Would You Be Willing To Pay More For A Non- Resident Hunting License ?

[quavers59]

     OK- With very many States having a Declining Turkey Population and looking for various  ways to stop the downward trend- if a State close to you that you like to hunt raised their Non- resident Hunting fee "Alot" as well as really jacked up the cost of a Turkey Permit for out of Staters-- would you still Turkey Hunt in that State?
   I live in New York and pay $135.50 to also hunt in New Jersey as well as the $21 Bucks for a Spring Turkey Permit that everyone  pays the same for. I usually buy a good 5 Turkey Permits.
   Personally, I would gladly pay more money for a non resident Hunting License if,I knew those extra funds were going to help the Wild Turkey and raise the population.  If that cost was $200+ dollars,I would pay it.
   Imagine also that a State like Mississippi  might really raise their price for a non Resident Hunting License  as a Deterrent  to lower out of State Turkey Killers. Each Spring- anything can change in any State. Thoughts..

[rakkin6]

Me personally for my home state of Tennessee I would rather see them go to a quota hunt system for Non-Resident hunters. Keep the price the same for license etc. I think this would be a better system than just raising the prices if we are talking about helping with the decline in our turkey population here. If you raise the price let's say $100.00 I don't think that affects the amount of non-resident hunters /turkeys taken by non-resident hunters really at all. People would still travel here unless you raised it significantly.   You would have to raise the cost by minimum of $300.00 if not more to make an impact on Non-Resident hunters.

I am a 100% Disabled Veteran so the state of Tennessee gives us in this situation a lifetime sportsman's license to include yearly tags for all game (we still have to pay migratory bird stamp and WMA fees). So the money that I save from not having to buy my Tennessee licenses these past two years I have bought a Kentucky non resident since I only live a couple miles across the border. The total cost for me for Kentucky is pretty good I get the annual sportsman's license, deer and turkey permits for $350.00 (I do get a small discount for being disabled also). Not sure where my cutoff would be for me not to get it again. But I would say if the total got up to $500.00 that would be a pass for me.  Now if I was going to go to let's say Nebraska for a Merriam or Texas for a Rio etc. I would be willing to pay more because that may be the only time in my life I would get to hunt for those specific birds.

Just my .02 though

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[GobbleNut]

We had this discussion on another thread a while back.  What each of us is willing to pay to turkey hunt varies a lot as to how important it is to us relative to how many "discretionary" dollars we have to spend.  The problem with that formula is that there is a point when enough folks are impacted by that "price them out of the market" ideology that it becomes unacceptable.  To put it simply, I don't think it is in any of us "common folks" best interest to see the system reach a point where the opportunity to hunt is a function of a person's financial wherewithal. 

Having said that, there also comes a time where providing hunting opportunity collides with responsible resource management.  It is a noble goal to provide hunting opportunity to as many folks as possible,...UNTIL we reach a point where doing that impacts the well-being of the resource, whether it be turkeys or any other game species.  There is no doubt in my mind that we have reached that point in some places.  Addressing that problem by pricing the "poor folks" out of the market is not really what the "North American Model" has ever been about (unfortunately, we have definitely reached that point with some species of game in too many places). 

So, beyond pricing folks out of the hunting market, what are the other options.  The only one I see, realistically, is through establishing ceilings on available permit numbers to coincide with harvest goals.  Whether that ceiling applies only to nonresidents, or must also be applied to residents, depends completely on maintaining a grip on those "harvest goals".  Personally, the way we are headed, I expect states to increasingly move towards quota hunts (public lands) with permits allotted through drawings.   

[Greg Massey]

Quota hunts with a limited number of permits.  I could see this as a possibility

[dzsmith]

Yeah I'd pay it ... but I don't camp out in other states , I go there, I kill a turkey , I don't go back.... There's a couple I've repeated a few times for pleasure but even then it's just a "once in a while thing". It's a tough topic..... but the writing is on the wall..... it's time to start deterring travelers , as sad as that is to say because I'm guilty of it myself to an extent . And I'm not necessarily saying going up in money is the answer to that , being we have some expensive licenses down south to hunt already.

