Montana MSG Results

Raising application fees and requiring up front money would definitely help. I remember several years when we were a young family that there was no money to apply.

I have drawn one moose tag in my life. Swore when I drew I wouldn't put in again since I like the OIL concept. Once 7 years was up I couldn't do it though. Right back in the pool.
 
Thankfully, I've done a lot of hunting in my life. As much as I do want to hunt the animals, I get a lot of enjoyment just from being in their presence. I am committed to drawing a certain area, regardless of odds. I do a week long summer vacation to the area and try to hike into a different drainage each year and find the animals I'm after. This way, I'm still hunting, just with a camera, and when I do draw I will know the area pretty well. My son in law and daughter both apply too, so maybe I'll get to join them on a hunt, which can be just as if not more rewarding.

Anyway, I want one more goat before I'm too old to physically do it. Somedays that time feels really close.
 
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Raising application fees and requiring up front money would definitely help. I remember several years when we were a young family that there was no money to apply.

I have drawn one moose tag in my life. Swore when I drew I wouldn't put in again since I like the OIL concept. Once 7 years was up I couldn't do it though. Right back in the pool.
I've been applying for moose for almost 40 years, except for a few when I couldn't afford the $50 fee to apply. I'm not for raising the up front fee, even if it does help my odds of finally getting a moose. Seems wrong to pick on the people who can least afford it, it's almost as despicable as awarding those who can afford an auction tag.
 
I've been applying for moose for almost 40 years, except for a few when I couldn't afford the $50 fee to apply. I'm not for raising the up front fee, even if it does help my odds of finally getting a moose. Seems wrong to pick on the people who can least afford it, it's almost as despicable as awarding those who can afford an auction tag.
What are you going to do when you draw the tag? If you can’t afford it upfront, can you afford it when you draw? I understand the sentiment but I don’t think it holds much water
 
What are you going to do when you draw the tag? If you can’t afford it upfront, can you afford it when you draw? I understand the sentiment but I don’t think it holds much water
That was my thought as well. You have to pay at some point. The years I couldn't afford to apply I couldn't afford the tag either or the cost of going on such a hunt.
 
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How much of the front loaded application fee change had to do with not needing dedicated people and time to send out refund checks? I assume having all that refund money in the bank to send back was a liability to FWP and someones full time job for a bit. Just my thoughts. I can see it being a bit different than Paddlefish where I have a $4 refund vs. what it used to be for not drawing any MSG tags.
 
How much of the front loaded application fee change had to do with not needing dedicated people and time to send out refund checks? I assume having all that refund money in the bank to send back was a liability to FWP and someones full time job for a bit. Just my thoughts. I can see it being a bit different than Paddlefish where I have a $4 refund vs. what it used to be for not drawing any MSG tags.
It's not a liability it's an asset. Ask any business owner. You don't pay bills early. You pay them when they are due because money in the bank makes money and the more you have in there for as long as you can is good practice.
 
Fronting the money doesn't hurt anyone. A tank of gas is $100. What screws a guy is the point system because you can't afford to skip a year or two. We used to have to front the money and I chose to skip sheep because there weren't any close units. It seemed expensive at 25 bucks a species. Didn't hurt me a bit. There are lots of people who are in the draw solely because they feel invested.

I vote to front the money with no refund if you don't draw for residents. When I was a kid you had to front the money and often didn't get a refund, because you got a goat tag. If you can't afford to front the money you can't afford to hunt.

The only reason I applied for LE sheep this year was because I would have had to front the money to hunt the unlimited. 2 days later I was regretting it.

You can actually “apply“ for the unlimited and defer paying until late July. It just costs you a little more because you are paying for an app fee, and then also paying for the license if you choose to get it.
 
What are you going to do when you draw the tag? If you can’t afford it upfront, can you afford it when you draw? I understand the sentiment but I don’t think it holds much water
How am I supposed to cover upfront cost for me and my four kids?

WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN!!🙄🙄
 
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It's not a liability it's an asset. Ask any business owner. You don't pay bills early. You pay them when they are due because money in the bank makes money and the more you have in there for as long as you can is good practice.
Makes sense. I am certainly no business owner. I was thinking on some other items I have ran through in the past few years with PTO. But I can see how that is actual liability vs. money to be refunded.
 
It's not a liability it's an asset. Ask any business owner. You don't pay bills early. You pay them when they are due because money in the bank makes money and the more you have in there for as long as you can is good practice.
This isn't accurate.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife actually addressed this during a discussion of why they dropped the pay up front. It was costing them a huge amount of money to administer. They are legally barred from making money on those funds, it's just in escrow.
 
This year it cost me $120 to apply for a total of ten Moose, Sheep, Goat and Bison tag’s for myself and my two sons. I would have had to come up with an additional $1500 plus pay the $100 in nonrefundable fees if we had to front the money. You can be assured that I would have been questioning my boys to determine exactly how much they wanted each particular species if each application was $162 up front.

Extrapolate that across the resident families that make up the total amount of MSGB applications and there would be a measurable decrease in apps if the money had to be fronted.

It’s my opinion that FWP wants the application fees. I think it was an FWP rule change that doesn’t require an applicant to front the tag fee rather than a law passed by the legislature.
 
It’s my opinion that FWP wants the application fees. I think it was an FWP rule change that doesn’t require an applicant to front the tag fee rather than a law passed by the legislature.
They should put pop-up ads on their website the weeks around the drawing dates would bring in some serious ad revenue especially when the drawing is a few days later than the previous 4 years. :ROFLMAO:
 
I few years ago I was reading the FWP survey statistics for a moose unit I dream of drawing. Average amount of days hunted was like three among several tag holders and no tag was filled. With the $10 put in fee that's what you get.
 
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