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

[Spitten and drummen]

No

[El Pavo Grande]

Loose lips sink ships.  Hunting alone wasn't good enough. Had to wreck it for everyone for likes and pocket change.

[El Pavo Grande]

Wait, so what i'm gathering is that you guys are telling me more turkey hunters = more license sales DOES NOT equal more turkey?!?!

If only the influencers and YouTubers that have helped ruin the sport could face this fact. But they have to continually "recruit more" and exploit the resource to stay relevant and continue to fatten their pockets.

It makes zero sense that "we" discuss license increases, permit draws, and continued reductions in opportunity as if it's expected while turning a blind eye to one of the biggest factors....social media irresponsibility.  And the hunting industry keeps lining their pockets and defending it because products are being sold.  Conservation organizations won't speak out against it or certain methods of hunting because it might hurt their membership.  The root of it all....selfishness. 

[fallhnt]

Need to charge residents more.

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[GobbleNut]

Need to charge residents more.

This brings up a question for discussion:  What does everybody consider to be a reasonable resident license fee for hunting turkeys? 

[rakkin6]

Kind of an unfair question for me to answer. I have. A lifetime hunting license in Tennessee to include all tags for all species (I do have to buy the migratory bird stamp). I got this because I am a 100% disabled veteran after nearly 24 years in the Army. I got my lifetime license in 2020. But until then I was paying $160.00 or so a year for my resident sportsman license. This is my hunting and fishing license and included tags for deer and turkey. I had no problem paying that amount I think that is fair.

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[GobbleNut]

This brings up a question for discussion:  What does everybody consider to be a reasonable resident license fee for hunting turkeys? 

Resident license here, including all the necessary licenses, stamps, validations, and fees is roughly $55.  Nonresident is $180.  I am fine with both of those but, as of now, we are a two-bird state (spring) and there is no additional charge for the second tag. 

Personally, if I had my "druthers", there would be an additional cost for that second tag, with my personal preference being another $50 +/- for residents and another $100 +/- for nonresidents.  Purchasing the second tag would be optional.  My attitude is that, if you are serious enough to want to pay for all the associated costs of going hunting, which are likely going to be much more than the license cost, you should be willing to ante-up to support the resource.   

[Chuck1443]

Daniel Boone National forest permit went from 30$ to 50$ this year. Everything is raising cause our dollar is getting weaker .


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[mountainhunter1]

This discussion is worthless because as a couple have already alluded to, even if you raised prices a couple of hundred dollars on either nonresidents or residents (or both), government is set up today to waste every single extra dollar that you give them. The border is wide open and every one of those folks who walk across illegally is getting paid day one - that is a fact, I'm not just running my trap. They are robbing the citizens to pay for those type things and ear marked money for turkeys or deer would be a sitting duck.

Here is what will happen, the state will say, "We can still do the job with the same staff and their equipment", and as a result come up with some nifty slogans or media promotion and or band aid attempt to help wildlife to fake out the hunters - and then with that mindset, they will rob 80-90 percent of the new funds from raised prices on licenses to pay other things. Bank on it.

Let me give you a great example. In Georgia, they wanted to have the lottery to raise incredible funds for schools. They sold it from that perspective to get folks to go along with the lottery. Well, guess what, they got it and now years down the road that lottery money has been robbed so much that many have to wonder from an educators perspective if the stores are even still selling lottery tickets. Just like social security, they repeatedly rob funds that were originally slated to go elsewhere. With a thing like turkey or deer population, it is going to be a lot easier to fudge on that than it was with the more highly visible education of children (the lottery) and you can only imagine how much of that money slated for wildlife that will wind up going elsewhere. The real problem is not the number of turkeys, the real problem is that our states and nation just need a lot more good solid leaders. Good common sense leadership is disappearing faster than the turkeys are.

[rakkin6]

This discussion is worthless because as a couple have already alluded to, even if you raised prices a couple of hundred dollars on either nonresidents or residents (or both), government is set up today to waste every single extra dollar that you give them. The border is wide open and every one of those folks who walk across illegally is getting paid day one - that is a fact, I'm not just running my trap. They are robbing the citizens to pay for those type things and ear marked money for turkeys or deer would be a sitting duck.

Here is what will happen, the state will say, "We can still do the job with the same staff and their equipment", and as a result come up with some nifty slogans or media promotion and or band aid attempt to help wildlife to fake out the hunters - and then with that mindset, they will rob 80-90 percent of the new funds from raised prices on licenses to pay other things. Bank on it.

Let me give you a great example. In Georgia, they wanted to have the lottery to raise incredible funds for schools. They sold it from that perspective to get folks to go along with the lottery. Well, guess what, they got it and now years down the road that lottery money has been robbed so much that many have to wonder from an educators perspective if the stores are even still selling lottery tickets. Just like social security, they repeatedly rob funds that were originally slated to go elsewhere. With a thing like turkey or deer population, it is going to be a lot easier to fudge on that than it was with the more highly visible education of children (the lottery) and you can only imagine how much of that money slated for wildlife that will wind up going elsewhere. The real problem is not the number of turkeys, the real problem is that our states and nation just need a lot more good solid leaders. Good common sense leadership is disappearing faster than the turkeys are.

