Limited Licences

[fishdog]

My brother and I have not drawn any of the limited licences we are in drawings for, exept those that we worked up to with points. We started in 1999 and things have changed, the people putting in now have a lot less chance than when we started doing it. CO, WY, AZ, and Maine have changed rules, and it is just looking tougher and tougher. The buisness of hunter applications is growing but not telling people how the odds are changing. In the sheep unit I applied for in CO 39 people had 3 points last year and are not in the drawing with 3 points. 48 of us non-residents tried for 1 tag, next year it could alnost be twice the odds. 21 people had been trying for 9 years, it is a lotterry after 3 years, all are in with more chances as you are in longer. I am in for moose in WY and this year a preference point is up from $7 to $75 as I hear it, I have not recieved the apps yet. I see why WY sees the need, I think less than 100 tags and thousands of people with preference points, not much chance they will ever get a tag, also less moose tags and less success than when I started applying. Maine had an extra name in the hat for each year you applied, now just buy extra names. It sure seems like things have turned into a buisness of getting tags.

[Skyline]

fishdog you are right, and as the number of applicants increase things get worse. There appears to be a certain amount of supply and demand reasoning being applied by wildlife branches in both application fees and, if successful, license fees.

To be honest, I wouldn't dream of paying some of the non-resident fees that some of the states have imposed.

Everything these days is slowly pushing the price for non-resident hunting everywhere above what the average Joe can afford.

[skeeter@ccia.com]

any non-refundable fees to go along with these apps?...sounds like a money-maker for someone.

[Nulle]

Well sure it's a money maker for the States and not only that they use your money for months until the draw.

[PJgunner]

I think that now, in Arizona, you will have to buy the non resident licesne to get the bonus point. I don't know what it will be this year but it has gone up. Last year it was $113.00.
Paul B.

[fishdoggydog]

What bothers me the most about this is when I started in 1999, I felt I had a good chance of getting into some good spots for a price of the licence and reasonable application fees. That is not what I see in most states now. If my buisness is getting people into hunts for big game, it works out just fine, let people apply a couple years, then sell them a land owner tag when they get sick of waiting. I am still in for some tags, but it gets to be longer and longer odds of success every year.