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NR deer tag costs

bjkpharmd

bjkpharmd

New Member
Taking note of Onecam's warning to keep it on a constructive & positive note. I know that the cap on NR tags will remain at 6000 for at least another couple years based on the legislation now. My question is for all the NR hunters on the site. IF you were able to hunt every year, what is that tag worth? The way things are going, the $300 is going to get you one every other or every third year. If tags were $600 it would reduce the competition for a tag. No saying it is right or wrong, just wondering when you would stop buying tags?
 
Pharmer, I am more than happy to let it stand as it is for the $368 a shot and be able to draw every other year or third year. When it goes over $400 I'm out. On another note if I were a resident, I would be more than willing to take a hike on my license fee and see the NR tag allotment stay where it is. We have taken several hikes here in PA on our licenses and the only people you hear whining are guys like my dad who hit the woods one day a year for the opening day of rifle season. Most guy's like myself that spend practically their whole fall and winter in the timber are more than willing to help carry the financial burden. And when you compare the license costs to a night at the movies or a ticket to any major sporting event, well your just gettin a heck of a deal. Sorry to ramble, just my 2 cents.
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Dont know if i can put a price tag on my iowa experience the last 3 years, but i would do all i could to pay for a tag! I like the way the hunt is set up now and if tags stay as they are that is fine by me. My experince is in zone 9 and i do believe a slight increase in this area for NR tags would have little effect on the area but i dont want to head down that slippery slope even though it is getting a lot tougher to draw all of a sudden. I am curious as to how they decide on the tag allocation for given zones. The SE region gets a far higher # of tags than we do up NE and I know that there is just as much cover up here and lots of state land. Don't know that i answered the ? or not but just letting some quick random thoughts flow. I guess if I was a Iowa resident i would support the IBA as they seem to be the only group out there supporting keeping a high quality bowhunt in the state. I joined as a non-res b/c i want iowa to keep it that way.
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Hey Pharmer,
I could see a significant increase in nonresident tags not affecting the number of tags sold. I get resident tags in iowa but I would be more than willing to pay more for a nonresident tag in another state. Guys spend alot more for elk tags, why not deer? I dont see the difference. I think a price increase should be issued to residents and nonresidents. Perhaps a medium could be reached between the two. Its time residents pick up a little of the finacial burden. People come to Iowa for the quality of experience. As long as the hunting stays at a level of quality hunting, then prices should increase for us all. Inflation hits everybody and lets face it, its not the same world as we lived in 20 years ago. Theres more people and alot more hunters. If we still want to shoot big bucks, a increase in prices for licenses is mandatory. I get a kick out of guys who want big bucks but wont take a little hit in the wallet. Theres alot of things in life people could do with out if money is a issue. "Cant have your cake and eat it to"
 
I have mixed emotions on this one. On one hand, limit the non-residents like what is being done now. But the prices in my opinion will continue to rise in the future for non-resident and resident. It's sad to see a sport that was enjoyed by all as a low cost activity now is becoming so high dollar. From the permit prices to the equipment prices to land prices (leasing). For hunting season, I'm going to be shooting at a foam deer in my back yard pretty soon with a primitive stick and string.
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It would be nice to see things stay the way they are for atleast 10 years. No more price increases on permits for resident and non-resident. I think if it reaches $400, I'm definitely out of the Iowa non-resident picture for sure. Just my 2 cents.
 
Firedog,
I agree with you.Lets keep the quaility of the hunt high and try to keep the cost reasonable.I don't want my NR friends to be priced out of the market. That's why the St. of Ia and all sportsman groups need to work together and support some changes.
1. I/8 or 1/10 %sales tax for DNR
2. resident should have a fee hike (if you play you should pay)
3. Ia. had a Park user fee several years ago but people just couldn't afford $5 a year for hiking,birdwatcthing,family gathering and other recreation. Bring it back let other people pay there way.
It time to start thinking outside the box, everyone needs to pitch in and help out.
 
