Outrageous Hunting Fees

Countertop has a pretty good post on the high cost of hunting licenses.  Let’s see what he would pay as a Pennsylvania resident:

Resident State Hunting $20.00
It appears you get one turkey with your license.
Resident Bear: $16.00
Resident anterless deer: $6.00
Resident Muzzleloader $11.00
Migratory Waterfowl Conservation Stamp $3.00
Contribute $2.00 to Hunters for the Hungry $2.00
Total Fee $58.00

So if Countertop were a PA resident, he’d pay a bit less.  As a non-resident:

Non-resident Hunting:  $101.00
Non-resident Bear: $36.00
Non-resident Deer: $26.00
Non-resident Muzzleloader: $21.00
Non-resident waterfowl: $6.00
Contribute $2.00 to Hunters for the Hungry: $2.00
Total Fee: $192

Wow, that’s pretty insane.  Remember that hunting has been in decline for quite a while, and most game agencies do not receive state tax dollars to fund them.  They are entirely funded by license fees and Pittman-Robertson funds, which is a federal excise tax on guns and ammunition.

Pennsylvania also does not allow Sunday hunting.  Sunday hunting has been fought by a lot of groups, including hikers, who do not pay a blasted thing to use public lands and trails that other people pay for.

Can you imagine someone who wants to get into hunting having to navigate the legal maze that exists?   Barriers to entry for this sport are too high, and I think that is, in large part, responsible for the decline.

Hunting is an important part of the shooting sports community.  A lot of us deride the “Fudds” who would gladly throw shooters under the bus as long as they get to keep their deer rifle, but hunters are an important part of the shooting community as whole, and without them, we lose political power as a whole.

7 thoughts on “Outrageous Hunting Fees”

  1. Yep. An out of stater can really get put through the wringer. Last week I got my resident PA license, without the waterfowl stamp. THen I went and got a non-resident Super-sportsman license for NY (it includes deer, bow, muzzleloader, and firearms; small game; and fishing) I added the bear tag. Cost $280. But I can hunt on Sundays.

    It’s even worse if you want to go elk or mule deer hunting out west as a non-resident.

  2. I know S.C. gave serious thought to taking Deer off of the required-license list, in an attempt to get more people to shoot some damn deer.

    Then someone ran the numbers on Out-Of-State hunter license sales (Florida owns the South part of the state, VA and NC the northern)….

    Instead, they doubled the price of the Big Game tag.

    (Which is the logical Government thing to do)

  3. Just come down here to Jawga, where if you own land all you have to pay for is processing. Tags are free and you don’t need hunting license to hunt on one own’s land. My mother has got 500 acres near Augusta, prime mule deer and turkey. Any time you or Counter top want to go.

  4. Michael:

    Mule Deer? In GA?

    Sure you’re not talking whitetails? (I hust just over the border from you in Allendale Co. S.C., and if we’ve got mulies, that’ll be big news)

    (What I’ve always undestood to be Mule Deer Range)

  5. Michael

    Will be emailing you. I head down to Georgia often – have a home outside of Chattanooga in Northwest Georgia. Our neighbor there has 1500 acres we hunt on . . . but again even as private land I need an out of state license (we have 30 acres that my in laws own. Need a license. But I can hunt on Sunday and its a lot more reasonable.

    Augusta?? Interesting. Would love to come do some hog hunting there. Have in laws in Milidgeville and Swainsboro and my mother in law is originally from Millen (which isn’t too far from you), but I’ve never been hunting there.

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