Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Nonresident ripoff

As has been mentioned, the game on it is managed by the states and price is an easy (and profitable) way to manage volume.

Do agree that the Feds should get out of managing state lands...

They do but they shouldn't. I don't care about tag prices, all I really care is that the Feds get out of managing state lands.

Today the state manages game, how about tomorrow?

If Dink has his way, the Fed will be managing. And then to be fair, everyone in the city of Chicago who wants to kill something will get a special deal to hunt in Montana to help cope with inequalities.

You know I own land in Michigan, just like the Federal government. But I still don't get to set my tag prices...:)

The difference between ownership/management of the land and the animals on it has been pointed out many times on this thread. It's not my fault you can't wrap your head around the concept. The state pays for and manages the game, not the feds, and that's how it should be.

Your own state has around 600,000 acres of national forest and if I want to hunt big game there it'll cost me over ten times what a resident tag costs. It's the same everywhere, not just out west. Tags out west are just worth more, so they cost more.

All states charge more for NR tags. It's just that some states can and do charge more, because more people want to hunt there. In CO, anyone can buy an over-the-counter elk tag, and most people here want to keep it that way. If non-resident fees were the same as resident fees the public land here would be a disaster, and the elk herd would suffer.

You want to talk about the "fairness" issue of the federal government paying to manage the NF, do a quick comparison of how much money the federal government pays to manage the NF in any western state vs. how much the federal government has poured into your state. And will continue to pour into your state to support your largest city and keep it from flooding, and to support the shipping industry through all the work that goes in in the ports--dredging, levees, and other infrastructure. Louisiana is the #1 maritime state in the nation and it's not the state taxpayers footing the bill for your coastal infrastructure.

Ya might want to keep up on where He lives. miles

Don't know where he lives for sure, but thought it was Louisiana.

If he doesn't live there, the point is still valid.

Tennessee. miles

OK. Is the TVA a state agency?

Does Tennessee have national forests, and will I have to pay a lot more than a resident to hunt there?

Two things are of interest to me in this thread.

First, the argument about owning federal land and therefore being allowed to hunt it. The rules for that are the same for resident and non-resident: with a license you can hunt state/federal land open to hunting, period. Without a hunting or fishing license, residents and non-residents can use the state and federal land for all lawful purposes. There is no difference.

Second, we are all non-residents for 49 other states and are subject to the same rules. In most cases the non-resident licenses are "extremely" expensive compared to resident licenses.

As for license prices, they are all too high by the amount of government waste and bureaucracy contained therein. However, there is a least a little bit of market forces involved in that, they are charging what the market will bare in an attempt to both manage game and maximize revenues. I think if the combination of maximizing revenues while effectively managing the herds could be accomplished by selling one non-resident tag for 1 million dollars, they would do it. On the other hand, if maximizing revenues while effectively managing the herds could/would be accomplished be selling 10 thousand non-resident tags for 2 bucks a piece, they would probably do that.

When you do scrape the money together to come to Montana get ready for the surprise of your trip the first time you say: "What, no sales tax?, Holy crap!".

About those TVA lakes. Really good smallmouth fishing in some, and really good tailwater trout fishing below some.

All built with federal money, during the depression as part of Roosevelt's New Deal. To help the depressed Tennessee Valley.

So, can I fish there for the same price as a resident?

TheBigSky,

As I recall from past threads much like this one, where DINK whined exactly the same way, he hunted deer in Montana not many falls ago, and killed a forkhorn mule deer.

States with no or low sales tax usually have a State Income Tax to go with the Fed Income Tax

We do in MT, which, helps make my point. The non-resident hunters are not subject to that, obviously; nor, are they subject to a sales tax.

Entertaining thread, as expected. My thought is that MT big game tags will be way overpriced at whatever price people quit buying them. Until then, I would expect them to charge what the market will bear.

Dink could buy a $50 NR tag for "whatever" in MT and still be clueless.

Not in Oklahoma!
We got both sales tax and income tax! including sales tax on groceries which should be a crime!


Fretting over non-resident hunting fees seems like a waste of energy.
Some hunting opportunities are just more expensive than others.

The fact they instantly sold out is an indicator of the "value".

No doubt residents should be paying more, but non-residents shouldn't be paying less.

Just how would those Tennessee and Missouri deer licenses fly off the shelf at $600 each...

I just put in for my resident tags.. No fishing, small game, trapping, or bird license.. My total was $319. I bet no one from the mid west or east pays near that for a license..
Also as pointed out earlier.. Living here is expensive.. Not only is the pay less, but the nearest hospital is 100 miles away..
As far as pay, my wife and I both worked in education.. We had college friends in the same fields on the east coast. Our salary combined did not equal one of there's.. There is a price to pay for living here, but there are also some rewards. If you don't like nonresident fees simple, don't hunt here..

And there ya go.....well said!

Im delighted some NR hunters think they are getting screwed and don't apply.


Less competition for tags.

Thanks for posting that. Some folks don't understand that to live in Wyoming, or Montana, people sacrifice by working for lower wages, educators, nurses, most any profession here. Alot of folks take second jobs or work alot of overtime when its available.
And still, in Wyoming, resident licenses aren't exactly cheap.
I'll be paying in licenses, about what you've paid in licenses, when I finally get elk and deer license for this year.

Dink's global gripes about nonresident licenses ultimately may not even be specific to the cost, as he alluded to. MD stated in a post, that Dink did do a past hunt in Montana, and the poor guy got a forkhorn for his efforts, which maybe he felt disappointed. I'm a meat hunter and whatever goes into the freezer legally, is fine with me. And the experience of hunting in the mountains is Golden to me. I do know that a big antlered buck in Wyoming usually takes alot of high altitude hunting, not road hunting. Here ya gotta put in that effort, so..