License fees up in VA. How about you?

LV2HNT · Post by **LV2HNT** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 8:25 am

I just finished buying my licences on line and was upset to see that prices have jumped from $12.50 to $18.00 this year. I always said that their isn't a better place that my money could go but thats alot of money. No wonder hunting is decreasing in popularity. It is the most expensive sport out there besides maybe golf. All I shot last year was a turkey and four doves. I just paid 54 bucks for small game, big game, and crossbow and my dad paid a little over a 100 for all of his.

I now know why they legalized crossbows here too. So they can charge 18.00 for an archery license and another 18.00 for a crossbow. I thought they were the same thing? I was planning to use both but I am now going to have to rely on just my excal. I also had to forget about Muzzle loader, National Forest, and Migratory Waterfowl. Maybe I can get them some other time but for now, I am broke.

How much do you have to pay in other states?

ecoaster · Post by **ecoaster** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 10:35 am

We pay $35 a tag here in Ontario. A small price to pay for time in the woods.

marmot · Post by **marmot** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 10:46 am

The big deal for Marylanders this year was the introduction of the "furbearer" permit. If one did not purchase the permit this year, one would have to attend a training course in order to get it next year. This move has resulted in a lot of non-furbearer hunters like myself purchasing the permit in order to avoid having to take the course at a future date.

Even with the new permit, I still consider the cost of hunting in Maryland to be bargain compared to what my brother-in-law has to pay to hunt in Pennsylvania. I spend a lot more on gear and gas each year than the $42.50 it costs me to legally hunt in Maryland ($24.50 for the general hunting license + $12.00 for the deer bow and muzzleloader stamps + $5.00 for the furbearer permit + voluntary $1.00 donation to the Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Homeless deer processing fund).

Rich · Post by **Rich** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 10:48 am

LV2HNT,

I just did the same in VA, I paid $72 for Muzzleloader, Crossbow and the 2 required ones. Granted it may be alot of money but I can hunt deer from OCT to JAN. It isn't to much to pay when you consider you get 6 deer tags (maybe 5 this year???) of which 3 can be bucks, bear and 3 turkey tags. It'll take a lot more than $72 dollars to keep me out of the woods. I fully understand your point though especially for anyone on a tight budget or someone who only has a limited amount of time in the woods.

Rich

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 1:05 pm

Ohio gets $19. for the basic hunting license (adult).
Add $24. for each deer & turkey permit (up to 3 each).
Add $15. for fur taker permit to hunt ot trap fox, coon, etc.
Then if you want to hunt migratory waterfowl dig deeper for $15. for the state & $15. for the feds.
So you can spend $208. if you want to hunt everything.
If you want to spend more you can also get urban deer permits for $15./ea.

LV2HNT · Post by **LV2HNT** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 1:57 pm

Ecoaster, I like your system. I assume you buy one tag and if you fill it you go get another. That way you only lose 35.00 if you don't get one. I love just being outside, and shooting something is not a priority, so the monetary loss would be minimal if I didn't. I don't have a need for 6 deer plus more if I buy more tags and a bear and three turkey. I have shot more than I could eat before and I absolutely hate the feeling of knowing that a beautifull animal was lost for nothing. I usualy see about 15-20 deer a day when I go out so if I was in it for the kill my season would be over in no time. I prefer to have fun watching them while waiting for a trophy. I usualy always see atleast a few trophies but I don't always get the chance to shoot them. If the season is about to end and I havn't gotten anything yet and if my dad hasn't filled the freezer, then I will go after a doe for meat. That doesn't always work out well though because a good doe can be hard to find the last week or two of the season. I guess what I am trying to say is time in the woods is free for me. It is a shame that I have to pay so much to have the privilage to shoot something (not everything) while I am out there. That privilage was given to me by god and I hate that I have to pay the state for it. They don't own the animals. I have no problem with paying the landowner because he sort of does and if I was hunting state land than I would be happy to pay them. I also think the state should get something for their management efforts but not that much. They have allready taxed me on the tens of thousands I have spent on my hunting habit over the years and gas, food, etc. I hate poachers with a passion but I can sort of relate to them if they are poor and just trying to feed themselves and families. I will always find a way to buy my licenses because hunting is one of the most important things in the world to me but there are a lot of people out there who would love to give it a try and who I would love to see on our side but probably never will be because they don't have the money to get started. I also hate it when people like my blood thirsty friends and people who don't understand why I hunt try to tell me I am stupid because I "waste" so much money and time for nothing. I know I shouldn't let them bother me but sometimes it is hard and sometimes I wonder if they are right. I can get a lot of benefits by not hunting but just being out there and I would save a ton of money. I also realize that I take it to extremes as far as how much I spend. It is a lot cheaper to get a used gun and licenses and just go but I also know what its like to see the guy with the toys come home with the most success. Hunting should not be a sport for the rich but I fear it is becoming just that. Sorry once more for the long rant

. Excal needs to give me a 50 word limit or something. Jesse

marmot · Post by **marmot** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 2:23 pm

wabi wrote:Ohio gets $19. for the basic hunting license (adult).
Add $24. for each deer & turkey permit (up to 3 each).
Add $15. for fur taker permit to hunt ot trap fox, coon, etc.
Then if you want to hunt migratory waterfowl dig deeper for $15. for the state & $15. for the feds.
So you can spend $208. if you want to hunt everything.
If you want to spend more you can also get urban deer permits for $15./ea.

