Non-resident elk hunters breaking point.

[sandhillhunter]

Non-resident elk hunters .

1) how much would you be willing to pay for a general elk tag ? $1000, $1500, $2000 ?
(good , but not cream of the crop)

Somewhere between the $600 I hope to spend in New Mexico if I ever draw a bull tag (19 years and counting of no luck as a NR) and $7500 plus $600 license fee which is what a unit wide landowner tag in my preferred NM unit costs.

I haven’t coughed up the $7500+ yet but at my age it is getting more tempting.

2) how much would you be willing to pay for a yearly point knowing if you don't keep up your yearly investment its gone (some states maybe 1 year interruption ) $50, $100, $500 ?

Depends on draw odds. I have no problem paying $500 for a point if I knew I would draw in 4-5 years. Would I want to? No. Would I? Yes. My elk hunting years are getting fewer and fewer.


3) how many years would you wait for a general elk tag ? 2-4, 8-10?

I guess 20 or more since that’s my streak in New Mexico (the land of no points and equal opportunity for every Non resident every year).

To be fair, I have drawn and hunted elk in other states. I’ve also sucked it up and paid as much as $1300 for a unit wide cow elk tag when nothing else planned out.

And no- I’m not a high roller. I own no 70k truck, no SXS, no toy hauler. I do have some nice Zeiss binos but shoot a factory rifle if that makes you feel better.


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[Indian Summer]

It’s all about priorities. Where there’s a will there’s a way. If someone tells me they can’t afford to elk hunt while sipping on a Starbucks coffee we can’t be friends. Asking me what my limits are is no different than asking me how much I’d be willing to pay for the oxygen I breathe. 10 years ago when you could draw a Wyoming general license as your SECOND choice I started a side business with the sole purpose of covering the cost of my own addiction. I told myself that if I could just cover my license and gas I’d be fine. You don’t have to have a giant booming business to do that. Little did I know how important that business would become. I still cover my costs from that BUT the real benefit of it is working with clients who have more points than they need. This year I’ll draw my 10th straight general license and hopefully kill my 24th bull in a row. Yeah….. I ain’t f_c_ing around!!! Elk hunting is my life. I never blink an eye at rising costs whether it’s the license or gas. I just worry about point creep and worse the elimination of non resident opportunities. So if this is a poll of the average hunter I’m not your guy.


I have 10 deer points in both Wyoming and Colorado. They are the only points I buy other than Wyoming elk. In order to avoid withdrawal symptoms in the case I can’t get an elk tag I’ll cash those points in and hunt high country mule deer. For me it’s as much about mountain life as it is the elk. If the only thing that lived in the mountains was opossums I’d be killing my 24th high country opossum this year. I don’t know if I’d pay 2 grand for the tag… but maybe! Lol Points are a fact of life. You aren’t getting an elk license without them and I have no control over the price so my take on that is it is what it is.


It sounds like me Elkcoholic and a few others are on the same page. If you said what is your limit on a scale of 1-10 you could chalk me up as an 11.


One thing I do think about are new elk hunters. I don’t know how they can handle purchasing all the clothes and gear to only hunt elk once every 2-4 years and hope for a 20-30% success rate. That would be tough. When I was learning an elk tag was $400 and you could get one every year. Thank God! The reason I think the way I do is because I know I’m going to see bulls and unless I just screw something up there’s a good chance I’ll be able to kill one. I am NOT one of the people who say it’s about the experience and making memories with friends and family and killing an elk would just be a bonus. Screw that I’m there to kill shit!

 

[fatlander]

Elk hunting hunting is really hard. Drawing a tag is harder.

I’d pay 2500 bucks for a general tag without blinking an eye. Problem is, I can’t.


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[bozeman]

There is a limit and each will find it…….easy to posture on an Internet forum……..

 

[Marble]

I'm with @roosiebull , I'll do whatever it takes to hunt every year. If I had to buy land and a home in another state to become a resident, I would.

