Free: Contests & Raffles.
I get a chuckle out of the folks talking about how WY is catering to the rich and hunting is geared towards rich folks. You guys are dressing up in kuiu head to toe, buying browning and kimber rifles topped with Swarovski rifle scopes, spending all year buying bullets and powders looking for that perfect load, driving nice new model trucks, extolling the virtues of zamberlain boots, pulling fifth wheel trailers and you have the gall to complain about people that have having more financial means than you. Hahaha! You think that Wyoming shouldn’t have their own residents best interest in mind? You think Wyoming is just an enclave of rich elk hunters? You wanna hunt there so bad and can’t stand hunting your own state and your own elk? Why not move there? How much would an Alaskan coastal brown bear hunt cost a non resident? 15-30 g’s? Well, as a resident, I get to hunt them every year for just the cost of the tag. Because I live here. I like how ak’s constitution makes it clear that the wildlife is managed for resident hunters first and foremost. When changes are made, nonresident hunters aren’t the priority. I agree with a comment above. This has nothing to do with “ hunter recruitment “. That’s one lame excuse. Bottom line- you want to hunt Wyoming so bad on the cheap, move there. You want to hunt Alaska on the cheap? Move there. That’s what makes America great; if you don’t like the place you are at or think some place better, you are free to move there. I have little sympathy for well heeled hunters complaining about prices in places they don’t live.