MT Legislature passes bill favoring hunters that use Outfitters

[Wanttohuntmore]

Might be a loss to the state with less DIY hunters spending money there in multiple trips.   Typically guided hunters go for a single,  short trip.  Sad about this as we have friends there that we like to hunt with.

[jrebel]

I guess I fundamentally don't see the problem with it.  Yeah, it is gonna lessen the tags for DIY out of state folks but it is what it is.  If you don't like it you should move to Montana and become a resident. 

To each their own I guess.....but it would be like me getting pissed off at my neighbor because he leases his land to hunting vs just letting me hunt it for free.   

[bearpaw]

The fact is that outfitters used to have a share of tags for many years until residents voted to eliminate them, I think the primary motivation was to get access to land that outfitters had leased. When that passed it eliminated the $1000.00 deer tags that outfitter clients paid which greatly helped support FWP, as a result they nearly doubled the price of regular non-res tags to make up for the budget shortfall. This legislation doesn't replace the quota outfitters used to have but it will help many businesses.

Just remember when you write the check for your non-resident Montana tags, the reason you are paying so much is because the much more expensive outfitter tags were eliminated! 

[kselkhunter]

The fact is that outfitters used to have a share of tags for many years until residents voted to eliminate them, I think the primary motivation was to get access to land that outfitters had leased. When that passed it eliminated the $1000.00 deer tags that outfitter clients paid and that greatly helped support FWP and nearly doubled the price of regular non-res tags to make up for the budget shortfall. This legislation doesn't replace the quota outfitters used to have but it will help many businesses.

Just remember when you write the check for your non-resident Montana tags, the reason you are paying so much is because the much more expensive outfitter tags were eliminated! 

The residents repealed it last time.  They forced the bill writer to remove references to it this time, then it was snuck in again at the last second so it couldn't go through public review again.  It will likely get repealed again by residents.   
 

[Karl Blanchard]

Kind of forgot about this but Governor signed it.


https://www.gohunt.com/read/news/montana-changes-outfitter-hunting-license-allocation-and-preference-point-system?utm_source=Klaviyo_campaign&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2005%2F23%2F21%20-%20ALL%20%282021-05-24%29&_ke=eyJrbF9jb21wYW55X2lkIjogIlBrUG1KRiIsICJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJrYXJsLmJsYW5jaGFyZDgzQHlhaG9vLmNvbSJ9#gs.25ujlr

[whacker1]

The fact is that outfitters used to have a share of tags for many years until residents voted to eliminate them, I think the primary motivation was to get access to land that outfitters had leased. When that passed it eliminated the $1000.00 deer tags that outfitter clients paid which greatly helped support FWP, as a result they nearly doubled the price of regular non-res tags to make up for the budget shortfall. This legislation doesn't replace the quota outfitters used to have but it will help many businesses.

Just remember when you write the check for your non-resident Montana tags, the reason you are paying so much is because the much more expensive outfitter tags were eliminated! 

i remember this from prior.  and then when MT FWP wasn't selling out the tags,  access to tags was a non-issue for outfitters, but that changed when people got money in there pocket again and demand increased over time for the non-resident tags.

[Stein]

Kind of forgot about this but Governor signed it.


https://www.gohunt.com/read/news/montana-changes-outfitter-hunting-license-allocation-and-preference-point-system?utm_source=Klaviyo_campaign&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2005%2F23%2F21%20-%20ALL%20%282021-05-24%29&_ke=eyJrbF9jb21wYW55X2lkIjogIlBrUG1KRiIsICJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJrYXJsLmJsYW5jaGFyZDgzQHlhaG9vLmNvbSJ9#gs.25ujlr

Great, the buy two point genie was just let out of the bottle.  I wouldn't be surprised to see more states get creative here, they can raise more revenue without touching the tag price.  With the huge number of applicants, just a few bucks more from each one adds up to a bunch more money.