Currently I try and hunt two states annually. We'll see if I continue to after my dad passes.

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[Rich M]

I tend to chuckle when folks bitch about the costs and hunting is becoming a rich man’s game.

A sizable portion of them tend to:
* Drive a $70k+ pickup all dolled up
* Drive a $20k+ SXS all dolled up
* Tow a $40k+ toy hauler all dolled up
* Have $6k+ in optics
* Wear $1.5k+ in clothes
* Shoot a $5k+ custom rifle

All while bitching that their ammo went up $1 per round so their budget is blown.

Folks will figure out a way to keep hunting where they want on the frequency that they want. But one thing is constant: folks will always find something to bitch about.

A lot of us don’t. We wear the clothes that havent wore out, shoot 40 year old guns w $400 scopes from 20 years ago and have to rent a tryck for the trip.

Bullets going up $1 round will def affect me shooting 500 tounds before a trip.

Some folks set budgets. We should be able to hunt too.

 

[bozeman]

As an NR, we aren’t owed anything……it’s a privilege to hunt out of state….not a right. Some will forego investments or take out loans (crazy IMO), but the desire for a pic and bragging rights has cost many a man in their life.

 

[Indian Summer]

There is a limit and each will find it…….easy to posture on an Internet forum……..

My first elk hunt was guided archery in Montana. Didn’t kill anything. I was about 21. But I was hooked from day 1. I went hope and applied for a credit card and booked a guided gun hunt the same year. I wasn’t playing games from day 1! Didn’t kill anything on that hunt either. Didn’t even see an elk! Didn’t care.

I decided right away that I didn’t need a guide and never booked another outfitted hunt. Remember there was no internet then. Outdoor Life and Petersens Hunting. That’s it.

Years later I had my tag in hand and a few weeks before the hunt a coworker pulled rank on me and they told me I couldn’t go on vacation that week. Lol yeah ok…. I told them it wasn’t optional… I was going. The last day of work the owner called me into his office and said are you going elk hunting next week? I said yes sir I am. He smiled and said I like your level of commitment don’t forget to come back.

20 years after that I scheduled three weeks off from a job. The superintendent yanked me aside and said you can’t do that. I said look man I’m not one of these miss work on Fridays and show up late every other Monday guys. I never miss a day. When I do you get plenty of advance notice. I thought back to the situation 20 years earlier and said I’m going…. this isn’t the only job out there and I can’t hunt elk in those mountains forever. He said…. Good luck hunting. The next 3 years I scheduled 3 weeks off from that job and he never said a word.

Some people aren’t just posturing on the internet Bozeman. Some elk hunters are as serious as a heart attack. If you ever see one of my kidneys for sale in the Rokslide classifieds you’ll know why. Please consider buying it! Lol

 

[RuggedYogi]

My breaking point was incredibly low, so I moved to New Mexico a year ago. Before the move, $1,000 for a tag was my cutoff.

 

[cnelk]

As a NonRes, Ive paid $1,350 [or whatever the Wyo Special fee is], paid full price fees, and Ive also paid $400 for a RP Cow tag several times

I dont do it every year because I can hunt as a Res for $52.

Only when the hunting schedule allows will I ante up whatever it takes to hunt elk as a NonRes

But I will always hunt elk. Every. Year.

 

[Fatcamp]

I tend to chuckle when folks bitch about the costs and hunting is becoming a rich man’s game.

A sizable portion of them tend to:
* Drive a $70k+ pickup all dolled up
* Drive a $20k+ SXS all dolled up
* Tow a $40k+ toy hauler all dolled up
* Have $6k+ in optics
* Wear $1.5k+ in clothes
* Shoot a $5k+ custom rifle

All while bitching that their ammo went up $1 per round so their budget is blown.

Folks will figure out a way to keep hunting where they want on the frequency that they want. But one thing is constant: folks will always find something to bitch about.

