These auction tags raise a lot of money that goes straight back into conserving the resource. It is very short-sighted to take the view that they hurt the average hunters’ opportunities, because they actually help them a great deal by putting many more sheep on the mountain for one animal taken annually.
Nevertheless, perception is reality and most folks see them as a bad thing. Part of this is just not understanding the whole story and part of it is just borne from envy. I do acknowledge that many times these guys buying the tags who hire teams of guides to find/sit on big animals and then blast their “team pics” all over social media don’t help their cause. And ironically, the higher the $$$ have gotten (and thus the more has been raised for conservation) the louder the outcry has become. Politicians and bureaucrats respond to outcry, so it’s likely that auction tags will be gone everywhere within a few years. This will leave a big hole in many wildlife departments’ budgets. A hole I doubt the ones griping about auction tags will step up and fill with their money.
As with many hunting issues, oftentimes hunters are their own worst enemy.
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