Many TF members have defended set asides by stating "this won't affect the resident opportunity at all......you can still go buy a general elk license.....". Having a tag in your pocket is only one part of the opportunity equation. In many parts of WY that opportunity also comes down to access. The more these licenses are incentivized (transferable landowner license, landowner set aside, type x, etc...) the more access and opportunity will decline. In many parts of the State, over objective elk herd are almost entirely the result of outfitters/leases and current landowner licenses. In some units landowner licenses account for all bull licenses issued. Many landowners/outfitters in some areas go to great lengths to keep elk on their properties and unavailable. This change in distribution has greatly affected opportunity.
Adding more "value" to these licenses, making them easily available to those with money will only worsen the situation for residents and non residents. This is not the North American model of wildlife management. If this has been brought up at TF I missed it. Transferable landowner licenses, increased numbers of landowner licenses, and landowner set asides will absolutely negatively impact my opportunity as a resident hunter and they will affect other diy hunter here as well. Increasing landowner licenses won't fix the problem....... all too often they are the problem. This may not be true in the NW part of the State with good amounts of federal land, but it certainly applies much of the eastern half.
