I agree, 200-300 come home to hunt tags out of 59000(from the article) nr tags seems totally irrelevant.
Not sure why big fin chose to do away with come home to hunt tags as a major way to fix Montana draw systems.
All of this is good discussion. Helpful to see where resistance will come in simplifying any part of what currently contributes to Montana's messed up non-resident licensing system.
As to the comment above, in what I proposed, I did not just focus on the "Come Home To Hunt Tags." I focused on all the "work around" programs, which in their entirety end up being more than 200-330. And, none of the "work around" programs are a major fix by themselves, but in their entirety, these programs are a significant number of tags and are the springboard for continual legislative proposals to create new ways for NRs to get around the normal NR system (HB 505 in 2021 the most recent effort).
I presented my suggestions that if it is not palatable to get rid of those "work around" programs, that those tags get drawn first and count toward the 17,000/4,600 quota. I really don't care what method is used, the idea is to simplify (which doesn't happen by keeping all these programs in place) and get back to the number that is always used/promised, that being 17,000/4,600 NR tags are all that we issue in MT.
As for the "Come Home To Hunt" gig, that was passed by a few Legislators whose kids had moved away for big paying jobs. They wanted their kids to have an inside track to come back and hunt, at lower fees. The self-serving principle of how that was enacted is in itself frustrating. To date, nobody has been able to explain to me why the person who moves away, usually for more money, needs a shortcut to tags or needs to pay less than other NRs.
If enough folks don't want to get rid of the "work around" programs, then I'll ask for suggestions of how they propose that we get to the cap we are always told exists, 17,000/4,600? I don't really care how it is done. I'm just looking to get a handle on the "work arounds" that are now in place and other license add-ons that seem to get proposed in legislation.
There is obviously some dislike of the proposal to change/remove these "work arounds," something I think it a healthy discussion. With that, let's discuss the rationale for keeping the "work around" licenses in place. Saying "It's only 200-300" doesn't really give much rationale for why it should stay in place. So, rhetorically asking, .........
- Have these NRs done something for wildlife/habitat/hunting that they should deserve a detour around the long line of NRs?
- Have they done something that justifies why they should get a 50% discount from other non-residents?
Those two questions above were questions asked of the legislators sponsoring and supporting these "work arounds." They never answered them. It was mostly about how great it would be if their family members could get to the front of the line without having to stand in line with the rest of the NRs and how these chosen groups shouldn't have to pay full freight.
This is not an issue that I'm gonna live/die on when it comes to proposals for simplifying our process. I think it is worthwhile to have the discussion. I'm pretty sure I know how MOGA is going to vote if MOGA is presented with the options of 1) getting rid of these "work around" programs, or 2) have these tags come out of the 17,000/4,600 NR general pool.
By taking them out of the NR pool of 17,000/4,600, it makes it that much harder for the other NRs to draw. We complain about how pools of tags for outfitters are unfair and work against non-guided NRs, these programs are essentially the same - endowing a certain group of NRs that meet certain criteria with a privilege over other NRs.
I think the value of this discussion shows how hard it is to change something, NR tag work arounds in this case, once it is in place. Once passed, not only is it hard to change or eliminate, it tempts people and legislators to expand the "work arounds" to other programs and other groups. Tags, which are an allocation of wildlife resource, get handed out to anyone who can meet a certain profile.