I don't know anyone like that. Sure isn't me or my friends.

 

[MallardSX2]

When I kill 4 bulls with my bow, I’m done.

 

[S-3 ranch]

I am thinking about juggling my LPP in Colorado, if our farm tenet apply for residential tags that automatically bump us to once every two years or a season that animals aren’t migrating to yet and 74 & 741 is worthless without water in summer ( which LDS owns for irrigation) and having snow in fall

 

[Elkhntr08]

Wouldn’t mind $1,000-$1,500 for a NR elk tag if the quality of the hunt is there. Decent elk numbers, mature animals and not a hunter behind every tree.
I don’t shoot the newest greatest $1,800 bow, my truck is 8 years old and my atvs are paid for.
I’m retired with good money coming in and time to make more if need be. There’s a lot of things I can do without or give up before I need to give up on elk tags.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

A lot of us don’t. We wear the clothes that havent wore out, shoot 40 year old guns w $400 scopes from 20 years ago and have to rent a tryck for the trip.

Bullets going up $1 round will def affect me shooting 500 tounds before a trip.

Some folks set budgets. We should be able to hunt too.

Never said everyone.

But if you (general and not specific to any individual) were to actually look at what a sizable portion of the hunting population brings on a hunt, it is jaw dropping. And if you (again generic and not specific to any individual) we’re to ask about the cost of tags, they’d bitch up a storm.

 

[cmahoney]

Never said everyone.

But if you (general and not specific to any individual) were to actually look at what a sizable portion of the hunting population brings on a hunt, it is jaw dropping. And if you (again generic and not specific to any individual) we’re to ask about the cost of tags, they’d bitch up a storm.

I bring my wake board boat along with all that other stuff just in case there is a lake close by


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[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Let me reword what I wrote previously.

Folks will find money for those items that are a priority to them. Folks will bitch about the costs of the most trivial of things when it is not a priority to them.

 

[Behlftball]

Let me reword what I wrote previously.

Folks will find money for those items that are a priority to them. Folks will bitch about the costs of the most trivial of things when it is not a priority to them.

This is true

 

[Squincher]

Non-resident elk hunters . I am curious at what threshold most non-residents would say I'm done and move on to other endeavors. Maybe you don't have a threshold . I think realisticly most do. I realize there are a million different scenarios .maybe you hunt elk in your home state. Vested points already etc. Let's say you are a non-resident putting in for a GENERAL ELK tag with 0 points starting from scratch. 3 questions. Currently
1) how much would you be willing to pay for a general elk tag ? $1000, $1500, $2000 ?
(good , but not cream of the crop)
2) how much would you be willing to pay for a yearly point knowing if you don't keep up your yearly investment its gone (some states maybe 1 year interruption ) $50, $100, $500 ?
3) how many years would you wait for a general elk tag ? 2-4, 8-10?

I'm not sure what my cutoff is on price, but I won't buy points and I won't wait for a tag. I book a hunt in Alberta or BC when I want to go Elk hunting. No points and I know I'm going.

 

[ez_willie]

Non-resident elk hunters . I am curious at what threshold most non-residents would say I'm done and move on to other endeavors. Maybe you don't have a threshold . I think realisticly most do. I realize there are a million different scenarios .maybe you hunt elk in your home state. Vested points already etc. Let's say you are a non-resident putting in for a GENERAL ELK tag with 0 points starting from scratch. 3 questions. Currently
1) how much would you be willing to pay for a general elk tag ? $1000, $1500, $2000 ?
(good , but not cream of the crop)
2) how much would you be willing to pay for a yearly point knowing if you don't keep up your yearly investment its gone (some states maybe 1 year interruption ) $50, $100, $500 ?
3) how many years would you wait for a general elk tag ? 2-4, 8-10?

$1000, refuse to play the points game except for MT general PP which I’ll also be quitting, 1 year for general tag