Maryland’s DNR is proposing an increase in deer hunting license fees and of course, hunters are not too happy about it. The increase comes, poorly timed, on the tail end of a bevy of other tax and fee increases. While some of the increases seem extraneous, it’s clear the DNR could use the money.
This from the Baltimore Sun:
“Verbal shots are being fired in the direction of the Department of Natural Resources and the lawmakers who soon are expected to vote on the first increase in hunting license fees in more than two decades. The proposal has put the DNR in the political cross hairs of its largest — albeit shrinking — constituency…{C}
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While the new regular consolidated license would include several stamps that in the past were added on for bowhunting and muzzleloading privileges, the thought of paying as much as $95 has some hunters up in arms.
Lou Compton, president of the Maryland Bowhunters Society, agrees that the DNR should raise its hunting license fee for the first time since 1989, but the amount being asked and the manner in which it has been done angers Compton and some of his members. Since 1989, hunters have paid a basic $24.50 fee and $6 for each stamp needed…”_
Hunting license fees are a tricky subject. Most hunters have no problem chipping in and helping the state fund wildlife conservation. But when licenses and tags get too expensive, some hunters will drop out, hunt in other states or worst of all, turn to poaching. And in a poor economy when state governments across the country are floundering, it’s not unreasonable for hunters to push back against an increase in license fees and wonder “just where is all that money going?”
What’s your take? How much is a deer license worth?