my email to Oregon

[Christian]

This is the email I sent to ODFW. I'll let you know if I get any replies.

It won't do much, but as a busines owner myself, I'd want to know why I'm losing a customer.

"To whom it may concern,

My name is Robby Denning. I'm from Idaho Falls, Idaho.
I'm 40 years old.

I'm writing to you because I'm very concerned with how you're treating non-resident big game hunters.

I have paid the license fee to apply in Oregon the last 5 out of 6 years, earning 5 preference points in that time.

I like to hunt mule deer and considered Oregon worth applying for.

Now that you've nearly doubled the license fee and continue with only a 5% non-resident allocation, I'm seriously considering giving up on Oregon.

There is a much better dollar value for non-residents in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, and Nevada. I think I'll spend my Oregon license dollars in those states.

What might keep me in the Oregon game is if you either offered up to 10% of tags to non-residents (most states do), lowered the amount of tags outfitters can reserve (I can only afford to go self-guided) and did something to turn around your buck numbers.

I see that you've changed some OTC archery units to limited draw and that to me is a step in the right direction, but rifle hunters typically determine buck numbers in a unit, not archery hunters.

I love to hunt and place a high value on it, but you're exceeding that value now.

Good luck funding your department on only resident fees.

I represent many non-resident hunters I know.

Please forward this email to the proper personnel if you're not the correct person.

Thanks for your time"

 

[HKShooter]

It can't hurt. There are a ton guys in your boat.

HK

 

[Christian]

I got a quick response:

"We recognize that there will be some resistance to higher fees and that some individuals may decide not to purchase a license this year. However, the fee increase was necessary to continue to provide quality fishing and hunting opportunities and to manage and protect Oregon?s fish and wildlife. If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to give me a call. Thank you.

Sincerely,

xxxx xxxxxxx

Deputy Administrator, Information and Education Division"


The Christian

 

[440sixpack]

That's a riot, quality? what is it they're calling quality? I'd shoot him back a letter asking him to define what it is they're calling quality and where you can find it.

I don't blame you, Oregon is a hose job to the resident and there's no excuse for the way the non res gets it. if Oregon was the only state I hunted in I'd just take up another hobby.

 

[Christian]

If I get enough replies on here, I'll just send them the link to the thread,

so...

keep it clean, professional, and just the facts

The Christian

 

[Christian]

My response to Oregon's reply:

"Dear XX XXXXXXXX

Thanks for your response.

I tried to phone you, too, but email is fine.

Reading your response letter, you seem to have missed my point.

I'm not complaining that you're raising the license fee.

My issue is that Oregon isn't offering much value for a nearly 100% increase in license fees. Your value when compared to other western states is plummeting.

I, and many sportsmen and women, understand that costs go up and willingly pay them when the cost-for-opportunity is justified.

The problem is that Oregon non-resident opportunity is so poor, yet you're now charging what other states like Nevada and Arizona are charging, but their opportunity is good for many units.

It's not the fee increase that is the main problem; it's that there is no value to support the increase.

A 5% non-resident cap which is really just 2.5% for most of us not able to access an outfitter is of little value, especially considering the state of your mule deer herds.

thanks for your time,

Robby Denning"

The Christian

 

[elkliver]

The other thing i don't think they gt (or rather they do and it psart of their scheme) is that you have to buy the license to even apply. And you don't get it back if not successfull. Since this fee doubled, its a significant factor. Would makemore sense if they did something like Colorado and charged $25.00 to keep your preference point.

 

[whtelk]

I understand your frustration but if only 50% of the non residents apply then ODFW will still make as much or more than last year. This year I think that their revenue will be much higher due to the fact that many non residents will dump their points and go elsewhere NEXT year. True our mule deer population is frightening and if I wasn't a resident I too would hunt in another state.

 

[elkslam]

I a resident and I question every year about putting in or not. When I saw the response and it said quality I about fell out of my chair laughing. F&g is going to go broke if they keep managing big game like they are now. I hope every non res does not apply and maybe oregon will get the hint. Quality LOL LOL

 

[wadsworth]

From my experience hunting birds & spring bears and building points in OR as a NR, it appears to me that they really do not place much focus on either big game trophy hunting opportunities or using NR dollars to fill the coffers. They seem to focus on getting as many permits to residents as possible while still maintaining what they consider to be healthy herds. If they cared more about NR dollars, why give only 1.5% of pronghorn tags and 2.5% of deer & elk tags to NRs with only a handful of quality hunts available? These animals (for the most part) live on federal public lands that we all own & pay taxes on, but the states "own" the wildlife in their state, so they can do what they want.

