Tag costs impact number of hunters?

Ucsdryder

Modern Fuddster
Joined
Jan 24, 2015
Messages
7,442
How prohibitive is the cost of a hunting license for non-residents? Wyoming has a 1200 dollar “special” license. What if...all of a sudden a non-resident tag was 1200-1500 all in (license, application fee, tag). Would it really impact the number of hunters? I don’t think it would, or at least I don’t think the number of applicants would decrease dramatically.
 
This years applicant numbers across the west, show that the cost doesn't matter. Higher tag fees, even combined with covid, didn't stop the increase in applicants.

Not saying I support the increases, just saying it doesn't affect the applicant pool.
 
Yes it will affect applicants but due to the fact there will always be more applicants than tags they will always sell out regardless of price.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
Tag cost does have an effect on my decisions, but living in Colorado I already have access to most species I want to hunt. If I lived somewhere without elk, I might pay those crazy prices. I dunno ... that's a lot of eastern deer tags or a significant chunk of the cost of hunting New Zealand.
 
If Covid didn't slow it down nothing will. Where we are right now is as good as it will ever be.
 
If all states went to $1,200-1,500, I’d be out. May go hiking out there, but I am not spending that kind of money for a 1/10 chance (at best) of harvesting an animal.

The prices are already too high.
 
I can't spend that much on a tag alone. I probably spend about $1k per year on local hunting if you include all of the licenses, gear, and driving, but I would have to start selling some things for a $1,200 tag.
 
Price always matters. For every good or service we buy. Hunting licenses/tags are no different. However, prices have been artificially set by the various state governments. People like to complain about the cost of an NR tag in Wyoming for example. But, if the state took their tags and put them in an open market (I.e., auction), the price would be significantly higher than what we as NR's pay today. Any time you have a government entity setting price instead of the market, you run into these types of issues. Think of rent controls in San Francisco or New York or Stockholm. They are put in place to provide access to those who can't afford the market price for rent. But, those types of controls lead to over demand for the product. If the states continued to raise prices, people would start falling out. How far they would have to raise prices to reach a market equilibrium price of a premium tag in WY for example, is an unknown.
 
The only thing I don't bother putting in for based on tag price is Bison in Arizona ($5400). I can go to South Dakota and shoot one for that. As long as the application fee is standard, I still put in for sheep, bison, moose, etc. Floating something like that is a tough pill to swallow, but I'd be more than willing to find the cash if I was guaranteed the tag. A $2200 Desert Bighorn tag in Utah is a lot cheaper than paying for one in Mexico or Texas ($50k-$100k).

For some reason a $1200 elk tag in Nevada hurts my feelings more than sheep tag pricing. At least in Wyoming you have to make the conscious decision to choose the more expensive (Special) option.
 
I think tag price would have to go well past where it is now for it to have any real impact on the number of applications. I mean there are already plenty of tags that cost well over $1000 and they are still tough to get.

Now me personally I have a limit. With the exception of sheep which I have no realistic chance of ever drawing I won’t go past about $700ish for a tag like an OTC elk tag. I am willing to pay for things like landowner tags and premium tags where my hunting experience doesn’t involve 1000 of my closest friends.
 
Back
Top