Anticipated impacts of COVID-19 on hunting this year?

I'm incredibly fortunate to have a job where this will have no impact on me and I won't have to use a second of vacation time during this.

I'm still a bit nervous about applying. What if this is like the Spanish Flu and round two is even worse in the fall? I don't want to be out in BFE Wyoming when everything shuts down and I'm scrambling to get diesel and supplies 1,500 miles from home.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see any way that this doesn't have a pretty big impact on hunting in the fall.
 
I think for states that have not had a draw or depending on how many wildlife workers/officers are shifted to help, it wouldn’t shock me if we had no season or a very abbreviated one.
 
I fear there will be an interstate travel ban for non commercial travelers but hopefully that will not last through the summer.

I do think, as others have said, that vacation balances will be gutted for many. This could be the best year to OTC you will ever get again.
 
There will be a marked decrease in the amount of out-of-state hunters out West this Fall, without a doubt in my mind. This virus may not be that bad, but the economic fallout that we're likely to see in the next 6-8 months could be very, very bad. There's clearly a lot of Americans who haven't been putting enough money away and if people are still spending their discretionary funds this Spring on applications and out-of-state tag costs, then it very well may hurt them this Fall. I hope it doesn't, but I would be planning on it happening. I'm saving as much money as I can starting this past week. I was going to go to both Idaho and Montana this season, but I might forego one of them now. What you can afford right now very well may not be the same come this September and I hope all Americans are planning for that.
 
My 1st season IL turkey tag is basically useless. The state park I drew it on is closed. I’m working on getting the county (hunt area) changed, but no one with DNR is answering the phone.

Overall, I think that C-19 will be great for turkey hunters who can afford to still go.


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I haven’t applied for Wyoming deer yet. I’ll probably wait for the deadline. May end up on an otc hunt elsewhere as a backup. My hunting buddy is 64, I haven’t talked much with him but depending he maybe shouldn’t be traveling. I’m planning on still doing my oos deer, in state bear and in in state deer but everything is fluid.
 
Already got a call from an outfitter I hunted with last year saying he had a cancellation related to those whole mess and offered the spot up for about a 30% discount. So only a + for me this year so far.
 
I’ve contacted a couple transporters I know to keep me informed about any cancellations. Wasn’t planning on moose again this year, but I’ll take one for the right price. Same with fly out for sheep - was planning to hike in, but I’ll take a flight at a huge discount.

As others stated, I expect OTC areas to be less dense for reasons already stated. I have a feeling that the fishing in Alaska this year is going to be EPIC! About 1/5 the people and increased limits!
 
Montana will use this as an excuse for issuing every non res a tag again this year. They will say it infected their computer.
 
It already has, I'm supposed to be in Argentina right now.

I have an elk hunt in Canada in September, I believe that will still be in play and I'll go without a hitch. I don't plan on any of my normal hunting activities being affected (duck, deer, bear).
 
Gas is down over 40 cents a liter (that's $1.60 per gallon) here, if things stay like this I'll be getting after it like never before for spring bear...also won't be fighting all the non-resident traffic on the way up. So far the only effects on my hunting season that I see are positive but I guess we'll see how things play out!
 
If states are willing to close ski resorts and shift all state resources towards fighting the virus, I wouldn’t count on seasons necessarily taking place.
 
VTJ said:
www.foxnews.com

Trump announces US, Canada closing border to 'non-essential traffic' amid coronavirus fears

President Trump on Wednesday announced that the U.S. and Canada are temporarily closing their shared border to non-essential traffic as part of the effort to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
www.foxnews.com www.foxnews.com
Click to expand...
I'm scheduled to be sheep hunting in July in NWT and I'm officially starting to get a little nervous. I think what we're doing is a gigantic overreaction, basically shutting down the economy instead of just keeping at-risk folks at home. Hopefully a month or two from now we're out of the woods.
 
Well, I'm enjoying the lower gas prices ($1.85) right now, may go lower... some places it will be under $1 ... not good for the oil companies and fracking companies and their employee's.. ... on my days off, I'm driving more shed hunting and scouting and looking forward to the spring Silver(Whitebass) run below the dams on the Tippecanoe .....
 
What I find interesting is the number of people who will predict what's likely to happen in the next 2 or 3 months. I've been completely amazed by the events we've witnessed and the speed at which they've occurred. Three weeks ago basically nobody thought we'd be where we are today....yet it happened. The LAST thing I'd be willing to do is place a financial bet on where we'll be (and what we all might be able to do) in the next 6 months.
 
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