Test - Hunting License Fee Increase

[SB]

Does anybody know when our current license prices were set? How long has it been since the cost of a Sportsman license was increased to its current price?

[cwink]

It has been $32.00 since I moved here in 1996.

[tombstone]

It is the one thing in the state that is reasonable.

Honestly, it is low and I would pay more. That will be the next question.

[booger]

I'm going to guesstimate that the last significant fee increase was for the 2005 season?

2004 $43.50
2005 $60.00
2009 $62.50
2014 $63.87

OOPS Nevermind.........

Well.........now that I try to break it down, it was probably way before that. Some of those increases were for the WMA permit and electronic state duck stamp that I always purchase. Others were created when renewal by mail began to include the various fees that had previously only occurred at an agent and/or when buying online. Now you must pay them no matter how you renew. But I digress.............

I guess the basic sportsmen has been $32.00 for a looong time. (I always view the sportsmen as having the WMA and duck stamp)

[donia]

[booger]

[GrizwalD]

WOAH!!! yall calm down saying yall would pay more.... its the one thing we can enjoy and not get booty raped on this day in time

[ScottBrown]

My question is what does the state plan to do with the funds if they go up on the cost of a license? Are they going to spend millions to acquire a new piece of land and make the public pay hundreds of dollars to hunt it if they get drawn, or are they going to use it wisely to keep the wma's we currently have managed and open to the public?

[CBrown]

I have said this before but to me this is a good analogy. I hate golf, mostly because I am not very good at playing it, but this is the example I most often use.

I played one time at Patrick Farms in Brandon and the green fee was around $60, I think. That is 60 bucks for one afternoon of fun (fun depending on who you ask). Also I took my family to the MS State Fair on a Sunday afternoon this year and blew threw a hundred dollar bill like it was nothing. Yet most don't want an license increase that allows them to enjoy the outdoors for 12 months.

I agree the money from an increase should be used wisely and not squandered but we definitely need an increase. The money needs to go towards more LEO and better pay for the ones that we currently have.

[deltadukman]

My gripe is the public lands one must be "drawn" to access that were already "public" lands to begin with . I am for increasing the fees if access is increased for in state hunters and limited a little more for out of state hunters. I dont like in state and out of state hunters having the exact same access or privilege. Other states work this way, why cant we? I am not for increasing license fees to build pay parks and duck ponds one must then pay an additional fee to access and be told to hunt x square on y days.

Is there any way to see the actual numbers from the department and what is brought in and where it is spent? Honest question, is this readily available or only through a public records request? Like if we wanted to see how much money is generated from say the Alligator program and how much was generated from fines from people not purchasing the $25 "helper permit" to run a spotlight or motor when the licensed hunter has been drawn and paid an additional fee to get to actual hunt or total generated from all permits and tags?

[kb7722]

[deltadukman]

Who do we need to petition to make the wildlife commission to become an elected position instead of an appointed position? Until we get some people in that have the best interest of public hunting and the sport itself as its main goal, and not revenue and attracting people to increase hunter man hours, then we will never proceed like the true sportsmen of the state would like to see it. We need common sense people like on this board on the commission, rather than the Billy DeViney's who are big proponents of high fence operations and could give a rats axe what is going on on the WMA's.

[rbsdrake]

[CBrown]

^^^^Exactly^^^^^^^^^^

[Deltaquack]

I paid for lifetime about 20 years ago......haven't had to pay it since.