Chaos in Ohio Govt. over NR fees
Whitetail Deer
Ok looks like chaos ensuing in the upper ranks over the $100.00 increase to Ohio Non Resident hunting. Ohio will be going from $149.00 to $250.00 per non resident!
Personally I have thought for a few years now that the fee for non residents should have been raised to $300.00-$350.00 and raised $10.00-$20.00 for residents.
It sure was a steal for years but I kind of agree this isn't going to meet projections of increased revenue. I think you'll be seeing a lot less Western PA guys like myself. Used to be when I tagged out in PA I would zip over the border for a couple days and hunt Ohio. I know many other guys that do the same. Not anymore with these prices and the greatly reduced quality since the mid 2000s. Ohio's loss, WV's gain.
Notably, though, PA is in a similar boat. Haven't raised license fees in years and being held hostage by politicians. Rather than gradual hikes over the years, when fees finally increase it is going to be major sticker shock for res and nonres alike.
Some people will stop coming over $100. Most will probably comment or complain but if they want to hunt OH they will. At some point in time fees have to go up and we hear the same thing every time there is an increase. It does not take long for the increases to be accepted. Just human nature.
NR fees have been absurdly low for decades. I had a running snail mail conversation with Budzik over this in the early 2000s, when IL NR tags were already over $500. By lottery. Ohio has never charged enough for NR tags compared to other states with similar herd quality. $100 more isn't enough IMO.
I don't think you can find a top deer state that regrets raising their rates. Demand has not been proven to decline in any quality deer state.
Too bad about politicians taking the reins of ODNR. Darn shame.
As elkyinzer says, this will stop me from jumping the border if I tag out in PA. It's $200 increase for me as I bring my son too. We will not do the youth hunt this year either. I'll stick in PA for bear season. With no grouse anymore and no pheasants to speak of, don't think I'll get a license.
I've always been of the opinion that we (Ohio) should charge non residents they same that an Ohio resident would be charged in their home state. I have family, including grown children that now live out of state that will be affected by the new fees but, I don't think that any will have a problem paying the extra $$.
Defintion of conflicted:
A) I believe in capitalism;
B) It's a shame what is in my opinion an over glamorization of big antlers has manifested. $500 for a whitetail is absolutely nuts. At least relative to what I've paid my whole life in all the neighboring states.
rooster: That would be neat but not likely as Rhode Non-Resident deer tags are unlimited and cost around 50 bucks. I'd love to hunt Ohio for $50 bucks:)
My Non-Resident Kansas tag is $560 this year. Everything in capitalism is supply and demand.
Trust me, the OH residents will not miss the NR. Over the past 15-20yrs hunting has exploded in OH. The over glamorization and big box stores have grown the sport to a point to an almost overpopulated situation.
The problem is they should of started raising the rate 10 years ago and did it gradually. 100 bucks in a year is a little bit of sticker shock. I had a lease in Ohio for several years. Great state to hunt but now it gets hammered pretty hard. I doubt it will matter to 5he NRS that really want to hunt there. 100 bucks is less then a month worth of coffees! Shawn
Charlie- are there actually deer in Rhode Island???!!!
I will be back to hunt buck eye bucks come fall.
It's funny that $500 for a deer tag is considered outrageous when a good bow is a grand, a good fixed blade is $45 for 3 and a name brand dozen arrows are over a $100 - that's before we even talk stands, climbing sticks and camo! IMO you are paying for the opportunity - NOT the deer! A tag doesn't buy you an animal - just a chance at one. $500 will keep some out but as I mentioned above that's the cheap part of our hobby...
Lee
SE Ohio is not near as good as it used to be. I would pay whatever they charge for a NR tag if Ohio was worth it anymore. Over harvest has been detrimental to Ohio in my limited opinion. It is nothing like it used to be. In the 90s and early 2000s Ohio was an absolute steal.
