Without this threat the states are just going to run roughshod over the non-residents. It's called checks and balances.
This is a red herring. Like Buzz said, management of big game by state agencies has been delegated, litigated, and upheld time and time again. Citizens of one state have no legal standing to determine how another state manages its wildlife, issues driver's licenses, or performs any other regulatory action properly exercised at the state level.
The concept of “checks and balances” just does not apply; non-residents have no say in how other state agencies manage big game populations. And that's how it should be.
Texas does not discriminate against non-residents for hunting on STATE or Federal land.
I thought one of your complaints was inflated prices for non-resident licenses, compared to residents? Every state has these, including Texas.
And comparing the way Texas manages its allotment of big game licenses to non-residents vs the way western states do it is apples and oranges. The reason is simple---supply and demand. The supply of big game animals (big game populations) in western states can’t support the number of people from across the country who want to come here and hunt. By necessity we have to limit the number of licenses issued/animals killed in any given year or the resource will suffer and decline. Not so in Texas. In Texas, a non-resident can buy an over-the-counter license and hunt anywhere in the state where he has access, because the resource can support that. Texas has no need to limit the number of big game tags issued, so it doesn't. Apples and oranges.
So it’s up to our western state wildlife agencies to come up with a system that allocates tags and regulates access to the resource. Not surprisingly, states that have to limit access by limiting tags favor the owners of the resource—the people of the state. If you want to make the case that it’s unfair for state agencies to favor state residents in allocating tags for wildlife within state borders, please do so. I guarantee that if demand outstripped supply for the deer population in TX, TP&W would favor state residents over non-residents in allocating tags. And that’s how it should be.
