>As a NR New Mexico has
>been ok for my family.
>I drew an Oryx tag
>15 or so years ago
>and my daughter drew a
>youth tag in 2010 that
>unfortunately she could not make
>the trip. Paying $65 for
>a license is not that
>big of a deal. The
>issue I have is with
>the allotment of outfitter welfare
>tags coming out of the
>NR quota. Really puts the
>NR DIY person in very
>slim odds.
>Bill
I agree and I would be a DIYer in NM. Basically, I'd pay $78 for a lottery ticket with 3-15% chances of winning. A small game license isn't really useful from 1800 miles away. I'm from PA, we charge everyone $11 to apply for an elk license regardless of residency. No license necessary. If you draw, as a NR it's a $250 for a tag and $102 for a license, which included a buck deer tag, fall turkey, spring turkey and small game. If you don't draw you get a bonus point.
I'd much rather pay an extra $100 for the actual tag and or license than pay another, basically non-refundable application fee of $65 on top of the $13. I'd rather pay $25 to apply even. I guess I am not sure what the point is, or what's trying to be accomplished. If it's revenue, we're not talking about millions of dollars here. It's several hundred thousand. Roughly 11,000 unsuccessful applicants x $65 is $715K. Certainly, some people will be driven away, taking their $65 and an extra $13 per species application fee. Why not raise the tag $100-$150? 1,000 successful NRs adds $100K-$150K back in. Double the application fee. Add back in another $150K or maybe a little more. So far I've only been considering elk, but I'd guess that there aren't a lot of NRs who don't apply for elk. Of course, you could raise NR deer $50 or $75 too. At the end of the day, this might generate a little more revenue total, but NM brings in over $16M in license fees per year. This might add $300K at the most.
At the end of the day, most of us have a price limit. I don't mind paying for the actual hunt. The same number of licenses is going to be sold either way, so it doesn't affect any resident hunting. It just takes some opportunity away from the little guy, which is a recurring theme in hunting for the last two decades.