[atrkyhntr]

Resident Fishing
19.00
Senior Resident
10.00
Nonresident Fishing
40.00 <--WOW
3 day Nonresident Fishing
30.00 <--WOW
Resident Hunting
19.00
Senior Resident Hunting
10.00
Nonresident Hunting
125.00 <--WOW
3 day Nonresident Smallgame Hunting
40.00 <--WOW
Deer & Turkey Permits
24.00
Trapping
15.00
Youth Trapping
8.00
Wetlands Stamp
15.00
Bait Dealer from 25.00 to 40.00
Fish Transport Fee from 50.00 to 65.00
Commercial Fishing Fee Quota from 2 cents a pound to 5 cents
Commercial Fishing Fee Other from 1 cents a pound to 2 cents
Wholesale Fish Permit from 50.00 to 65.00

These increases will go into the Wildlife Fund not state coffers as stated before. Today the fund sits at 26 million Dollars. ODOW budget will remain at 46 million for 2003-04-05.

I see that nonresidents will be paying much more then before... 16.00 more to fish the whole year, 15.00 more to fish for 3 days, 34.00 more to hunt the year and 15.00 more to hunt 3 days smallgame.... Man I know I pushed for the nonresidents fees even though I know it will hurt my guide service with many clients coming from other states...... I simply think it is only fair with the prices we pay when we hunt another state... Still I am a little grief striken fro our nonresidents friends

 

[Nut]

I have very mixed feelings about the proposed increases. It hurts my wallet alot with paying for 3 adult licenses and 2 youth. Plus all the deer and turkey tags. I will put out over $400 in license fees this year alone just for My family and I to hunt and fish in my own state. Then I was hoping for a couple of non resident friends to come and hunt with me here and this increase might scare em away. I think it will go through though.

Sorry I didnt vote Clyde. But I cant do it yet.

 

[george tinkham]

they had a big article about it in the columbus dispatch in the sports outdooe section.its been 10yrs. since an increase.i hate to see things go up but look how much hunting and fishing gear has went up.thats life i guess.i'm proud to be the the major supporter of conversation.

 

[Aimrite]

NO WAY

Your fees are not going back into the ODNR/ODOW now,
Just more cash for the ohio general assembly o spend on whatever they want.

 

[atrkyhntr]

Here is the word I got about all this fee BS that is going around...
The Ohio General Fund will not be funding the free hunting license for seniors anymore
(they never coveed the whole amount anyway at around 5 million)
which means they won't be giving the ODOW 1 millions dollars each year starting in 2004 thus they are willing to allow the increases mentioned which will more then make up the diff in funds available... Our new ODOW Cheif, Steve Gray, expects less license sales in 2004 but the increases should make up any short comings...
Lets all hope so!!!
Can anyone show us any diff from the above???
I'd really like to know the truth on this issue

 

[george tinkham]

that is the truth,it was in the columbus dispatch today and has been big news for over a week.senior lic. will be 10$ now.unless you were born before jan. i 1938.those that have recieved free lic. in the past will cont. i believe is what it said on senior citizens.

 

[Ðe§perado™]

I understand they haven't raised fees foir about ten years, but why jump up that far in one year. Maybe raise them a few dollars a year for the next 3 years. It will ease everyone in to the higher prices and not scare non-residents or even residents to that matter.

I voted, too much... it seems like to much at one time.

 

[george tinkham]

i still think its cheap,look what it costs to go to a nascar race.or elk hunting in colo.thats just a few days compared to a yr.it cost us nearly iooo$ or more on a nascar race for 4 days at pocono.

 

[flathunter]

It does not bother me one bit, I consider it a small price for all I get back.....I would like to see the non resident fees go even higher

 

[Nut]

Well I figured it all out and it would amount to a $78 increase for me this year if it goes through. Seems like everything goes up but my wages. I will still buy the licenses and fees happily though.

 

[Pike]

I dont mind paying the extra $34.00 for non res. at all, especially if the extra money goes into the Wild Life Fund.
Doesnt all revenue generated from hunting and fishing Lic sales currently go into the Wild Life Fund in OH? Pike

 

[Troph-E-Hunter]

I don't mind paying, but I would like to have my money go for outdoor related expenses. This increase does should not be used at all for Ohio politians and their spending habits outside the ODNR.

My nonresident friends are going to be disappointed, however, this may deter some "unethical" hunters in returning to the field.

 

[george tinkham]

lots of unethical hunters don't buy license in the first place.

 

[CritterGitter]

I am ok with this increase as it seems to bring us closer to what a lot of others states are charging. I would like to make 3 points though. 1. Other states offer conservation packages that discounts the license fees and tag fees if multiple are bought together. For example, they could provide an Ohio conservation permit that includes, fishing lic, hunt lic, 1 turkey tag and 1 deer tag that would only cost $75.00. That would at least offer a discount of $11.00. 2. No raise in fees in the last 10 years? Hmmmmm, thought they raised it from 12.00 to 15.00 to cover the cost of those new electronic license machines. If my memory serves me that was less than 10 years ago, and an increase is an increase even if it didn't boost their overall budget. 3. Bait dealer fee goes up additional 15.00 and I bet I will be paying about $3.00 for a dozen of minnows to crappie fish this spring. <sigh> Good thing I can usually get them on the little tube jigs!

