Heres the deal.
As much as I don't want to say this, you guys are hosed as NR's.
There are those, like flopgun, claiming that SF69 and HB149 are "not related"....well, they are.
***First off, my name is not flopgun and I would appreciate it if you would act like a gentleman when you reference anything concerning myself since I don't call you names. Further, these two Bills are not related, other than they are both an attempt to further rape the NR hunters of Wyoming! One was introduced in the Senate and the other in the House. The NRs and WYGOA fought and won yesterday regarding SF 69 because it was obviously not to the benefit of either. That fact doesn't mean that I or any other NR is aligned with them and I also haven't given them one penny. If that were the case, then you are now aligned with them since you have already stated on MM that you're in their corner and will fight to see that HBO149 passes to flip the 60/40 reg/special percentage to 40/60!
Actually, to fully understand this issue we have to back up to last session. Last year, a bill was introduced to reduce the allocation of ALL species in Wyoming to a 90/10 split. That bill panicked WYOGA, and rightfully so. It panicked me as well, as I have no doubt that bill would have crushed the WYGF department. Well it didn't pass, and rightfully so.
In the moment of panick, WYOGA set up a "Wyoming Hunter Defense Fund" to combat the tag allocation on ALL species.
Well, this year word gets around that another bill is in the works to only do the 90/10 allocation for moose, sheep, goat, bison, and hopefully soon, grizzly bears. WYOGA starts a campaign, lying like a bunch of cheap rugs, that the new bill will be for ALL species.
***Everyone in the know on every website I'm on knew exactly what that new Bill was for and saying anything different is total hogwash! Contrary to what BuzzH spouts, he is not the only one that knows what's going on in Cheyenne.
SF69 is introduced to bring WY in line with ALL other states in allocation of MSGB tags, a 90/10 split. WYOGA, for obvious reasons, ramps up the effort, spreading fear into NR sheep hunters. We're talking a combined 78 total tags for all 4 species. Meanwhile WYOGA keeps getting more and more money funneled to them in the "Wyoming" hunter "defense" fund.
***You have no idea what monies were "funneled" to the defense fund started by WYOGA or who gave what. Furthermore, taking even ONE tag away from a NR right in the middle of the ballgame that he's been playing faithfully for 15 or 20 years was not fair, plain and simple! You have stated WYOGA lied about things, yet the proponents of the Bill like yourself certainly weren't up front regarding the monetary ramifications if that Bill had passed. Senator Hicks made no mention of the many thousands of dollars that could be lost if/when many participants quit buying PPs and dropped out. That fact alone when it was presented to the entire Committee is probably what caused it to go down 4-1.
WYOGA continues the smear campaign and Trojan horse argument about how bad the loss of 78 tags is going to be to local economies.
***Smear campaign, LOL! Any money that the G&F loses along with the other monies that the state would lose, along with many dropping out of the PP race is significant if you're a person depending on that money.
The bill is heard yesterday and was defeated. WYOGA paid to fly Kyle Meintzer from Nevada to Cheyenne to testify against the bill. Poor Kyle is 66 years old and only has 15 sheep points, this bill will make him 120 years old before he draws. Chris Brown with the Hotel and Restaurant Lobby, he claims that 78 tags will have "huge economic impact on his businesses' and that "we already HAVE the resident money, we don't have the NR money. (He'll be getting a lesson here soon, as well as the businesses he "represents")
***So you're saying that poor old Kyle and the rest of the PP holders that would never have a chance at a tag if the Bill had passed should have just rolled over and let the bus run over them after they're told they would no longer have a chance at a tag if the Bill passed?! What a nice guy you are!
But, what this bill did, was to fund the chit out WYOGA and embolden them. Many NR's wrote the Wyoming Legislature that the "funding" shortfall would be catastrophic.
***Again, you have no idea what money the WYOGA took in to fight the Bill or who, if anyone, gave money! Also, how do you know what the NRs wrote in their letters or emails to use the word "catastrophic"? Simple answer is that you don't!
Pretty lame, IMO for a bunch of NR hunters to fund/support WYOGA, over not drawing a sheep tag, or having to wait a bit longer to draw.
***The only thing lame is your incessant ranting that the NRs are supporting the WYOGA just because they happened to both be on the same side of this particular fight to defeat SF69. There really was no choice when it was either fight it or just roll over and play dead like it sounds like you're saying the NRs that were involved in this should have done, LOL!