I have plans on hunting Ohio next fall. Coming all the way from Oregon. Tag fee increase isn't going to scare me away. Ill happily pay it. Anyone willing to give up info on a good public land area I would be happy to do the same if anyone is planning or wanting to do a southern Oregon blacktail public land hunt? PM me. Thanks
Hunting out of state is a luxury. I wish it were less expensive as it does keep families and friends from coming together for hunts, but it isn't changing any time soon. Game populations and quality fluctuate. The problem is that government size only goes one way. When game numbers or quality drop and supply or demand drop, the State has a really hard time going back to a smaller budget. That means a tricky balance of selling what you have for more to keep revenue up but not so high that you kill demand.
I'm all for free markets but I don't lump wildlife in the same category as a new bow. Treating wildlife like a private sector product needs to be done very carefully.
No this is off topic, but where did they get there info that Texas is the highest for nonresidents at $630?? A nonresident hunting license (up to 5 deer, 4 turkeys, unlimited hogs and exotics) is $315
Waaay overdue. NR tags should have been equal to what Illinois or Iowa has been charging for years. Cheap, otc tags in a good deer state will shortly turn it into a not so good deer state.
But wait...didn't crossbow hunting ruin Ohio's deer herd? (I'm changing my handle to Troll.) :)
Seen a couple compare Ohio to Iowa. Now that is funny, Ohio is overrun with every third hunter from every state surrounding it,,, and Iowa limits there NR, to 6500 per year.
Ohio will never be Iowa.
Vonfoust in Ohio youth tags are the same regardless of Resident or non resident! If you have paid for your youth child as regular NR instead of youth you were overcharged
I'll pay it every year. I love Ohio, but it's really about the family I hunt with. Some of the best people I've ever met. I always thought it was way too inexpensive compared to other states. What's Iowa's tag go for?
Over the years when a state raises its fees there usually is a slight drop off but usually by the second year it's right back where it was. 99% of hunters that schedule vacation around hunting season is not going to stop over 100.00
It will be an immmediate increase in revenue and continue to increase in years to come
It's going up 100.00 if you do a 10 day hunt it cost you $10.00 per day?
If you hunt 5 days it's only $20.00 per day additional.
Bowriter lol yeh crossbows have been destroying Ohio since 1976 it's decimated our herd lol.
Look at the top 10 whitetails on record and how many does Ohio hold?
For all of you that will NOT be going back to Ohio, do you mind sending me a PM with some info on where, in Ohio, to take my 13 year old to shoot his first whitetail with a bow? I vowed to NOT buy a Michigan (home State) deer license back in 2012, the public land hunting is really that bad here.
Are par with a lot of other states as far as NR prices go. Many states cost more than that.
Colorado's license fee increase was recently rejected by the legislature.
This week the CPW started announcing the loss of (former) public hunting and fishing areas where they have been outbid for the long term leases by private groups with deep pockets.
Indiana resident...have hunted whitetails multiple times in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and Kansas......IMO Ohio non resident fees have been a steal for many years. Not to mention the tags are over the counter = very easy to plan a hunt there. Never fond of price hikes...but no way an extra $100 changes my plans. Just being honest....
Addressing the comment that Ohio will never be Iowa, As far as NR hunting tags are concerned, that is correct (would love to see Ohio go to a NR lottery but will never happen) However, Ohio has been turning out some of the biggest deer in the nation every year for decades. The top 3 Non typicals go 286, 295 and 300 and were all taken in the last 20 years. Lots of big typical bucks too.
All of this from a state with lots of people and unlimited otc tags for non res hunters. I think Ohio is very comparable to Iowa as far as quality in spite of high hunter densities.
KellyHarris, he has added a few years since:) And for us it's not a 'destination' so much as it is a place to go if/after tagging out in PA. I am fortunate that I lived in OH for over 10 years and have a friend that has private land we can hunt if we want/need to after PA. Now that my son is not a junior anymore and with this increase I doubt that we will do it, WV is close too. We shall see. Many years it's not even an issue.
The increase is not issue for me. Living in Ky the property i hunt in ohio is much better hunting. I spend more hours in stand in Ohio than Ky.
$1,000 for a bow---no problem $150 in arrows and b-heads---no problem $200 for pants and jacket---no problem. $??? for a freakin cell phone---no problem But a non-resident hunting license, MY GOD!!! the sky is falling.