 

[bob oh]

The worst part is the Department of Natural Resourses is not going to get the money from increased fees. The fees are not being increased to help improve or maintain our hunting and fishing they are being increased to fund the budget shortfalls. So, outdoorsmen and women are being asked to pay more than their fair share to help with Ohio's tax burden. I wouldn't mind the increases at all but I would like the fees used to fund improvements in Ohio's hunting and fishing, afterall that is what I am paying licenses for -- hunting and fishing. When is the last time you paid a fee to hike in an Ohio park or swim in an Ohio lake or off an Ohio Lake Erie beach -- you never have. But try fishing or hunting on Ohio land or water without paying (license fees) and see what happens.

 

[Buckeye]

Bob I'm not sure if you saw my post on the WC board regarding usage of funds from license and permit fees so I'll copy and paste it here.

I was pretty sure there was lots of misinformation posted about where the money goes from license fees but I wanted to be sure before I posted what I thought was the case. I spoke with a good friend who is a lifetime employee of the ODNR works out of the headquarters in Columbus about the license funds and he emailed me the following reply:


"You aren't the only one asking questions about the proposed license fee increases going to the General Revenue Fund (GRF). Since these fee increases have been listed with all the other tax increases, a lot of people are wondering if it's part of the Governor's plan to balance the budget. Rest assured it is NOT to be diverted to the GRF. The procedure for proposing hunting and fishing license fees goes something like this:

The Chief proposes any increase to the Wildlife Council for approval. Once approved by them, the proposal goes through the Director of Natural Resources to the Governor then added to his budget package. The state legislature then has the option of approving or disapproving the increase as a line item. It is at this time that the increase needs to be watchdoged. Even though the ORC (Ohio Revised Code) states that hunting and fishing license fees are to be used only for wildlife projects, research, and personnel, all it takes is for a bill (from some greedy legislator) to be introduced to divert the funds. That's why people like Latta, Wachtmann, Doug White, and the U.S. Sportsman's Alliance need to keep an eye out.

Currently NO money from the Wildlife Fund goes or has gone to the GRF. I think that the DOW now wishes it had made it's pitch for license fee increase two years ago. Now we may have a fight on our hands. There hasn't been a license fee increase since 1991 and we have cut our personnel from as many as 496 employees in 1993 to it's current low of 430."


I hope this clears up some question marks on the issue.

 

[marcbodi]

Hi,
When I go to Michigan to fish it cost me over 40$ for a Licence and trout stamp.A guy coming from mich. here will be 40$ and he can fish for anything.However I think A non resident 3 day of 30$ is to high.I am all for the increase if they let the Seniors fish for free.Most of the Seniors are ww2 vets and we owe them and the other vets when they are Seniors.I am not a vet or a Senior.Thank you Vets for the Freedom to live the way and fish the way I do.

 

[bob oh]

I understand what you're saying Buckeye and I am sure you are right except the Dept. of Nat. resources operates under a budget. I wonder where the excess goes if they have more than the budget?? I was thinking they cut the dept.s budget, but I'll check and see if I am wrong. Has happened before. I have absolutely no problem with hike in fees, it is still a bargain. I hope we don't go too crazy on the out of state -- it will cut my charter business But then it will also cut into tourist trade which is multi-million bus. and probably lower sales tax receipts will again help Taft huh Isn't it also true that those fees go to the whole department which oversees a lot more than fishing and hunting??

bob

 

[Buckeye]

License fees

Bob the way I understand the hunting and fishing license sales are used to match Federal Funds (Pittman Robertson and Dingle Johnson) in order to bring even more money into the state. These funds are used by Fish and Wildlife personnel and projects that benefit sportsmen and women!! The more money generated from licenses, the more that is brought into Ohio. I was reassured by a state level DOW administrator of wildlife management (he was the emailer in my previous post) and also some district DOW personnel that no funds from license sales have ever gone into the general fund. That doesn't mean we don't have to keep an eye on those funds though. As stated before, any greedy legislator can try to introduce a bill to "steal" them from us.

I am involved with Pheasants Forever at the state level as an officer and we have been brought up to speed with this proposal. I think as a conservation group that works with ODOW on most of our habitat projects across the state we need to support these license increases. Believe me, the last thing I want to do is pay more for myself, my wife, and all 3 kids to be able to hunt and fish, but it has been a bargain for a long time and I really believe it will still be if these hikes are implemented.

I also agree that dinging the out of staters will hurt guides and charter operators somewhat but if you compare Ohio's non-resident fees with other states, these fee hikes may get us more in line with neighboring states. When I go to fish in the early spring and my truck is one of the few at the ramp with an Ohio tag on it, I have to think that the extra $$ those out of staters will have to lay out for their license will be rather minor in comparison to the other expenses of their trip. Besides......show me another place they can catch the grade and numbers of 'eyes
that are in Ohio waters of Lake Erie.

 

[Nut]

Well if the proposal goes through. It will cost me $34 each for my two youngest boys to hunt 1 deer as a resident in their own state. When I take them to Kentucky it will cost me $23.75 each for them to hunt there for 1 deer. Yes it will cost me $140 to hunt for 2 deer there compared to $67 here. But that is not say that my friends there will take them hunting and I just film them.

Funny ain't it