Fresh Tracks Weekly - Why Non-resident Hunters Pay More

[Forkyfinder]

Great point here. I suspect that may come home to roost a bit in the upcoming years.

How, exactly? Here in MT our climates never been more politically friendly to your idea and probably never will be.

Not a single bill of the bullshit you speak of was drafted or brought to the legislature or associated committee.

 

[Treeshark]

How, exactly? Here in MT our climates never been more politically friendly to your idea and probably never will be.

True- my opinion here only, but your home state is perhaps further down the tracks on this than many- so we can see this happening in real time.

Two main ways I can think for this point to manifest itself right off the top: tag allocations and diminishing public access.

Montana blows right through the NR caps set yearly, which are already too high for mule deer. Not sure if you checked out the Colorado NR mule deer tag allocations for the NW part of the state, but it’s a bit of a head scratcher. Same for G deer tag and other tags in Wyoming in my opinion. Regarding access, why enroll in Block Management when a lease option exists? It’s certainly not fair to expect landowners to continue to grant handshake access with the cash available these days.

There is a third way this will likely be impactful in the upcoming years, and it’s the worst one: less guys applying=less guys giving a crap about what happens outside of their home state.

 

[Forkyfinder]

Regarding access, why enroll in Block Management when a lease option exists?

Lots of reasons. Mostly involved with a little thought beyond yourself, im not sure how to explain if you dont see it inherently.

There is a third way this will likely be impactful in the upcoming years, and it’s the worst one: less guys applying=less guys giving a crap about what happens outside of their home state.

Of all treecarp fairytales - i like this one the most.

You expect me to believe that there will be a day where NR feel so jaded - they dont apply? Wyoming just had that trial run and found plenty of encouraging results to show the opposite.

 

[KingOfTagSoup]

Lots of reasons. Mostly involved with a little thought beyond yourself, im not sure how to explain if you dont see it inherently.

Of all treecarp fairytales - i like this one the most.

You expect me to believe that there will be a day where NR feel so jaded - they dont apply? Wyoming just had that trial run and found plenty of encouraging results to show the opposite.

I think you misunderstood my point a bit. The example in Wyoming is the exact 'taking advantage' that I was talking about. They realized that as long as the demand exists they can charge as much as they want and they are taking advantage of that. Which means, the only way to make change is to take away the demand in a drastic way. Obviously the chances of that happening are virtually zero but in theory that's what it would take.

 

[Treeshark]

You expect me to believe that there will be a day where NR feel so jaded - they dont apply?

A reduction in some instances, absolutely. It will be interesting to follow Utah NR applications/point purchases next year, will be a good case study to prove one of our points.

It would be interesting to compare NR bighorn/moose apps for 2025 vs a few years ago.

Why any NR with less than max would put in for that vs buying raffle tickets is beyond me.

 

[Treeshark]

It will be interesting to see how many people actually listen to the history of how we got here, the court cases and legislation that has steered us to this point

Hopefully everyone chiming in will.

I was unaware of some of this history, and was surprised to learn how recent some of it was challenged and reestablished. I learned a lot from this one, and appreciated the measured analysis.

 

[mevertsen]

Going off recollection, but was the 2005 case the Gary Taulmann, USO fiasco about how many tags states could give to NR, and kind of how the states got the authority to set them at what they wanted?

Edit. Maybe George taulman

 

[WapitiBob]

Going off recollection, but was the 2005 case the Gary Taulmann, USO fiasco about how many tags states could give to NR, and kind of how the states got the authority to set them at what they wanted?

Edit. Maybe George taulman

Yes, after George won and AZ removed the nr cap, was when the Harry Reid Bill removed hunting from the dormant commerce clause and allows states to discriminate.