pony up for this to go from 5 to 6 or whatever.

Well count me in for going from 3 to 4.

 

[Fishnride]

So this matters if you're in a max point pool, but I wonder who is going to pony up for this to go from 5 to 6 or whatever.

At this point what we’re really talking about is if you don’t do it you will be going from 5 to the equivalent of less than 5 next year cause everyone else will do it.

 

[Rhcuam]

Nickel and dime, here and there.

They’re going to make some nice coin on it that’s for sure not much you can do though.

 

[BRETTPSU]

I did the online class and do feel a little slimy. I'm right on the edge of drawing some pretty good archery elk units with 14 points and if I didn't do the class it could set me back years.

Don't blame you guys who did the in person class for being upset. Just a BIG money grab now.