Why I'm against the State's license increase

Oldstick · Feb 4, 2016

KINCHAFooneeryan said:
I don't mind the fee increase. In fact, it's long overdue. My only gripe is the infant lifetime license costing 2.5x more than it currently stands ($200 to $500). I have one for one kid, but if I have another kid in the future I'm not going to be able to fork out $500 for a hobby my kid may not even enjoy. $500 is a lot of money to invest on something that you won't be able to see a return on in 15 years. Other than that I'm all for the increase.

I agree with this 100%. The huge infant lifetime increase and the 60 year old senior lifetime more than tripling in price are the two items I have the most heartburn with.

I turn 60 in October 17 and was looking forward to buying the senior licence, but if this happens, $300+ won't even make economic sense for me just to cover the 5 years until the lifetime is free (at least until they wipe that out as well).

shdw633 · Feb 4, 2016

Mechanicaldawg said:
WRD manages more than 129 public areas including 102 WMAs, 7 public dove fields, 13 state parks and 7 public fishing areas.

That encompasses more than 1.05 million acres on which they carry out a myriad of habitat enhancements such as prescribed burns, herbicidal control, timber management, create wildlife openings all to create and/or maintain a wide variety of habitat for game animals as well as endangered species. Georgians and our guests may hunt a wide range of landscapes from the mountains to our shoreline.

They carry out these tasks with 55 wildlife technicians.

There are 102 individual areas. That's 19,000 acres per technician.

Prior to the economic collapse WRD operated under a one man/ one area model. Since then the acreage has significantly increased while the budget has not.

At that time there were 3 biologists per region to develop WMA habitat plans and provide technical assistance to private landowners and hunting clubs. Cuts to biologist positions during the budget crisis has resulted to diminished capacity to provide these services.

Also, keep in mind that the WMA road system consists of 2,400 miles of primarily dirt roads which require almost constant maintenance.

If that was one long road, it would span from Charleston SC to Los Angeles, CA.

Does WRD need this increase?

You tell me. If you can be honest with yourself you must agree.

Some of you question whether or not the Georgia Legislature will actually give the money to your wildlife agency.

The answer is that they require a watchful eye but the law does require that they give every penny of your license fees, PLUS the matching Federal funds from Pittman-Robertson (Google: The Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act) and Dingell-Johnson (Google: Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act) to the wildlife agency in one form or another.

There are several groups and organizations keeping that watchful eye on the legislature such as National Wild Turkey Federation-GA Chapter, GA Trappers Association, Georgia Wildlife Federation, GHFF and more.

You can join the effort of one of those or you may do your civic duty to watch on your own, but owe it to yourself to do one or the other.

But this bill and these increases are needed in big way and we should all support them.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I didn't see anything in there about the WMA stamp increasing or the GORP license increasing. Why are you not increasing the fees for those that are actually using these places and facilities??

Farm Club · Feb 4, 2016

Im glad I bought my two granddaughters lifetime licenses last year. They just turned 2 and it looks like the lifetime license for them would have been at least a $100 more at the current increase. Now Im thinking about buying myself one before 7/1/16. Im 56 and if I get to hunt alligators at least three more times, hunt and fish some WMAs it may be worth the money until I reach age 65.

Mechanicaldawg · Feb 4, 2016

WMA stamp is included in license fee under this bill.

shdw633 · Feb 4, 2016

Mechanicaldawg said:
WMA stamp is included in license fee under this bill.

Ok...I didn't see that in the bill.

birddog52 · Feb 5, 2016

better yet buy lifetime and if y got little kids it a heck of a deal what y pay for 5 seasons on licenses will about pay for a lifetime license

PappyHoel · Feb 5, 2016

Anyone know if I can buy a lifetime license online yet? It's the only reason I haven't for the past 5 years.

280bst · Feb 5, 2016

PappyHoel said:
Anyone know if I can buy a lifetime license online yet? It's the only reason I haven't for the past 5 years.

Bought mine online 6 yrs. ago don't remember the steps. If I remember right I think their is a link on the D.N.R. page last time I was browsing thru

LTZ25 · Feb 5, 2016

I glad the state doesn't own the lakes in Ga. Or they would be charges on them to fish , plus the lakes would be mismanaged for sure .

alligood729 · Feb 6, 2016

JBowers said:
Analyzing the costs based on current license fees and those the current legislative measure proposed:

Current license cost per day of opportunity:

Fishing License: $0.02
Hunting License: $0.04
Big Game: $0.11
combo hunt/fish: $0.05
Sportsmen License: $0.15

License cost per day under currently proposed fees:

Fishing License: $0.04
Hunting License: $0.06
Big Game: $0.14
combo hunt/fish: $0.08
Sportsmen License: $0.18

Just another way to look at the annual cost; an amortization. Less than the cost of a soft drink or cup of coffee per day!

