Wilderness Non Res Wyoming

Yes, you still need an outfitter if you plan on hunting in the wilderness in Wyoming. If you know a resident of wyoming, they can get a resident guide license to take 2 non residents into the wilderness.
 
Actually you are only required to have a guide in Wyoming to hunt big game. Nonres can hunt small game, birds, and predators in wilderness without a guide. You can do just about anything in Wyo wilderness as a nonres other than hunt big game.

As far as I'm concerned the law is a big joke! Obviously Wyo residents love the rule because they don't have to compete w/many nonres in wilderness. The guides love it because it forces nonres to hire them to hunt units that are almost exclusively wilderness.

A buddy of mine has been waiting all his life to draw a Wyo sheep tag and come to find out the going rate for guided nonres sheep hunters in most Wyo wilderness areas is around $8,500. If you add on the $2,266 license fee and $100/year to apply it makes it almost impossible for the average Joe to afford such a hunt.

I also grew up in Wyo and now that I moved away I can't hunt the same wilderness areas w/out a guide that I hunted when I was a greenhorn 13 year old! Holy smokes where is this world coming to!
 
Jims you're right about everything you said. Restricting non-residents to using a guide is all about money. Lets see as a non-resident i can go camping & hiking but once i pick-up my 7 Mag i can't step one foot in the wilderness without forking over a bunch of cash, that's discrimination!! Your assesment of how much we actually pay for a tag is also right on! I think sometimes we forget about how much money we actually pay for the PP's/tag over the course of a number of years applying for moose & sheep. It's getting to the point that many hunters will never have an opportunity to hunt sheep or moose in the lower 48 because they can't afford all of the tag money let alone pay for a guide. Add up how much it would cost to hunt BC or the Yukon & you might as well take out a second mortgage on your home!!

What a shame considering it's public land that all of us paid taxes for.
7 Mag
 
I would donate to the legal fund when someone files suit again to overturn it.

I don't see that a Residents concern for higher numbers of Non-res hunters is accurate. Just as many Non-res can hunt it now, they are just forcing us to hire an outfitter to do so.

I'd be ok with tag limitations to keep numbers down if thats your concern but don't force me to pay someone for a service i don't need.
 
Does anyone know if there has been any discussion on geting this changed, or is it falling on dead ears? Is wyoming the only state with this wilderness restriction?
 
Neighboring Montana has gobs of grizz infested wilderness that is just as nasty or nastier than Wyo but MT doesn't require a guide in wilderness. How many nonres die in MT wilderness each year without a guide?

Believe it or not things could be worse! Alaska requires nonres to hunt with a guide for grizz/brown bear, mtn goats, and dall sheep. Similar to Wyo, AK residents aren't complaining about this.

I guess what other states need to do is require Wyoming and Alaska residents to hire a guide to hunt bighorn, mtn goats, and other big game species outside of their states. Also require them to hire a guide to hunt any big game species inside other state's wilderness areas! What comes around...goes around!
 
Can't speak for Wyoming, but I see the reasoning for this law in AK. I lived there for several years and hunted Dall sheep in the nastiest, steepest terrain imaginable. Hunting Griz in Ak is no walk in the park either. I couldn't imagine some cheechako (greenhorn) coming from the lower 48 to hunt in AK with no clue what to expect. Mandatory guided hunts for these species in AK saves lives and $$thousands in search and rescue costs to the state. Period.
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-19-10 AT 07:33AM (MST)[p]I would have to agree that things can be spooky in Alaska; however, just because you are an Alaska resident doesn't mean you know squat about survival and how to deal with AK conditions and bears. I've spent time in Anchorage and it is a big city and there are likely a lot of city slicker Anchorage residents that could potentially be just as lost in the outdoors as nonres. I have seen some pretty funky things by AK residents in the time I've spent in Alaska!

If AK was really concerned about search and rescue costs they would require ALL hunters to pass some type of survival class before hunting. You would have a hard time convincing me why I can legally hunt caribou, moose, and sitka deer in the same country where there are loads of brown bears but I can't hunt dall sheep, mtn goats, brown bear etc without a guide? I can legally camp, hunt, and shoot a sitka deer and sling the bloody carcass over my shoulder in brown bear country but I can't hunt several species in the same country without a guide?

Right now AK nonres don't have the chance to experience hunting the species listed above unless they are willing to fork out the cash for a guided hunt. Doesn't seem fair to me....just like the Wyo guide in wilderness law there is something stinky going on!
 
Those Montana Griz. being protected is what causes alot of the problems. As with every other species managed hunting makes things work better! I too think the Wyo. wilderness guide requirement is rediculous and should be pursued in court. We have way too many stupid people in this country to protect them all from themselves. If they get in trouble and need to be rescued just slap them with the bill if they survive.
 