Another thing to add is Ohio doesn't have gun tags and archery tags. Your tag is good for 4mo.
well sh#t there goes my budget...
The topic "License Fee Increases" should have its own dedicated forum.
I dug up an old newspaper article from the '70s a couple weeks ago. The headline read: "Hunters upset about proposed fee increases".
Like death and taxes....
Lol bowriter yes lots of people buy a new bow and a new cell every two years but the sky is falling when license fee increases a $100.00
At least they did not raise tag fees
Lots of places to go other than Ohio! Pretty sure there are no deer left there anyhow, let all the non-residents go elsewhere a few years. And raise the NR fees to something more similar to other states. And limit NR tags, nothing wrong with a 2-3 year wait and preference points to hunt out of state.
If we have to wait and pay to hunt other states why not the same coming to Ohio?
Hope people didn't take my comments as complaining. The reason we would jump over every once in awhile was it was cheap enough with my son as a junior license to do it. This increase won't affect me in most years, but he is badgering me to get him to CO for an OTC hunt for elk, so that in itself is something that I have to get him gear and tags for in 2018. It's just better this year for us to put the money to other uses. That being said, if we are both tagged out in PA it's going to be tough to not run over to OH a few weekends :)
Not everyone buys a $1000 bow every year. Etc. You have to but the license every year. I paid about close to $500 for my bow.....15 years ago. Plan to use it for another 10+. Have 5-6 stands...bought one in the last ten years. Bought 2 doz arrows two years ago. Still have all 24 (aluminum).
No boat, no ATV, no camper, don't play golf, and haven't been in a bar in decades, don't even drink at home.
So yes to some it's a huge increase when you have to budget. I could afford a boat or atv but then I couldn't afford to go west every year. Nothing against Ohio. Never hunted there and can probably say never will.
Bowsite hits the mark, lol. That's just the start guys, I predict that once Ohio realizes the demand of hunters wanting in the tags will go even higher. Within 5 yrs give or take you'll be looking at 500 dollar tags for NR. Ohio has the rep of big bucks so the sites are set on the buckeye state and I feel for the resident hunters. Outfitters leasing up the land, and NR overflowing in, it's Illinois all over lol. Good luck to all you resident hunters, find you hunting spot quick, because it's only going to get tougher in the future. I know several guys who have walked away from their leases in like county due to lack of animals,trophies and they headed to Ohio.
When the governor and other officials look at raising license and tags I am 99% sure they look at how much other residual money it brings to the state as far as commerce, other taxes, lodging, etc.
It sounds like the heads that rolled were due to not following the chain of command and Kasich wasn't having any part of that.
$250 for an Ohio hunting license won't stop me from coming home to hunt. What may stop me from hunting Ohio as often is the quality of my old stomping grounds......
My last "good" ohio hunt was back in 2005. I spent 2006-2011 pretty much overseas and since I returned haven't seen near the number of P&Y quality bucks.
Last years gun season was the worse I have ever seen. Hunting what appeared to be a high potential area, I saw the same six deer twice during the entire week.
Back in the glory days, 2005 and earlier, I would always see at least one P&Y buck and about 15 different deer every day during a seven day hunt.
Maybe last year was just a bad year and I'm going again this year.
"Last years gun season...I saw the same six deer twice during the entire week."
Here in Michigan, that would have been reduced to 5 the first time, then the second time that would have been reduced to 4.
You Ohio boys should count your blessings.
This is my opinion after living here and hunting all of my life. In Ohio, we have some problems with the deer hunting: too many hunters crowding the woods, unenforced trespassing laws, over harvesting of deer, lack of voluntary restraint on small and medium bucks, a 10 to 1 doe to buck ratio, and low cost nonresident licenses.
If every hunter passed on killing the small and medium bucks for three years, the result would be tremendous. Instead, the prevalent attitude is "if I don't kill this buck, someone else will".
Ohio still has excellent hunting. I may not know about the glory but when I see a 160 plus every year I know that I will be back the next.
IMHO,
I believe the increased fee's should have been increased ($) on a state by state reciprocal fee.
More fairly administered and more money ($) for the ODNR.