I am from Michigan and am a Iowa NR bowhunter. In my situation, if I don't draw an Iowa tag, I really don't have a place to hunt for the year, unless I pile onto the 80 acres I have hear in Michigan with the ten other guys who have permission. Sure there are big bucks in Michigan, yet hunting them is a crap shoot. You have many other factors in hunting in michigan than I do in Iowa. You have to hunt around other people, who majority of which couldn't hunt to save their life. All these people in the woods turn any mature deer nocturnal, and don't surface until the middle of Nov. when shotgun season opens and army of orange is so bright, it burns your eyes. Majority of the things in my life center around hunting, and to take a year or even two off is horrible. I think if it came down to it I could see myself paying upwards of $1500 for a NR tag. It's not really about tagging out, yet it is having the opportunity to go head to head with a wiley mature whitetail for a couple weeks. My other option would be to go to some guide service and pay probably double that for only 5 or 7 days and be told where to sit everyday. No thanks. I would strongly like to see the price of tags go up, for one, so my chances of drawing are better and to give more money to the Iowa Dnr to better monitor the needs of the deer herd.
 
As we well know the operating costs have gone up for the DNR and the shortage of money in the State budget is causing problems for all State agencies. The DNR is being forced to do more with less. It is time that we take charge and start paying for the upkeep.
Not just hunters but everyone involved in using the recreational facilities that the State has to offer. It is unfortunate that we cannot maintain the type of sytem that we have been use to. Times change. Something needs to be done soon by those of us who appreciate what we have. If we dont step up to the plate someone else who dosen't have a clue will make a decision for us. I have worked within the legislature and have seen it happen.
Time to start talking to your legislatures. Election time is coming soon!
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grassy makes a good point. It is by far cheaper to buy a high priced tag in a quality area and hunt "do it Yourself" style than to pay some guide a high dollar for something that most serious whitetailers would rather do themselves. I went to three states last year KS, IA, and WI and i spent way less on all three combined than if i had payed for one guided hunt somewhere.
 
As residents I think we should take up the slack on tag prices. I think that there is much more involved with who should share the costs though than just the hunters (resident or NR). Farmers and insurance companies benefit from a larger deer harvest. The local economy gets boost from huntering money. It just seems that Iowa has never been the recreation/tourist state like WI, MN, and MO have been. I'd love to see a percentage of sales tax fund the DNR. I started the thread to see how elastic the demand on NR tags would be if the price increased. I just wonder how it compares to elasticity of demand on other things when prices rise. Gas, beer, cigarettes, bread, etc. Thanks for the responses.
 
If the price gets much higher it will eliminate alot a NR hunters. As for myself I've never thought too much about how much I would be willing or able to pay. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I do know that there is a limit to how much I can afford to spend regardless of how much I love it. There are things in life that are absolutes and then there are the unfortunate things that get cut in the budget. I hope in the future I'm not forced to make a choice.

What I hate the most about the rising cost is the pinch it puts on guys wanting to bring there kids along. Headgear will soon be facing this with his son who is fast approaching the age he will be able to go with us. As it is now he goes out and watches in a stand with his Dad, which is a good way to learn but very soon, he will the shooter. I don't expect he will be buying his tag with the change in his piggy bank, so if it happens, good 'ol Dad will have to ante up. I don't see it happening for him or alot of other NR hunters in the same boat if the prices continue to rise out of sight.

I hate to see hunting turn into a rich mans game.
 
Rack on a similar note but sorta off topic. This past hunting season West Virginia started a nonresident youth license $25, wow what a deal, I got to take my daughter along, whereas before I would have had to pay the full adult nonres fee of $120 which just isn't going to happen to take her for only one or two days of hunting. I hope some of these other states soon follow suit.
 
10 years ago if someone told me I would ever pay $200 for a whitetail tag I would have laughed at them. This past year I put in for IA, KS, IL as well as my home state of WI. state. To me it's all part of paying for what I like doing the most.
I don't know how many of you hunt other states but in some terms it's cheaper. Factor in what I pay for manageing my own land, food plots, time, taxes (this along averages $15.00 per acre) and your looking at a pretty good chunk of cash just to hunt on my own property in WI. Then factor in the hours in a treestand and your paying almost nothing for doing what you love to do.
 
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