Wisconsin is known for blowing their non-resident fees out of proportion…
Fishing license for a resident of Wisconsin: $20
Wisconsin fishing license for non-residents: $50 – tack on an extra $10 if you want to fish trout inland, and an additional $10 if you want to fish trout in a great lake (so add $20) for a total of $70
Fishing license for a resident of Minnesota: $17
Minnesota fishing license for non-residents: $39.50 – tack on $10 total for fishing trout inland or great lake so a total of 49.50
It would only make sense then, that Minnesota is proposing for a wolf hunting license fee of $26 for residents, and they have thrown around a few numbers in the $100-$200 range for non-residents. And then of course Wisconsin will charge $500 for a non-resident license for hunting wolves…how does that make sense? Don’t they want people to shoot some wolves in their state? Everyone is going to just come to hunt wolves in Minnesota, especially since they are estimated to be so many more, 3,000 v.s. 800 estimated in Wisconsin.
If a Wisconsin resident can obtain a wolf hunting license in Minnesota for essentially the same cost as a Wisconsin resident license, they are all going to be coming to Minnesota to hunt wolves. No one from any other state will hunt in Wisconsin because the license fee is outrageous.
Madison – In a move designed to calm the worries of farmers, landowners and hunters who believe that wolves are taking a toll on the deer population, Wisconsin moved a step closer to a wolf hunting season Tuesday.
The state Senate voted 24-9 to approve legislation that would open wolves to a hunting season starting this fall. The Assembly was expected to take it up within hours in an overnight session.
The bill would lead to the first wolf hunting season since wolves were wiped off the landscape more than 50 years ago.
Wisconsin took over management of wolves on Jan. 27 after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed them from a federal list of endangered species.
As the wolf population has soared in Wisconsin, so have tensions with some property owners. Wolves have killed increasing numbers of livestock, pets and hunting dogs. In 2011 alone, wolves killed 20 dogs, mostly hunting dogs.
The proposed hunting rules are modeled after those used for bear hunting. The season would start Oct. 15 and end in February.
Wolves could be hunted with firearms, bows, crossbows and leg traps. Bait, dogs and electronic calls also would be legal. It’s unclear how many wolves could be killed, but the bill allows the Department of Natural Resources to close the season within 24 hours, if necessary.
A wolf hunting license would cost $100 for residents and $500 for non-residents. It would cost $10 to apply for a wolf license. Potential hunters would be selected in a drawing.
There are an estimated 800 wolves in Wisconsin. The state’s management goal, set in the 1990s, had been 350 outside of Indian reservations.
Read more via: Journal Sentinel
