Higher Priced Non-Resident License

[Buck_Nasty]

With Kentucky becoming well known for producing trophy size deer year in and year out and with a lot of public hunting land still available, I think it is time for the state to make a move on non-resident license cost.

The reason I say this is I was just speaking with a family member in IL and it cost over $400 for a non-resident to hunt up there. Kentucky on the other hand allows a non-resident to hunt for $190 dollars.

Now mind you IL is full of monster deer, but a larger percentage of the land where I have family has been leased out to outfitters with hunts starting at $2400. I don't know how the rest of the state is, but in his part, a lot of it is leased to four large outfitters in one county.

I would like your take on why or why not you think the state should look into charging non-residents as much as other states do.

 

[Redlined]

Ky. is a steal for NR's. They can pay the $190 and hunt bow, gun, muzzleloader, crossbow, whatever for deer the whole season. Illinois tags are season specific, you want to bow hunt shell out the bucks, you want to give gun season a go, shell out some more, and so on. Ky is absolutely letting NR's have a field day, for very little money. You've just opened Pandora's box by the way........

 

[Docknboatlift]

I like to have friends come hunt with me. $190 is painful enough for the crowd I run with.

 

[Buck_Nasty]

I like to have friends come hunt with me. $190 is painful enough for the crowd I run with.

Yeah, and I've got family in IL, IN and OH that I would like to go hunt with to.
Like has been stated, NR's are having a field day in the State of Kentucky.

Why should residents of Kentucky have to pay out the ying yang to hunt other states when people from out of state can come in here and hunt for half price.

Personally, and again this is just my opinion...I think the state should look at what they are charging for NR's compared to bordering states...

 

[kingtutt]

I agree that it is time to raise the rates. I hunt in Illinois too and am heading to Wyoming next week. Neither state is cheap for nr hunters. I believe that a few states have a reciprocal agreement with neighboring states to charge their residents the same price as they are charged to hunt in that state. In other words, if you live in KY and buy a nr hunting license in OH, then an Ohio resident would have to pay that same price to hunt here in KY. That way it's equally painful. Either way, KY is a steal for nr hunters. No draw, over the counter and extremely cheap compared to other states imo.

 

[Tom Threetoes]

It would be nice if license fees were reciprical(sp). Our DNR lost thier *** on the lifetime licenses and they're trying to make up the difference with higher fees for non residents and residents alike.

 

[Mr.Bro]

I've been buying nr lisense for many years and will continue until i die.I agree ky is behind many other quality "deer states" in price of nr lisense.An increase is in order.But if they go crazy like Ill.and others they will end up losing revenue.Ill has the problem now of nr simply not buying the outragous nr fee.They simply kill there bucks and check them in back home.How many times have you been checked in the field by gw?I have never in 20 years of hunting KY.Lisense sells will drop and that means loss of federal funds that are figured on number of lisenses sold.When Ky starts losing money who do you think they are going after next?Thats right the residents.Think about it!

Good luck and happy hunting.

 

[wardenofgame]

KY is behind on NR license compared to other quality states as mentioned. But at what price do you raise it without losing sales. AL. which I do not consider a quality hunting state for big deer raised the price for NR license a couple of years ago to $275.00. They quickly found out that they raised it to much and have lost a lot of NR hunters, which actually make up a larger percentage of the total money we get. We are at the point now where when we have officers retire we are cutting those slots out of the budget and are hoping that layoffs will not come in the near future. Which is very possible. So again its a fine line of knowing how much u can raise the price without losing the hunters. I know if KY increased the NR license to what it is in Illinois I would just go to Illinois to hunt along with alot of NR's. Alot of people would probably think that having less NR hunters is a good thing, but if KY is like most other states then most of their revenue comes from NR's. So to offset the loss of NR license sales they would have to increase the cost of the resident license.

 

[SmokeyBear]

Just a copy and paste post from an opinion I posted on this matter in another thread:

"This stuff really ruffles my feathers. I think it is bullcrap that it costs a KY resident that much to hunt in their state, but a resident from there can come to KY and hunt for a fraction of that cost!!! I think non-resident costs should be a reciprocal type deal, that is to say whatever it would cost a KY resident to hunt another state, that is what KY should charge a resident of that state to hunt here. I think that is about as fair as you can get in my opinion."

 

[Algenco]

seems like they were reciprocal 20-30 yrs ago, what happened?

 

[Redlined]

What gets my goat is the fact that for $190, they get to hunt all seasons. You're not going to get to do that in Illinois or most of the other surrounding states. Why not lower the cost per NR tag per weapon, or raise it substantially to cover all deer seasons. Example: bow- $150, gun- $250(When most NR hunt) blackpowder-$150, crossbow-$150; or buy one tag for all weapons for $300. Same seasons and tag limits as now.

As far as the loss of revenue for raising tags, sorry I'm not buying it. If these guys that show up and buy or lease oodles of land have the money for that, they'll still cough up the $$$ to hunt. At $300 and the ability to hunt all seasons, it would still be a steal compared to other top B&C states......

 

[kyquackin]

I agree with the Warden, this is something the state has to be careful with. There is a fine line on what the price should be. I Have met quite a few people who use to hunt Illinois but now comes to Kentucky. This is a really hard subject to say what should actually be done without seeing the books and stuff. Cause we all know the state has to have money to keep this sport going.

 

[Luckybuck]

With Kentucky becoming well known for producing trophy size deer year in and year out and with a lot of public hunting land still available, I think it is time for the state to make a move on non-resident license cost.

The reason I say this is I was just speaking with a family member in IL and it cost over $400 for a non-resident to hunt up there. Kentucky on the other hand allows a non-resident to hunt for $190 dollars.

Now mind you IL is full of monster deer, but a larger percentage of the land where I have family has been leased out to outfitters with hunts starting at $2400. I don't know how the rest of the state is, but in his part, a lot of it is leased to four large outfitters in one county.

I would like your take on why or why not you think the state should look into charging non-residents as much as other states do.

One reason could be that other states will charge KY residents based on the amount they charge OOS hunters. There are several southern states like that and it could be one reason. Personally $200 to deer hunt is steep no matter where you hunt in this country. That is $100 per deer, and I have never seen deer meat that was worth that kind of price...now antlers are another argument.

 

[Redlined]

One reason could be that other states will charge KY residents based on the amount they charge OOS hunters. There are several southern states like that and it could be one reason. Personally $200 to deer hunt is steep no matter where you hunt in this country. That is $100 per deer, and I have never seen deer meat that was worth that kind of price...now antlers are another argument.

I think it's safe to say that the NR's piling in here from the southern states aren't here to shoot does and spikes........

 

[Luckybuck]

I think it's safe to say that the NR's piling in here from the southern states aren't here to shoot does and spikes........

You be right! Now why is it farm owners who live out of state have to pay a full non-res price for hunting? Taxes are still paid by landowners every year...