Hunting License Price Increases

[SuperDUECE22]

For $400 NR sportsman’s license…


2 bears
2 bucks
10 does
2 turkeys
Unlimited small game
Unlimited hogs
Fishing license

Preference points are FREE (even if you don’t have a license…)

I hate to break it to you all but the western states are absolutely ripping everyone the eff off and have been for years.

View attachment 803705

Was this a large increase for RESIDENTS?

OP didn't ask what license in your state cost, he asked if : Any other states increasing license costs for residents?

 

[Huntindog45]

funny i have no problem with the cost going up. everything has gone up and I still believe most F&G departments are understaffed, underpaid and work pretty damn hard for us. Shit I went out to dinner the other night, two people, couple cocktails blah blah blah.. $165. For the price of my tags and licenses I get a year of chasing stuff through the woods, the marshes, the creeks, rivers and the ocean. I will gladly pay my license fees for that.

 

[MNGrouser]

Minnesota just had a decrease...of sorts. For as long as I can remember we had a separate "Early Season Goose" license plus the normal small game license and state & Federal stamps. This year when I went to buy my license I was informed they did away with the additional early season license. You could hunt early and regular goose season on the same license. I had to double check the regulation book. I didn't want to rely on the word of the kid working at the sport's shop. The kid was correct. The MN DNR gave up the opportunity to soak me for an additional tag. I'd never heard of them doing such a thing before.

 

[sodaksooner]

Did'nt Oklahoma have a hugh increase? $209 plus $501? deer. That's a expensive whitetail.

You get 6 deer for that price, 2 bucks, 4 does.

 

[Macintosh]

OP didn't ask what license in your state cost, he asked if : Any other states increasing license costs for residents?

yes. Our F&W department makes a budget proposal to the legislature every year. As some part of this process they also submit a proposal for license fee increases for both residents and non-residents. They have generally been fairly good at making smaller increases more frequently, but for sure the cost to do the same thing increases every year like clockwork, so the funding to do this has to come from somewhere. I just checked, in my state in 2015 a Resident combo hunting/fishing license was $40. 2016 and 2017 it was $41. 2018 it went up to $42. In 2019 it went up to $47, I believe with the plan to let it sit for a few years. It is still at $47 as of 2025 pricelist. I'd rather have smaller more frequent increases, but I anticipate within a year or two it goes up to $55 or so (roughly $1 per year increase), which would be a roughly 17% increase. Our license automatically comes with both a general season buck tag and a bear tag. Archery, muzzleloader, turkey, waterfowl stamp, and draw tags also usually have a similar % increase along with those.

I am totally fine with this.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

In Ca. there are generally small annual cost increase. When I first started hunting here in 1972, I think I paid around $15 for an annual license, now many year later the cost is just under $62. A pig tag is now $27, with that you can take as many pigs as you want. Considering it use to be about $20 per tag, $27 is quite a deal. the pigs have become a real problem in Central Ca. Other than pigs I don't hunt Ca any longer.

 

[Weldor]

You get 6 deer for that price, 2 bucks, 4 does.

You make it sound easy, LOL. (humor)

 

[sodaksooner]

You make it sound easy, LOL. (humor)

Depends on where you hunt! That said, I paid close to $600 in general hunting and tags for one deer in CO last year. OK is a bargain....lol. Im an OK resident so with general and 6 tags its only like $90 total, but that also includes fishing.

 

[Yoder]

I think it's ironic that guys complaining about a small increase in the cost of a license buy a new $1500 bow every year. That new carbon bow is .01 ounces lighter than last year. I know that's not all of you but it's some of you.

 

[Pdrechsler]

Wisconsin sure could use a price increase, especially for out of state. Crazy to say . Along with fishing licenses too

I agree. Unlimited tags for NR and low cost of tags really hurts the deer population in certain areas.

 

[bowkill]

I have an idea...everyone that's fed up with their states resident tag prices can stop hunting and have more money to drink, watch movies, gamble, etc. That way there will be less people to compete with in the woods!

 

[Lawnboi]

Wisconsin sure could use a price increase, especially for out of state. Crazy to say . Along with fishing licenses too

So our dnr can piss more money away on wolves?

We just need wi to be a one buck a year state and we would see better hunting.

 

[KurtR]

Wisconsin sure could use a price increase, especially for out of state. Crazy to say . Along with fishing licenses too

Are their any residents still fishing over there both Dakotas are over ran win sconis. They have over taken blue platers.

 

[riversidejeep]

In Commifornia the price is about $200 to go hunting by the time you get licence, deer, bear tags , upland stamps and about $100 to go fishing. The money goes to fund studies by new enviro Berkley / Humboldt graduates for ring tail snails and desert lizards and how many cig butts whales have swallowed all the while trying their best to shut down hunting and firearm use. Don't get me started about the "How to be an asshole " class that all California F&W employee's must pass before being hired with my tax dollars.

 

[7mm-08]

Like some of the other folks who have posted, I'm happy to pay for an increase to the state of Idaho to fund the infrastructure that pays for the privilege to hunt and fish in this fine state. Say what you will, it is indisputable that the costs associated with nearly everything in the U.S. have escalated over time.

 

[TandKHunting]

I do think a lot of it has to do with keeping up with wage increases and cost of goods. A state game and fish department is going to struggle to keep wardens if those wardens can go work for a city, county, or state agency and make far more money per hour. That’s just one example. Think of all of the biologists, admin folks, etc. Both state and federal governments also use private contractors for construction and a boat load of other stuff. Those prices have sky rocketed. Getting a building built in 2024 is not even in the same ball park that it was 4-5 years ago.

I always give state agencies the benefit of the doubt. I pay tens of thousands of dollars in federal taxes every year that I feel get misappropriated (aka shipped over to Ukraine). But that’s a whole other topic.

 

[TAArrowood]

I recently learned something that has become very interesting.. Tennessee has a provision that allows any "native" Tennessean (Born in Tn) , regardless of state of current residency to purchase any license at resident prices... You have to send your birth certificate with an application form specifying your license choice and form of payment to the G&F office in Nashville and they will setup an online account for you and issue the license.. In follow up years you can go online and purchase your license like any other resident can.. Since I am over 65 and a Kentucky resident I could have purchased a senior sportsman's license which would cover 100% of the hunting/fishing I would every do as a non-resident for $50... I'm not sure if any other states have such a provision, but it sure helps.. I will be applying in early in 2025 so that I can hunt all my old hunting spots and get into some good spring Turkeys and Crappie..

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I probably won't hunt MT anymore. I'll just go buy half a steer. In MO, I can buy an any deer tag and a handful of doe tags for half what a single tag in MT costs.

 

[Lawnboi]

Are their any residents still fishing over there both Dakotas are over ran win sconis. They have over taken blue platers.

That’s cause all the Illinois bastards kept all our fish.

 

[resident vs nonresident]

For $400 NR sportsman’s license…

2 bears
2 bucks
10 does
2 turkeys
Unlimited small game
Unlimited hogs
Fishing license

Preference points are FREE (even if you don’t have a license…)

I hate to break it to you all but the western states are absolutely ripping everyone the eff off and have been for years.

View attachment 803705

Please do tell what kind of public lands are accessible to general public / DIY hunter in this cheap non-res option. I’m sure we all will jump on this deal and travel to those non-existent public lands.
Reason why everyone wants to hunt out west is that there are actual public lands for the average DIY hunter.