Wyoming 90/10 passed

[dvolmer]

Well looks like the 90/10 law was signed into law in Wyoming.  90% of all of the tags will go to residents with non-residents only getting 10%. Affects all of the non-resident Wyoming moose, sheep, goat, and bison tags.  Tags that took 20-25 years to draw now will take over 50 years to draw and due to the cut in non-res tag numbers, most random draw tags will disappear.  Sort of a bait and switch situation for all of you that have been buying the $100 points each year.  Eastmans is thinking there will be class action lawsuits possibly over it.  There was so much revenue extracted out of the non-resident point buyers over the last 30 or so years that if they had to refund the applicants it would bankrupt the department. I bailed out of the zoo a few years ago when they raised the point cost from $50 to $100 and more then doubled the cost of the actual tag if and when you do finally draw.  It got to the point that doing a Canadian Moose guided hunt was not much more than the Wyoming option and you don't have to wait half a lifetime to actually hunt. The state of Wyoming will loose a ton of revenue over it also because many of the 12,000 point buyers each year will bail now that they realize they will never get a tag.  Ill try to post the Eastmans blog that explains it all better.

[dvolmer]

https://blog.eastmans.com/wyoming-passes-90-10-the-worst-article-youll-read-this-year/

It's interesting to read the comments at the end of the article.  There are some pretty peeved people.  Im not in the game but this still gets my blood boiling.  It's like buying into a big game raffle where the cost of the ticket is $100 and they tell you only 100 tickets will be sold.  So you think. "What the heck, I'll give it a try" and then you find out that they sold 10,000 tickets and gobbled up all of your money and majorly skewed the odds.  The old bait and switch scheme!

[Wolfdog2314]

It’s never any good news. At least I haven’t been investing in those points there.

[trophyhunt]

Sure hope I draw a gen tag this year. I guess I’ll focus on other states now, too bad.

[Stein]

Historically, western states were very reluctant to raise resident costs because hunters would absolutely come unhinged over even the most minor increases.  I remember a few that were something like a $7 increase and pitchforks came out.  So, game departments would stick it to NR's, we bitch and then write checks for whatever they ask.

Now, there seems to be a trend of resident hunters willing to bear greater costs in return for either less NR pressure overall or a bigger pool of resident draw tags.  It's a trade that really makes sense for resident hunters in many eyes.  I think this is one of those examples.  I wouldn't be surprised to see more.

[dvolmer]

Historically, western states were very reluctant to raise resident costs because hunters would absolutely come unhinged over even the most minor increases.  I remember a few that were something like a $7 increase and pitchforks came out.  So, game departments would stick it to NR's, we bitch and then write checks for whatever they ask.

Now, there seems to be a trend of resident hunters willing to bear greater costs in return for either less NR pressure overall or a bigger pool of resident draw tags.  It's a trade that really makes sense for resident hunters in many eyes.  I think this is one of those examples.  I wouldn't be surprised to see more.

. Agreed.

[lhrbull]

I guess I was lucky to get the moose out of the way last year

[Iveexcaped3]

Yeah it sucks but at the same time why should Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah take on the burden because other states like Washington Oregon and California fail to actually manage game.
Maybe it’ll get hunters to start putting fire under their own departments ass instead of saying “I’ll just hunt out of state and not buy tags here”

[CaNINE]

Just what I needed….another reason in a long list of compelling reasons to move to Wyoming.

[WAcoyotehunter]

If they make the same change to Deer elk and antelope it will cost them a fortune.   Hopefully they don't, I would be done and have to eat a decade worth of point fees

[WAcoyotehunter]

Yeah it sucks but at the same time why should Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah take on the burden because other states like Washington Oregon and California fail to actually manage game.
Maybe it’ll get hunters to start putting fire under their own departments ass instead of saying “I’ll just hunt out of state and not buy tags here”

That's true.  But TBH hunters in WA are CA have no influence over larger wildlife and habitat issues.  We just don't have a big enough voice here.

It is a frustration that much of the NonRes hunting in those states occurs on federal property,  that belongs to us as much as the residents.   WY has been gradually putting the screws to NRs for a while,  starting with the guide requirement on wilderness

[link]

Sure hope I draw a gen tag this year. I guess I’ll focus on other states now, too bad.

If they do go further and get the 90/10 for DEA, I sure wouldn't think it would affect NR general elk tags or general region deer tags. Those are already unlimited, OTC for the residents. One side effect would be more NRs would be putting in for the general elk and deer tags instead of the LQs. No matter how you look at it though, it is a kick in the nuts to the NRs.

[Iveexcaped3]

Yeah it sucks but at the same time why should Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah take on the burden because other states like Washington Oregon and California fail to actually manage game.
Maybe it’ll get hunters to start putting fire under their own departments ass instead of saying “I’ll just hunt out of state and not buy tags here”

That's true.  But TBH hunters in WA are CA have no influence over larger wildlife and habitat issues.  We just don't have a big enough voice here.

It is a frustration that much of the NonRes hunting in those states occurs on federal property,  that belongs to us as much as the residents.   WY has been gradually putting the screws to NRs for a while,  starting with the guide requirement on wilderness

I think that’s because we’re approaching it the wrong way. We need a group that’s non hunting related that advocates for big game. Rmef has done well but is also tied to hunting, we need something that will allow hunters to silently support but will also draw interest in the general public so we can get rid of some of these preds.

[GWP]

With all the he complaining on here about the same issues in this State about loss of hunting and fishing opportunities, I would presume any effort to preserve local hunting ‘anywhere’ would be applauded. Or not.
Things change. Rules need to change as well to align with the ‘new reality’. It sucks, but it is, inevitable.

[kselkhunter]

If they make the same change to Deer elk and antelope it will cost them a fortune.   Hopefully they don't, I would be done and have to eat a decade worth of point fees

The legislators are already working on the bill for deer/elk/antelope to move to 90/10.  The Eastman's article references that.  What he's hearing is they will cut the deer/elk/antelope NR tags, but allocate a chunk of them to outfitters and landowner tags instead of going in the draw for non-residents.  Basically they want to force most NR hunters to use an outfitter or pay to hunt private land.  But that deer/elk/antelope bill is still being discussed what the final parameters will be.