Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

Wyoming wilderness guide rule poll

How do you feel about Wyoming’s law requiring NR hunters to have a guide in designated wilderness?

  • It is necessary to protect pilgrims from woofs and griz

    Votes: 12 4.7%
  • It’s a BS subsidy for outfitters

    Votes: 247 96.1%

  • Total voters
    257
I suppose the Wyoming Wilderness Rule is frowned upon, but not freaked out about, partly because of the amount of Wilderness in Wyoming relative to the amount of public lands.


Wyoming Wilderness Areas
dc80f2_719065e7bc71450c84cf384f2b70a0c0~mv2.webp



I could imagine if Wyoming extended it to Wilderness Study Areas people may grumble a little louder.

Wyoming WSAs
dc80f2_ce589f9b87314522b362ed0ba29adedd~mv2.webp



Just for argument's sake, imagine a scenario where, due to the prevalence of nonresident's ability to properly handle meat, and the likelihood of increased temperatures during pronghorn season, all pronghorn hunting requires a guide to reduce meat loss. No doubt tunes would change and volumes would amplify. But currently, nonresidents seems happy enough. That's just a thought experiment and I'm not saying it's likely. I just don't think it would be based on reality any more or less than the current law.

If it is just a way to create chunks of country void of non residents so be it, and they should just say so. It would make more sense.
 
I suppose the Wyoming Wilderness Rule is frowned upon, but not freaked out about, partly because of the amount of Wilderness in Wyoming relative to the amount of public lands.

The wilderness areas are pretty sizable portions of the total USFS land in the state.
1566332247267.png

Then if you take overlay the general elk areas... much/most of the BLM in 130,107,105,102,129,126... etc can't be accessed.

I couldn't find a layer, but if you add in the elk distribution in the state... you start to see NR on a general tag are shoe horned into a pretty small part of that state that is filled with roads. (compared to ID, MT, and CO)

1566332639525.png
 
Found the elk range layers published by the state.

So for a general season, in green are public lands huntable by NR that the state says are elk habitat. Red are the wilderness areas which all happen to be elk habitat... imagine that ;)
Obviously I assumed you could access all the public land, which you can't.
There are 4,264,130 acres of wilderness accesable with a general tag, and 11,506,862 acres of total public land that a NR can hunt. So approx 27% of the huntable general unit land in the state is removed by this rule.

1566334961971.png

wgfd.wyo.gov/Wildlife-in-Wyoming/Geospatial-Data/Big-Game-GIS-Data
 
Also to preempt @BuzzH from saying, ah that's bs... yes I know. There are elk outside of the areas I highlighted, the analysis is not perfect. It's a 30k view using publicly available data given by the state.

Here is your 6pt exception to the story, killed on BLM in a general unit, on public land, that does not show up in green.
1566335888762.png
 
The non-resident may as capable as the resident, but they are still a non-resident. Should not the state you live in give privilege to her residents? Should there not be a reward for living in Ak., Wy, ect., for those willing to live and work here(usually making far less than those living in east/west coast states?) I understand that the BLM, NF, ect., in Wy, or Ak, is mine just as is it is those residents living there, but I don't feel like I should be accorded the same as those living there(perhaps I lack a sense of entitlement).
 
The non-resident may as capable as the resident, but they are still a non-resident. Should not the state you live in give privilege to her residents? Should there not be a reward for living in Ak., Wy, ect., for those willing to live and work here(usually making far less than those living in east/west coast states?) I understand that the BLM, NF, ect., in Wy, or Ak, is mine just as is it is those residents living there, but I don't feel like I should be accorded the same as those living there(perhaps I lack a sense of entitlement).

should not that "privilege" be restricted to Wyoming State Lands, paid for by Wyotes? And NOT federal lands paid for by (among others) me? Why do Wyotes get to hunt MY land and I can't. I think that is the way nonresidents think of it.
 
To be clear, I think the rule is dumb, but it's worth noting that the general elk units with the most wilderness do not have the highest harvest rates. Is it possible that good hunting can be found in non-designated wilderness?
 
Very true mad Tom. But be that as it may, if you want to hunt wilderness for the sake of hunting wilderness, as a non resident you can't. At least, not by yourself.
 
What's odd to me is that this one really gets so many squealers. Even odder that non-residents never seem to whimper that in MT they are not even allowed to apply for piles of limited quota permits in units that contain lots of ..not just wilderness, but national forest, state, BLM and private. No non-residents can hunt em.. none, ziltch, guide or not. No permit for you, you can't even apply.

No, wait. I think you can apply - but you'll just get your refund because zero permits go to non-residents. :(
 
The easy answer is to make WY wilderness off limits to all NR hunters including outfitters.
That would be a protection of the interests of residents.

The “right “ of WY or any other state to restrict tags or opportunity is well established and understood legally.

The fact that outfitters use this as a de facto subsidy for profiting from a public resource at the exclusion of other NR’s who have a tag for the unit is what isn’t right. Is it legal? Sure. Is it acceptable? Not according to a vast majority.
Outfitters in the wilderness areas really don’t need legal requirements for their services to be sought out. The physical demands of a wilderness hunt ensure that most people who want to hunt those areas are going to use their services from logistical necessity.
Something I find laughable among many self branded “free market “ “conservative” people who utilize a public resource in their business model is their love of a subsidy that benefits them while complaining about “unworthy” individuals on the public teat.
 

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