As someone who has hunted in 42 of the 50 states, I’ve followed discussions about nonresident (NR) hunters for decades. By and large, NRs have been derided by locals as long as I can remember, especially out West. They say NRs crowd in on the best spots, notwithstanding the fact that they often hunt on the federal land belonging to all Americans. They’re accused of leasing up all the private land, making it inaccessible to local hunters without the same deep pockets. One state, Wyoming, has gone so far in discriminating against NRs that it does not allow them to hunt big game without a licensed guide in designated federal land wilderness areas “for their safety,” an interesting law when you realize anybody can camp, hike, fish, whatever, in these same areas without the same high-priced guide service.
The NR fires were stoked the past year when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down travel — and a lot of out-of-state hunting — across America and the world. All of a sudden, hunting, a slowly dying pastime for decades, became hip again, with pandemic shutdowns forcing people to try some new stuff. For some it was exploring the great outdoors, which led to many realizing that making their own meat is cool. Eric Gardner, wildlife program director with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the increase in hunting was probably due to less competition from other events, such as team sports and after-school activities. WDFW is planning to focus its outreach on the 25,000 residents who earned their hunter safety certification in 2020, reminding them of upcoming seasonal opportunities. This has also increased pressure on local hunting spots, as it has across the entire West.
Also, as this is written in spring 2021, travel to Canada remains closed, as does travel to popular international hunting destinations like Australia, New Zealand and Europe. The open southern borders crisis has many avoiding Mexico and Central America. Hunters that would normally spend their time — and money — heading out of the country are now rapidly gobbling up available domestic outfitted hunts, depressing availability and increasing prices. Hunt booking agencies are saying that their inventory for popular hunts into 2022 and beyond is filling faster than ever before. Like rising ammunition prices, it’s a simple case of supply and demand.
Do-it-yourself NR hunters are likewise out in full force. For example, in April, the Colorado Park and Wildlife Dept. said that license and tag applications for the 2021 hunting season was the highest ever recorded. Controlled hunt applications in other states are off the charts as well.
Many states limit the overall number of tags they issue for popular big-game species like elk, mule deer and pronghorn, and of course “glamour” species like bighorn sheep. Nonresident tag quotas are also in place in many states, ensuring that the bulk of hunting opportunity is reserved for residents. Competition for these available tags has never been stiffer. And make no mistake: All state game and fish departments want to sell the maximum number of hunting licenses and tags they possibly can. That’s because, unlike most state agencies, they typically receive very little revenue from tax dollars. Nearly 60 percent of their funding comes from hunting and fishing revenue, including license fees and taxes on gear sales, according to a survey by the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies. The years-long decline in hunting license sales has chipped away at their ability to pay for conservation programs.
Enter the nonresident hunter. In many popular Western hunting states, nonresidents pay more to support a state game department than resident hunters do. A lot more. For example, in 2020, in Montana residents spent $10,957,132 on hunting licenses, tags, permits and stamps, while NRs spent $28,026,136 — two and a half times as much. Idaho? Residents, about $11 million; NRs, $just over $18 million. Wyoming? Residents, $6.7 million; NRs, $19.3 million — almost three times more. The biggest disparity out West is the aforementioned Colorado, which offers more over-the-counter elk tags than any other state. There, residents spent $12.5 million; NRs $46.4 million — more than three and a half times as much. Even in Midwestern whitetail Mecca Kansas, residents spent $7.78 million , while NRs spent $18.16 million –—2.4 times more. And don’t think it’s just a Western thing. In Alabama, residents spent $5,494,889, while NRs spent $6,298,911.
In all 50 states, in 2020, resident hunters spent a total of $543,700,877, while nonresidents chipped in $358,656,021. In other words, NRs accounted for 39.7 percent of all hunting license, tags, permits and stamps sold in America. Even in 2020, the year of pandemic travel lockdowns, nonresidents spent more than residents in 12 states.
Of course, this does not take into account all the money traveling hunters pump into local economies in the form of motel rooms, food and beverage sales, airline travel, vehicle rentals, and other ancillary purchases. Overall, studies have shown that hunting in the United States generates $25 billion dollars in retail sales and more than $17 billion dollars in salaries and wages each year, while creating sales tax and state and federal income tax revenues for government and public services of all kinds — a big chunk of it generated by NRs. And then there are food banks, many of which see their larders supplemented by game met donated by NRs. A report from The Counter showed that, together with the growing locavore movement, during 2020, food bank donations dropped significantly as more and more hunters kept their harvest for their own families.
At the end of the day, hunting is big business, and so is conservation. Nonresident hunters have shown they are more than willing to pay a premium to hunt outside of their own state boundaries. Without that income, many state game departments would suffer mightily, the ill effects trickling down onto residents as well. That’s something worth remembering.