I completely agree, no trust that the politicians are doing what they say. Social Security is just a Ponzi Scheme. If the government made it optional most people would invest the money they pay into social security into other things like 401K, stocks, bonds, precious metals. But the government has ripped into social security so much for other things it's disgraceful. Realistically the money I pay into it now and have been for the past thirty years isn't even for me. It's for those on it now. And with the lack of work ethic today I may not have someone paying to support me in the future. That's not the way it was meant to be, but it is what it has become.

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[mountainhunter1]

Amen on the corn all over the ground in our woods. The very minute they legalized corn in North Georgia, the turkey population took another hit. As if the existing predators were not enough, the DNR created a new one with corn on the ground. Moldy corn and turkeys just don't mix.

I know we are way off the original intent of the original post in this thread, but squirrel hunting became king and coon hunting was discarded in our part of the country and along with that and the corn on the ground to me is way more of an issue than out of state hunters and how much you charge them to hunt your state. But as I said above, that all goes back to leadership. If we had better leadership, the corn on the ground would end and the predators would be much better dealt with.

BUT - - back to the point, what about this - stop the baiting and then raise prices on licenses and take that money (every single penny of it and not rob it to do other things), and use that additional money to pay for one thing - predator population control. And don't pay them to just go through the motions of doing the job, but instead give them that money based on how many coons, coyotes, hogs, etc. that they eliminate. Make them turn the carcasses  in to get paid with those additional funds created by higher license prices. I would gladly pay extra for a license if they would do just that, but that would likely be asking too much for our current leaders to come up with a good common sense idea like that.

[dzsmith]

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

not at all

[redleg06]

increasing NR cost is a poor management strategy, in my opinion. NR Turkey tags are not a significant revenue source in most state wildlife budgets. Deer and big game on the other hand drive the bus, in most states, in regards to NR dollars. After working a long career in Ohio's Division of wildlife I have seen these very discussions many times. As a rule hunters will pay up if the opportunity is good for a quality hunt. game levels, not cost, drive this bus. Hunters want to have a high expectation of success, they will shy away from place where probability of success is low. However, there is a limit where people won't pay up. When expectations run low and cost go up hunters don't come. I saw Ohio raise cost and NR tags would drop for a year or two and then recover. when you consider a hunt the cost of a tag is one of the least expensive things on your trip budget. For example, I hunt Ky. every year and my license cost me $235.00 (I think) and between gas food and lodging I estimate I spent about $400.00 and most of my trips were one day driving hunts (I live 1.5 hrs from one of my spots). Then I hunted South Dakota and spent $125.00 on a tag and an estimated $1500.00 on gas, lodging and food. Now the SD trip was also a visit to my daughter, but if it had been solely a turkey hunt the cost would be the same. Sure some money could be raised to help turkey management, but not enough to justify the burden on the sportsmen and women. Like others have said, there are better strategies.

I agree with a lot of what you said- particularly about the quality of hunt driving what I'm willing to pay for a license and/or the other expenses associated with traveling to hunt.   

I'm willing to pay more for better hunting. Willing to take days off work for a better hunt.  As you said, the license fee is a small small percentage of what I spend on a hunting trip (particularly on gas to some of these places).

Having said that; In some of the harder hunted or "destination" states that see a lot of NR pressure, the additional revenue generated from higher license fee's might not help the bird, but cutting the pressure substantially (from NR at least) certainly could, if the higher fees were a deterrent. 

[the Ward]

No

x2

[the Ward]

This discussion is worthless because as a couple have already alluded to, even if you raised prices a couple of hundred dollars on either nonresidents or residents (or both), government is set up today to waste every single extra dollar that you give them. The border is wide open and every one of those folks who walk across illegally is getting paid day one - that is a fact, I'm not just running my trap. They are robbing the citizens to pay for those type things and ear marked money for turkeys or deer would be a sitting duck.

Here is what will happen, the state will say, "We can still do the job with the same staff and their


equipment", and as a result come up with some nifty slogans or media promotion and or band aid attempt to help wildlife to fake out the hunters - and then with that mindset, they will rob 80-90 percent of the new funds from raised prices on licenses to pay other things. Bank on it.

Let me give you a great example. In Georgia, they wanted to have the lottery to raise incredible funds for schools. They sold it from that perspective to get folks to go along with the lottery. Well, guess what, they got it and now years down the road that lottery money has been robbed so much that many have to wonder from an educators perspective if the stores are even still selling lottery tickets. Just like social security, they repeatedly rob funds that were originally slated to go elsewhere. With a thing like turkey or deer population, it is going to be a lot easier to fudge on that than it was with the more highly visible education of children (the lottery) and you can only imagine how much of that money slated for wildlife that will wind up going elsewhere. The real problem is not the number of turkeys, the real problem is that our states and nation just need a lot more good solid leaders. Good common sense leadership is disappearing faster than the turkeys are.

I completely agree, no trust that the politicians are doing what they say. Social Security is just a Ponzi Scheme. If the government made it optional most people would invest the money they pay into social security into other things like 401K, stocks, bonds, precious metals. But the government has ripped into social security so much for other things it's disgraceful. Realistically the money I pay into it now and have been for the past thirty years isn't even for me. It's for those on it now. And with the lack of work ethic today I may not have someone paying to support me in the future. That's not the way it was meant to be, but it is what it has become.

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No they wouldn't, they would just blow that money on "the next shiny thing." Not a big fan of most gov. programs, but the majority of people would just waste it, like they did with the covid "relief funds". Big screen t.v. manufacturers would love it though.