Wow! You guys make me glad that I live in a "blue" state.

crazyfarmer · Post by **crazyfarmer** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 3:47 pm

same here.. mine was 70-80 for small game, big game, crossbow, and muzzleloader...

im glad someones making money off this... I might go back to hunting my own land again which is free of charge;)

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 7:08 pm

We can buy the deer & turkey permits one at a time, though. I buy one and if I kill a deer or turkey I can buy another permit online and be hunting again the next day. A landowner can hunt on his own land without a license or permit, but if he buys a permit to hunt elsewhere he has to use the permit if he kills a deer (or turkey) on his own property.

tkstae · Post by **tkstae** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 7:52 pm

Here in Missouri it's $19.00 for our archery tag. I can take two deer & two turkey. We can buy doe tags for $7.00 a piece after that. Not sure what the cost is for gun season. I buy a small game permit with a fishing tag for $20.00 that usually does it for me unless I feel like fall turkey hunting with a shotgun.

marmot · Post by **marmot** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 9:16 pm

tkstae wrote:I buy a small game permit with a fishing tag for $20.00 that usually does it for me unless I feel like fall turkey hunting with a shotgun.

That is a neat combo license. I can harvest as many does as I want with archery gear in five Maryland counties with a $6.00 bow stamp and the $24.50 general hunting license (see http://www.dnr.state.md.us/huntersguide/regionb.asp).

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 7:03 am

One thing I don't like about the way many states do it is that you have to have so many separate licenses & tags. I'd like to see an all-encompassing license offered in addition the the present way. Buy one license & be allowed to hunt & fish for everything legal & in season. The present way I have to carry several licenses when afield. Kind of a pain (& risk of loosing something) to tag a deer in the woods on a dark rainy night. I have to dig through all the licenses to find the deer license to detach the temporary tag to fill out & put on the deer before I gut & drag it out. To be 100% legal you have to fill out the temporary tag and attach it to the deer before it is moved. Last deer I killed was on a drizzly/rainy evening and I couldn't take the trail until it was dark. She went only about 100 yards or less, but she died in a small creek. I decided 99% legal would be good enough, and dragged her out of the water before I put the tag on her.
We have another odd rule here in Ohio. If you buy a deer license from a dealer the temp tag is attached to the license. You kill a deer - you detach the temp tag & fill it out and attach it to the deer before it's moved. If you buy a deer license online you print it out and have the same basic form as bought from a dealer. If you kill a deer you have to fill out the temporary tag, but you do not detach it from the license! You fill out a separate (home made) temp tag with the same info on the original tag and attach that to the deer.

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 9:14 am

You have to fill out the permanent tag, too. You just don't attach it to the deer, but you use the home-made one instead. A landowner with no license and tag also has to make a home-made tag and attach to the deer while transporting it to a check station. Only if you have a store-bought tag do you detach it from the license and use it for transporting the deer.
All it means is that I have to fill out two tags before I can move the deer. One stays attached to my license, and one is home-made and attached to the deer.

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 9:20 am

Hey, Ya'll ...

I've been a North Carolina Lifetime License holder since 1996. Had to pony up and pay $500 all at once, but even then the math showed me that it was the only sensible way to go if I intended to hunt here for the rest of my days. And it's already payed for itself. Now I don't have to pay another cent to fish or hunt in my home state ... ever ... and that goes for the ocean too. All I have to buy is the annual Federal Wildlife Stamp, if I want to hunt waterfowl ... but from now on, North Carolina won't charge me another cent.

I know not all states have lifetime license programs, and I know that some states that do have a lot of controversy about it ... but for me, it was a huge savings, and a wise move. I urge hunters to get one if they can while they can, and to buy one for their kids who hunt if possible.

Some will say they can't afford it, but I bet the math would show that you could take out a small personal loan to get it and still come out ahead in not many years, especially in some states.

Something to think about.

Grizz

vixenmaster · Post by **vixenmaster** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 8:15 pm

Tn. small game $28 Big Game $28 Hunting Lic. $28 WMA permit $18 Bow $28 ML $28 and more if you want to hunt waterfowl and birds. Gee thats alot!