WY Rejects Pepper Spray Requirement
Contributors to this thread:Bears
From: Bowboy
23-Jul-19
Bowboy's Link
Conservation group was trying to make it mandatory in all grizzly areas.
From: Scrappy
23-Jul-19
Good, glad Wyoming stood up to ignorance.
If you ain't got enough sense to carry protection of some kind then it is best we get you out of the gene pool as quickly as we can.
From: fubar racin
23-Jul-19
That’s the problem in the world today scrappy, we’ve made it so safe natural selection doesn’t apply to humans and the stupid breed on.
From: elkmo
23-Jul-19
OK... but only if I as a NR can hunt wilderness areas w/o a guide.
From: WYOBIRDDOG
23-Jul-19
Nope still can't do that...
From: Jaquomo
23-Jul-19
WY won't stand up to the ignorance that says I can backpack and fish for weeks at a time in wilderness areas, but hunting there os so dangerous we must be protected from ourselves.
But only a few miles away in CO, the wilderness area trailheads have more NR plates than resident almost every day of the season. Somehow they survive down here...
From: Brotsky
24-Jul-19
The WY wilderness law is BS but I gotta give it to WY for looking out for their own. If a state makes a law to protect their resident outfitters and hunters and save a little piece of heaven for them then I have to respect that, even if I wholeheartedly disagree with it.
From: TrapperKayak
24-Jul-19
'Somehow they survive down here..' Lou, are there griz down there? I am not in support of the NR requirement for WY to have to be guided in wilderness areas BTW, I am just wondering about your comparison about NR's in CO vs WY during hunting season. I think people should be allowed to hunt either state's wilderness areas without a guide. We pay taxes for these lands, we should be able to use them without someone else looking out for my safety. Which just tells me, its not ABOUT safety. Its about the state supporting the guide business in Wy, with the griz element being the justification.
From: Lost Arra
24-Jul-19
The more you look into the rule the more ridiculous it is. From the W G&F site:
Wyoming statute says nonresidents must have a licensed guide or resident companion to hunt big or trophy game in federally designated wilderness areas. The resident companion will need to get a free non-commercial guide license from a Game and Fish office. The law does not prohibit nonresidents from hiking, fishing or hunting game birds, small game, or coyotes in wilderness areas. Only nonresident big and trophy game hunters must have a licensed guide or resident companion.
From: Bowfreak
24-Jul-19
Wyoming does what is best for their constituents. I don't agree with the wilderness law, but I sure do like the way Wyoming does business.
Also....if any state is able to cut through the bureaucratic grizzly crap, it will be Wyoming.
From: TrapperKayak
24-Jul-19
I can tell you this: I like the way WYO does its F&G laws better than the way NY does. And relatively speaking, NY is not that bad...
From: Mule Power
24-Jul-19
Trapper Kayak ok how about comparing to Montana then. Non residents can hunt the wilderness areas and there are grizzlies. Might as well mention the fact that there are grizzlies in non wilderness areas too. Oh and the fact that we can hike, camp, and fish in Wyoming wilderness. Just can’t hunt.
From: Rut Nut
24-Jul-19
What if you were "coyote" hunting in a Wilderness area and a bull elk just happened to charge you and you had to shoot it in self-defense?! ;-)
From: Lost Arra
24-Jul-19
I like Wyoming too. I went to college there and I make a trip or two every year for elk but I don't hunt a wilderness area. I only mention the rule because it's silly. It's ok to hunt coyotes (wounded rabbit calls?) without a griz backup (guide) but not elk??
From: Brotsky
24-Jul-19
The WY rule is silly and everyone knows EXACTLY why it is in place. It's Outfitter welfare and a gift to the resident hunters of WY to have a place to hunt without the competition of NR hunters. As NR hunters we don't like it one bit, also understandably so. If I were a WY resident or WY Outfitter I would certainly appreciate what my state was doing for me with the rule. WY is just taking care of those that live there and pay state taxes year round. If we don't like it we are certainly welcome to hunt MT or CO.
From: midwest
24-Jul-19
....or better yet, move to Wyo.
From: Brotsky
24-Jul-19
I REALLY wish that was an option for me Nick! The bags would be packed :-)
From: Lost Arra
24-Jul-19
Are all of those Wyoming outfitters actually residents?
From: Bob H in NH
24-Jul-19
There is a wilderness area right up the road from me here in WY, no grizzlies.
I can't hunt it this fall, but I've hiked in it, where I've been if you go off trail, have fun, ITS THICK.
From: Will
24-Jul-19
Interesting. TrapperKayak, I wonder if that's (required guide) is more about reducing state payments for rescue operations? I know in NH many areas I hike they have well posted trail heads stating that any search and rescue needs are going to be paid for by the victim. It's a little tool to deter people from biting off more than they can, or taking dumb risks... and it saves the taxpayers of NH some solid $$ every year I'm sure. Is that ultimately what this may be about in WY? Require the guide to, hopefully, increase safety for those unfamiliar with the challenges of legit backcountry excursions... and save the state money due to search and rescue ops being less frequent?
Suppose it could just be a way to force folks to support local businesses too (guides)?
From: Glunt@work
24-Jul-19
Laws should be for when one citizen infringes on another's rights. We need to keep the right to risk our own safety. Without that simple freedom, humanity wouldn't have gotten very far
From: Jaquomo
24-Jul-19
^^^ If SAR was a concern, they would require a guide for every wilderness activity. Interestingly, of the 310 SAR efforts in Wyoming last year, the large majority were for residents...