[Roost 1]

I'll use TN as an example... I've bought a non-resident TN big game license, mainly just to turkey hunt,  for close to 30yrs.  I live less than 20 miles from TN. For many of those years TN turkey season opened 3 weeks earlier than my home state.  I can't recall with certainty but it seems like the license was like $125 for 2 birds and a 3 week head start, then the limit went to 3 and the license almost doubled. Eventually the limit went to 4 birds and the cost increased to $308.05.  A few years ago TN  moved the opener back a week and dropped the limit to 3, I had no problem with that because I could see a decline on my farms,  actually I haven't killed more than one bird on a farm in TN in several years. 2022 was the first time I haven't filled all my TN tags in many many years,  my farms simply didn't have the birds, there are various reasons for this in my opinion. I was actually lucky to kill the one bird I got.
Now for 2023 TN season will open same day as KY, no longer have a head start, 2 bird limit, same $308.05 license cost.  I seriously doubt I'll buy a TN license for the first time in many years.
Not because I disagree with the changes, I actually agree with the changes, but because I simply won't have time to hunt in TN after KY  season opens.
I hope the changes make a positive impact on the population, I think these changes are about 5yrs too late tho....

So to answer the OP's question, I'm not opposed to higher non-resident license fees but at the end of the day it's not the non residents that are killing the majority of the birds.  If you are trying increase revenue to help the birds then all hunters should share the expense.  I 100% agree with everything GobbleNut posted above.  One thing I think should happen is that residents should get the first week or 2 weeks of hunting on public lands to themselves.

[silvestris]

The Biden gas "tax" will thin out the non-residents.

[Hoot 000]

The Biden gas "tax" will thin out the non-residents.

x2

[Tail Feathers]

I pay enough for OOS licenses to turkey hunt.  Many states are cutting seasons and/or bag limits so raising the price at the same time wouldn't be good.

[Dtrkyman]

I already paid a lot for non res tags and license.  Unless it got really out of hand I am good with it.  Most of them are a bargain of you count the experience not just the hunt!

Iowa is steep!

[fallhnt]

Draw for residents and non residents alike. Charge the same for residents and non residents too.

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[Sixes]

I wish GA would go to a reciprocal type system as to where you pay either our NR cost or match your state's fees. The state of GA is way too cheap on NRs. $400 gets you 12 deer, 2 turkeys, 2 bears and unlimited hogs.

It should also be limited to the bag limits of the NR's home state not to exceed our limit. If your state allows 1 bird, then that is all you get, if your state allows 1 buck an 2 does, then that is all you get.

[Paulmyr]

I wish GA would go to a reciprocal type system as to where you pay either our NR cost or match your state's fees. The state of GA is way too cheap on NRs. $400 gets you 12 deer, 2 turkeys, 2 bears and unlimited hogs.

It should also be limited to the bag limits of the NR's home state not to exceed our limit. If your state allows 1 bird, then that is all you get, if your state allows 1 buck an 2 does, then that is all you get.

I don't hunt deer and bear in Georgia so should I still be charged the same?

[Sixes]

I wish GA would go to a reciprocal type system as to where you pay either our NR cost or match your state's fees. The state of GA is way too cheap on NRs. $400 gets you 12 deer, 2 turkeys, 2 bears and unlimited hogs.

It should also be limited to the bag limits of the NR's home state not to exceed our limit. If your state allows 1 bird, then that is all you get, if your state allows 1 buck an 2 does, then that is all you get.

I don't hunt deer and bear in Georgia so should I still be charged the same?

Yes. All of our big game falls under one license, so unless it is split for each species then you are already paying full price for turkeys.

[Sixes]

IMO the cost of non-res licenses is based mostly on how much whining the residents do.  It is a zero benefit situation money wise for the State as a whole.  When the fees get extreme they eliminate many who would come in and spend plenty on other things.  The game departments make the same on one guy paying $500 for a tag as ten guys paying $50 for a tag but the residents eliminate nine competitors and are happy.  Politics trumps all.  Answer to the question is no.  The cost of non-resident tags is way too high now in many places.  Double the price of resident tags if you really want to fund turkey management.  That would cause some screaming.

As a resident of GA, I do not want you to come here to hunt. The only exception would be if you have a lease here or hunt on private family lands.

There is no way that residents of ANY state should have their licenses increased to appease NRs.

I am not against out of state hunting, but NRs should have ZERO say in anything dealing with state resources.

As far as your comment about spending money on trips, I understand that, but GA ran a budget surplus of 3.7 Billion last year, NR spending is a drop in a bucket in revenue generation.

I know I sound like a jackass, but our state has become too overcrowded in general and our game populations are being hammered. Too many move ins and too many hunters all over the state. We have a ton of NRs from surrounding states that have the need to fill their limits.