Utah fees increase: keep applying?

[Alabama]

With the new fee increases this year and the potential of significant increases in the future, what are your plans?

I know I may be the minority here, but the actual tag fee increases don't really bother me. I'll pay good money for a tag that has the potential to be a great hunt. It's the non-refundable license and app fees (for terrible odds that keep getting worse) that bother me the most.

If you choose to walk away, leave a response on how many points you have currently. I'm choosing to apply this year (with last year's license) but if they go all the way ($240 license and $32 per app) then i will at least scale back my apps or consider walking away after 14 years.

 

[cgasner1]

Utah application started as a cheap fun gamble for me. I have drawn a rag and I know people who have drawn some crazy tags. I’ll probably keep applying for a few years just to see how things work out. Hopefully by spending more money it brings more value to the points because they aren’t worth a lot anyway right now.

 

[utah400elk]

I feel that most western states are racing to the bottom…so to speak. I believe they will eventually loose some people but the truth is that there will always be people willing to pay their fees. It’s sad, but the fee increases have changed my application strategy. As I am much closer to retirement, I am leaning more towards a great fishing location (Florida or Hawaii) and will sadly probably be forced to stop hunting most big game. I really believe that in the years to come the gouging of the NR will hurt the future hunters. Western elk hunts are going to become out of reach for a lot of people.

 

[Mallardsx2]

I feel that most western states are racing to the bottom…so to speak. I believe they will eventually loose some people but the truth is that there will always be people willing to pay their fees. It’s sad, but the fee increases have changed my application strategy. As I am much closer to retirement, I am leaning more towards a great fishing location (Florida or Hawaii) and will sadly probably be forced to stop hunting most big game. I really believe that in the years to come the gouging of the NR will hurt the future hunters. Western elk hunts are going to become out of reach for a lot of people.

The days of applying to a dozen states are slowly coming to a halt for a lot of us. Quickly.

 

[cgasner1]

The days of applying to a dozen states are slowly coming to a halt for a lot of us. Quickly.

That’s probably a very sad reality when people start looking at the math of what they spend and realize they could just go hunt a ranch guaranteed every few years and spend the same amount of money

 

[Mallardsx2]

Agreed.

The amount of money that I’m spending for me, my wife and daughter to accumulate points across states is definitely knocking on the door of a Landowner tag.

For sure, as I started looking at that option 5 years ago but still have not gotten to that point of frustration yet.

 

[Bowhuntrben]

Utah seemed low on the priority list for me when I quit applying several years ago with 7 points. Sounds like it was a good decision back then. I haven't looked back and don't regret it.

 

[NoWiser]

For quite a few years I’ve applied for everything in Utah. I forgot about the increases and almost tipped over when I saw the prices this year. I backed down to elk only this year and put in for a really good tag that I could maybe try justifying the price for. I had the license anyways, so cost to apply was minimal. I’ll revisit next year. I’ve always applied for the lowest tier of elk tags there. Now I’m caught between applying for tags I can actually have 5%+ odds to draw and tags that are worth $2k to have.

I’ll probably stick with it because I really want to kill a bull someday and my options are getting less and less. Or, I may decide to just bail.

 

[Treeshark]

Agreed.

The amount of money that I’m spending for me, my wife and daughter to accumulate points across states is definitely knocking on the door of a Landowner tag.

For sure, as I started looking at that option 5 years ago but still have not gotten to that point of frustration yet.

 

[TOGIE]

it's wild to me that anyone would think they need to apply in a dozen states to go have fun successful hunts every year.

are people really dropping a landowner elk tag worth of costs on non refundable fees?

i call bullshit

 

[cgasner1]

it's wild to me that anyone would think they need to apply in a dozen states to go have fun successful hunts every year.

are people really dropping a landowner elk tag worth of costs on non refundable fees?

i call bullshit

8 states applied for as a nr for me with around 120 dollar average per state for just licensing fees. Start adding in cost of points you can call all the bullshit you want that adds up quickly. I look at the fees as a investment into the wildlife agencies so it doesn’t give me as much heart burn

 

[TOGIE]

8 states applied for as a nr for me with around 120 dollar average per state for just licensing fees. Start adding in cost of points you can call all the bullshit you want that adds up quickly. I look at the fees as a investment into the wildlife agencies so it doesn’t give me as much heart burn

so using your example you're losing 960 dollars in non refundable fees.

not a lot of quality landowner tags out there for 960 dollars. add in the cost of points and i'm still not seeing it.

so yes, i call bullshit.

the point remains, nobody is forcing it, and you don't need to apply in 8, 9, or 15 states to have fun hunts every year. not calling you out, i know you know that.

 

[seeth07]

it's wild to me that anyone would think they need to apply in a dozen states to go have fun successful hunts every year.

are people really dropping a landowner elk tag worth of costs on non refundable fees?

i call bullshit

My wife and I out of pocket spent $5947.46 on applications and license fees that weren't for otc hunts. We received two antelope buck tags in SD and a mule deer tag in CO.

Right now I'm negotiating and trying to get 2 bull elk land owner tags in NM for not a lot more. This may be my last year applying and playing the game across the states

 

[TOGIE]

My wife and I out of pocket spent $5947.46 on applications and license fees that weren't for otc hunts. We received two antelope buck tags in SD and a mule deer tag in CO.