Jimbo, whad you do, switch back to decaff again? Four posts on one thread. Go have a couple of Red Bulls, they're on me...
 
T-BB, Thought I would post 1 more time for good measure! Can you tell I get charged up about those dad-gum guide reqs?
 
Its all BS and i wish someone would hunt it without a guide and get caught so we could all pitch in and help with his lawyer to get this changed. It is just about the most unconstitutional thing i have ever heard of (and I have been hunting wyoming for over 30 years). Who's land is it?? is it the land of our forefathers who faught for it? or is the the land of wyoming who inherited it? I support throwing this out and letting us DIY guys have at the wilderness areas. I think the guides in Wyoming are scared of us who can compete with them if you want my opinion!!
 
I'm a wyo resident and I think its stupid too. Originally from AZ by the way. Its all about money and spoonfeeding outfitters. They've tried for set aside tags as well. I'm all about a man making a living but come on. I do auto reconditioning and I don't expect that there should be a certain amount of work set aside just for me or that there be a law that says a guy can't buff his own car while I'm in town!!!

Any of you guys want to hunt the wilderness let me know, you feed me and I'll tag along with you into the wilderness.


At the base of the beautiful Wind River Range!!!
 
" Obviously Wyo residents love the rule because they don't have to compete w/many nonres in wilderness."

Yeah, similar to AZWALKER,many of us Wyoming residents think it is bogus a well. Make friends with a local as a hunting partner and hunt it.
 
I'm pretty sure it is unconstitutional for them to limit some citizens and not others. It's public land owned by all U.S. tax payers. Non-residents pay a lot of money to hunt Wyoming and therefore pay for the wildlife too. If someone had the gumption to challenge it with a suit I think they would win and it would be overturned on the basis of it being unconstitutional.
 
If you'll all recall, the Reid bill gave the states ultimate power in making laws about non-endangered and non-threatened wildlife. USO tried to say Arizona could not put a 10% cap on non-resident hunters in any given unit. It went all the way to the 9th curcuit court of appeals. Thank God USO lost. But... that law would also prevent a lawsuit from going any farther than a clerk at the county court house. Nobody is going to shell out the money on a lawsuit to change a federal law and thats what it would take to change the Reid law. Sucks but its a fact. The wilderness rule is a stupid rule none-the-less. Like what was said above, make a friend up here and do a little horse trading for out of state hunts. Whats the worst that could happen, you don't have to pay an outfitter and you make a friend??? Better time hunting with friends anyway.


At the base of the beautiful Wind River Range!!!
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-24-10 AT 07:26PM (MST)[p]I don't mind the law. Helps keep out some of the riff raff. However, if anyone wants to send me some cash, I'll make sure and lobby the legislature next year to change it. You could also call yer rep's if yer a member of SFW. They act like they have significant political clout in Wyoming. Ask them why they can't work to help the little guy and change this law. Hell, I'd even threaten to drop my membership if they didn't. Just food for thought...
 
Does anyone know the penalty for being a nonresident in the wilderness? Has anyone ever known someone who got caught?
 
Anyone from Wyoming wanna be my friend and hold my hand in the wilderness?

"The value of any trophy from the field depends not on its size but on the magnitude of the effort expended in its pursuit." ~ Aldo Leopold
 
lol... Not into holding hands bro. I know of a few guys in Lander that might!!!

At the base of the beautiful Wind River Range!!!
 
I started hunting the Bighorns in '82, and there were areas then called primative. We could still hunt them then, a few yrs latter they were redesignated wilderness areas. I quit hunting Wyoming the next yr. and haven't been back. The outfitters association owns this state legislature. I still can't figure out why a group of hunter/lawyers don't take this to the courts.!!!
 
Its all good and fine to make friends and hunting partners, but i know people like myself that like to hunt alone or with family. Also Idaho has wilderness areas that are just as bad as Wyoming. There is plenty of people get lost and die here, hunting, and snowmobiling. I would support it if it went to courts.



47e9fcb352ad748f.jpg

has anyone seen my kittie
 
THE VERY PEOPLE THAT CAUSED THIS LAW (OUTFITTERS) ARE THE ONES YOU HAVE TO PAY THE BIG $$$$$ TO TO HUNT THIS BACK COUNTRY. KIND OF SMELLS LIKE A SKUNK TO ME.....LETS OVERTURN THIS BS LAW.....YD.
 
I'll pitch in the first $100


Sit tall in the saddle, hold your head up high, keep your eyes fixed to where the trail meets the sky...
 

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