Even more ridiculous when every NR hunter knows the following about WYOGA:
1. They contribute not a single penny to the GF Department.
2. They passed the Wilderness Guide Law, the most restrictive law for NR access on the books.
3. Tiered license fees for NR's, currently 40/60 split Special/regular.
4. Lobbied successfully and passed the Legislation to raise moose points to $75 and sheep to $100.
5. Have lobbied repeatedly to increase fees on NR only.
***Again, anyone involved in hunting in Wyoming knows all about what the WYOGA stands for and it certainly isn't for the NR sportspersons! Just because they were against SF69 doesn't mean that the NRs shouldn't have also fought it as it sounds like you're suggesting!
One would think, that NR's knowing the way WYOGA has asshandled them in the past, they would be smart enough to not support WY financially or through emails over this 90/10 split.
***Again, you have no idea or facts to suggest that other than a couple of people on MM that said they were donating money did so. Only one NR testified against the Bill before the Committee that may have been paid for by WYOGA to the best of my knowledge. You already mentioned that gentleman by name and he had already stated he was going on his own to Cheyenne to testify against it. In fact, he sent me a PM on the Bowsite website asking me if I knew what the Bill number was before it had even been given a number and introduced or WYOGA was even mentioned! The fact that he then may have been helped out on his expenses by WYOGA was his choice, if he even was. I don't know and don't really care since it was his choice if he did. All I know is that he was in meetings with their lobbyist on Monday night and then testified in behalf of NR hunters on Tuesday morning and from what I heard he did one heck of a good job and put Hicks in his place after his BS comments that were lies!
Now, the very group that they supported (wyoga), introduced a bill (hb149), AFTER the 90/10 bill failed. This bill will flip the 40/60 to 60/40.
***Just more hashing of what you've already said 20 times since yesterday when the Bill was defeated! We get it! The WYOGA is not for the average Joe hunter! Surprise, surprise, surprise to nobody, LOL!
A bunch of self-serving sheep point holders just layed the pipe to THOUSANDS of NR elk, deer, and pronghorn hunters. Guys like Flopgun tripped all over themselves supporting WYOGA on the 90/10, and are now "opposed" to WYOGA breaking it off in their ass with the 60/40 bill.
***Baloney! All the NRs did was stand up for themselves to stop a Bill from going through that would have taken many right out of the PP game after they've spent thousands of dollars and now would never draw a tag in their lifetime! I DID NOT SUPPORT WYOGA in any way shape or form, so quit slandering me! I also could care less who brought HBO149 to the floor because it sucks, regardless of who is behind it.
This bill is 100% the work of WYOGA, it has nothing to do with Resident Sportsmen. We Residents have asked for fee increases on ourselves the last several sessions and were denied by the Legislature. Denied for purely political reasons, nothing to do with the age old fairy tale that "residents are too cheap to pay more and want to stick it to the NR's."
***Nobody said it has anything do with other than the WYOGA. We also understand that the residents aren't paying their fair share of the G&F budget and whether it's due to the Legislators or anything else doesn't help us one bit when we keep getting the shaft every time we turn around because it's the easy way out!
That's not true at all guys, its just not, we have tried to raise R fees.
Now, guys like flopgun are saying that I wont do anything to help the average guy and try to kill this 60/40 bill.
***I don't expect you to do anything to help me, but it's very obvious to all of us on MM after reading your BS that you are in a retaliation mode when you have stated you're now all for HBO149 and will fight for it, which most certainly aligns you with the outfitters that you so hate!!! Talk about a hypocrite!
Frankly, I cant do it alone and I don't have the money to fly NR's to Cheyenne to testify. Sadly, some major league dipshit NR's have chosen to financially support, as well as write letters to help WYOGA to the demise of thousands to make sure they get their sheep tag sooner...
***So you're not God after all, huh! How many times do you plan to keep stating this same old garbage about the lousy NRs? It's getting real old in just the short time since SF69 that you basically stated was a slam dunk on MM and that you were going to put WYOGA in it's place once and for all got axed 4-1! Yep, you really showed everyone of us and those in Cheyenne how much clout you have, LOL!
IMO, this is a done deal...sadly.