Right now I'm negotiating and trying to get 2 bull elk land owner tags in NM for not a lot more. This may be my last year applying and playing the game across the states

it's a choice you're making. i hunt wyoming almost every year and have a blast doing so and aside from an occasional new mexico app that's the only state i consistently apply in as an NR and/or accumulate points in.

carpet bombing the west with applications is not any right of passage to make a lifelong hunter and it's ludicrous to think it's necessary to make a future passionate conservationist and advocate. utter nonsense. $*)Q!#@$ ridiculous actually.

the barrier to entry for western hunting remains low. period. so many easy tags to get in beautiful places that aren't hard to fill.

i couldn't have less care in the world if folks start dropping out of the "applying and accumulating in a dozen states" game - 100% for the better in the long run anyway.

 

[Mudranger1]

it's a choice you're making. i hunt wyoming almost every year and have a blast doing so and aside from an occasional new mexico app that's the only state i consistently apply in as an NR and/or accumulate points in.

carpet bombing the west with applications is not any right of passage to make a lifelong hunter and it's ludicrous to think it's necessary to make a future passionate conservationist and advocate. utter nonsense. $*)Q!#@$ ridiculous actually.

the barrier to entry for western hunting remains low. period. so many easy tags to get in beautiful places that aren't hard to fill.

i couldn't have less care in the world if folks start dropping out of the "applying and accumulating in a dozen states" game - 100% for the better in the long run anyway.

1 I think being a little over dramatic at your responses because no one said they were trying for entry into Western hunting...at least not that I read
2 your response to him spending $960 for applying isn't realistic either. Your not getting a great utah tag in 1 year. (I have no idea utah draw %) Let's take a 5 year tag (again I don't know if that's possible) but now you're pushing $5k in non-refundable fees. Should get you pretty solid LO tag ....just saying.
And don't get me wrong I hunt just like you...tGs I can get nearly every year but that's not what this post was about

 

[cgasner1]

so using your example you're losing 960 dollars in non refundable fees.

not a lot of quality landowner tags out there for 960 dollars. add in the cost of points and i'm still not seeing it.

so yes, i call bullshit.

the point remains, nobody is forcing it, and you don't need to apply in 8, 9, or 15 states to have fun hunts every year. not calling you out, i know you know that.

960 would just be my license fees probably be closer to another 500 for points at 1500 dollars a year I could very easily swing a landowner tag every 5 years guaranteed. Especially considering those cost don’t include the price of the tag once actually drawn. The points game is a loosing battle but I get some enjoyment in hoping I draw. Also like I said I look at it as a donation to a lot of other wildlife agencies anything other than that and it would be pretty frustrating

 

[Drake4]

I do 6 states each year, and have drawn a handful of great tags. I'd never be able to afford a landowner tag in the units I apply for. But different than most, I'm not going out of state unless it is a top tier tag.
Would love for landowner tags to not exist.

 

[seeth07]

it's a choice you're making. i hunt wyoming almost every year and have a blast doing so and aside from an occasional new mexico app that's the only state i consistently apply in as an NR and/or accumulate points in.

Wyoming and CO for big game are pretty much the only two states remaining for entry level, easy to get tags but the quality of those types of hunts has significantly diminished over the last 5 to 10 years as has the ability to get them. Some of the most fun hunts I've been on have been in those two states investing zero to 3 points on hunts. So I don't disagree with you on that but having experienced as much as I've already been fortunate to already, im simply just at a point where the cost to secure a different experience (less crowding, more game, higher quality, unique landscapes) has been worth the "carpet bomb" approach the last 5 years for us. It is however slowly pricing us out now.

 

[TOGIE]

And don't get me wrong I hunt just like you...tGs I can get nearly every year but that's not what this post was about

But it's a topic in the thread touching on a recurring theme.

You see a sentiment that the cost of points and non refundable fee's is becoming the reason hunting out west is no longer sustainable. What they mean to say is this: the cost of applying in 15 states is no longer sensible or sustainable. Very different. One could argue it never was, but it depends on your goals.

The crux of the issue is we have an ever increasing demand on a struggling and decreasing supply. The market is reflecting that. It's not the market that concerns me for the future, it's the supply.

Using those fee's on landowner tags instead is not immoral or irrational IMO. Me? I'd rather use that chunk of change to go to alaska and throw money at the special draw in wyoming.

The future is not bright because the market for widespread, multiple state, western hunting is becoming unsustainable, the future is not bright because of the reasons the market is doing that.

 

[seeth07]

you see a sentiment that the cost of points and non refundable fee's is becoming the reason hunting out west is no longer sustainable.

Even with one state it is though.

I had an older gentlemen give me a call a few weeks ago that is a friend of a friend and the call came because he was told I go out west hunting a bunch. He is 60 and just retired and wants to experience elk hunting once in his life.

The first thing I asked him was how important seeing or shooting a bull was and he said that it was important so unfortunately that significantly changes what I could recommend to him.

Next up was budget and guided or not. He said for sure not guided because he couldn't afford it as he could only budget about $2000 for the trip.

I went thru his options across the states and at a minimum he is spending nearly $900 on just the bull license and with gas alone he already gets close to his budget. I told him NM deadline was coming and he should put his name in the hat for a great tag there at about a $100 raffle ticket cost and he thought that was absurd let alone having to front the tag cost.

There is a very large population of people that dont live out west that are priced out of being able to experience the wonderful joy of chasing an elk. I did tell him he could just go with a camera and get almost the same experience without the type 2 fun involved after the kill!