If there is anybody out there who knows an ODFW employee or has better experience with the departments philosophy with regard to big game managment/NR tags, etc, it would be good to get a first hand perspective. I am just going off of anecdotal info, here for the most part.

I am glad we are sounding off and hope OR will change some things but unless there is a new person in the "corner office" who will take ODFW in a different direction it probably wont do much good IMO. Maybe a funding crisis could bring about big changes but that would probably not happen unless both residents and NRs stop buying licenses to a degree.

 

[khensley]

For every one of us that feels we need more NR dollars in the mix, there's 10 other Oregon residents that absolutely freak out when they see a CA license plate in the woods. Over the years, I've seen & heard about flattened tires, drained gas tanks, etc., etc.

A good educational push by ODFW would help, but, well, we know how that would work (NOT!).

 

[NickW]

......glad my plates are Idaho!!!
Huntin in Idaho, about 15 years ago, we had to go to town to file a complaint with the sheriff about locals, (Idaho plates) shooting up our camp!.......
Oh shet! I had Kalif. plates on then!

Azzholes are Azzholes. Their location is not confined to one locale!

 

[HKShooter]

Funny Nick. I drove to a canyon and started hiking about 2 hours before sunrise. Had it all to myself. Got back to the truck a few days later. I had an Idahoan carve in my tailgate to "go hunt your own state ahole". Funny I thought, my plates say Oregon, my birth certificate says Idaho. Sorry didn't mean to highjack thread...

HK

 

[NickW]

HK,
Using my powers of casual observation over these many years, I've concluded that idiots are allowed to breed in each and every state!!!

 

[MortgageHunter]

It's pretty clear they don't care about us non-residents since they allocate so few tags. I have 12 elk and 10 deer/antelope points and will burn them within the next couple of years and then have no plans to every apply again after that. They manage for the masses and frankly we are all better served to drop Oregon and then see how they react when they lose the money needed to run there operation. I suspect they will lose a lot of hunters resident and non with the changes they implemented this year. Oh well glad I started applying a long time ago otherwise I'd bail now. Hoping for a little luck this year!

 

[KILLERBEE]

AS AN OREGON RESIDENT, AND A NON-RESIDENT IN EVERY OTHER STATE , i agree with all you non-residents. oregon screws rhe non-residents, and thats not right.

 

[Christian]

Thanks KillerBee.

Instead of faxing in my application & payment this year, I plan to print off this post and fax it along with my goodbye to Oregon.

The Christian

 

[unclewalty]

I AGREE IF MORE OF US EXPOINTS CHASERS DID THAT MAYBE THEY WOULD GET THE POINT! YA RIGHT. BUT I WILL DO THE SAME GOOD SUGGESTION

 

[MarchMadness]

The only other problem is by the time they change the amount of tags non-residents are allowed, there won't be any deer or elk left to hunt. But they really need to do something!

 

[AIROHUNTER]

The fee icrease killed idaho last year you would think oregon would have been able to see that. But to further an earlier response i would like to see out of state hunters treated with more respect. They pay alot of money to hunt in any state and you truly never know, they could have been hunting in your state longer than you, people move and things sometimes change, they may have been hunting there longer than you, now they have a different plate. let's cut em some slack.

 

[Christian]

I'm reviving this post one more time before Oregon's application period ends.

My intent is to print off this post and fax it in with my good bye letter instead of my application as I'm dropping out of Oregon. Anyone else want Oregon to hear from you? All viewpoints welcome, just keep it clean


The Christian

 

[deaddeer]

>I'm reviving this post one more
>time before Oregon's application period
>ends.
>
>My intent is to print off
>this post and fax it
>in with my good bye
>letter instead of my application
>as I'm dropping out of
>Oregon. Anyone else want
>Oregon to hear from you?
> All viewpoints welcome, just
>keep it clean
>
>
>The Christian

 

[deaddeer]

Im new to this website . There is about 5-6 of us that try to hunt around Unity area every year ,But now we are going to Montana due to the over priced fees.The big thing that the DFG does not take into account is the money that all the small towns get from all the out of state hunters. We spend 3-500 each in the state during our hunt