This! I'd pay if the annual license was $150. How much money do we spend on firearms, ammo, camo, gas, feed, stands, blinds, boots.....do I need to go on? And folks want to whine about a few cents a day? Budget for it if it is that much of an expense for you. I've been buying the Sportmans combo for the last say, 10 years. That's $600....I could have bought a lifetime license if I'd been a little smarter. I will probably do that now, since my age group cost has gone down from $500 to $375 for a lifetime license. People holler and whine that there isn't enough rangers, there isn't enough work done on WMAs.....hopefully this money won't be stolen away from us and it will be put to a good use. I'm all for it...

MYRX · Feb 6, 2016

Get over it! Its cheap. Most pay 10x that much drinking, playing golf and attending football games. Your hunting dues are what's increasing. Its about your priorities and passions. Same CensoredCensored as the people that complain about the cost of groceries, but they can afford lottery tickets and tobacco, lol

Fishmcc · Feb 6, 2016

Didn't realize there were this many Bernie sanders fans on the forum.

Mako22 · Feb 7, 2016

MYRX said:
Get over it! Its cheap. Most pay 10x that much drinking, playing golf and attending football games. Your hunting dues are what's increasing. Its about your priorities and passions. Same CensoredCensored as the people that complain about the cost of groceries, but they can afford lottery tickets and tobacco, lol

I don't play the lottery or drink so try that on someone else. The fact is that low income hunters like myself will feel this increase even if some of you guys are ok paying it.

Mako22 · Feb 7, 2016

alligood729 said:
How much money do we spend on firearms, ammo, camo, gas, feed, stands, blinds, boots.....do I need to go on? And folks want to whine about a few cents a day? Budget for it if it is that much of an expense for you.

I buy three boxes of bullets each season and that is all I spend on hunting stuff. Budget for it! Yes I budget for everything like my $1200+ property tax, $300+ car tax, $1000+ Federal income tax due by mid April, $500+ State income tax!!! As for accusing me of whining about it you sound like Hillary Clinton........exact same mentality, no difference!

PappyHoel · Feb 7, 2016

Fishmcc said:
Didn't realize there were this many Bernie sanders fans on the forum.

They would complain if it was free.

alligood729 · Feb 7, 2016

Woodsman69 said:
I buy three boxes of bullets each season and that is all I spend on hunting stuff. Budget for it! Yes I budget for everything like my $1200+ property tax, $300+ car tax, $1000+ Federal income tax due by mid April, $500+ State income tax!!! As for accusing me of whining about it you sound like Hillary Clinton........exact same mentality, no difference!

LOL! Hillary, that's a good one. I'm as conservative as anyone can get. I did not point a finger at you, as you are not the only one complaining. I've been buying a license for 36 years. My expenses are about the same as yours, but I have 2 girls in college, add that in the mix. Anybody can afford a few cents a day average increase. If they can't, they might need to look for another line of work...

Mako22 · Feb 7, 2016

alligood729 said:
LOL! Hillary, that's a good one. I'm as conservative as anyone can get. I did not point a finger at you, as you are not the only one complaining. I've been buying a license for 36 years. My expenses are about the same as yours, but I have 2 girls in college, add that in the mix. Anybody can afford a few cents a day average increase. If they can't, they might need to look for another line of work...

I'm the original poster so yes you did point a finger at me and your not the only one with kids in college. As for my line of work, I work for a non profit at a much lower income than my degree and previous career provided. This is my choice because I want to help people in need. BTW the guy working at the tire store has as much right to be able to afford hunting and fishing license as you do! And no not everyone can afford more for license fees. So your a conservative but yet you support increased fees (TAXES) on your fellow sportsman? Where is the conservative in that?

280bst · Feb 7, 2016

Just my opinion friends but to me this has got way off track. It's not my business or anybody else's who spends their money on what or how anybody manages their money. It's about the increase to hunting dues, and as I said it's about the trust factor of Gov't at any level to do what they say they are going to do with our money we worked for. This doesn't mean the D.N.R. I'm talking about the Gold Dome crowd. Once again all that other stuff is nobody's business just my thought facepalm:

Mechanicaldawg · Feb 7, 2016

Y'all ever notice the words conservative & conservation come from the same root?

Oldstick · Feb 7, 2016

Well, I am not a Bernie Sanders fan or anything like that.

But I can state the facts that there are some people, but probably not that many, like me that have paid for licenses their whole life just on principle. I have had fishing licenses since I was 16 and combination Hunt/fish/deer licenses since I was around 30 when I first got interested in hunting. In my entire lifetime, I can probably count on two hands the total number of deer I have taken from the population, mainly due to the relatively few opportunities I had to get out there. More fish than that, but still under the 1 percentile mark per year during my whole fishing career. I just love to be out there when I have the opportunity regardless of outcome, so I purchase the licenses every year to benefit the programs.

I am going on 59 this October, so I can assure the state they will lose revenue from me for the years 59-65 if the senior lifetime license goes up significantly from $95. I will either purchase no licenses for those years or just the bare minimums that are needed. That is a change from what I have been purchasing for the last 30 years or so.

Don't know how many are in a similar situation as me, probably not many, but as far as some folks saying "pay to play", I have been paying already for years even when I knew I was not going to not play that much. So count me out of any big increases at this point.

Why I'm against the State's license increase

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