Non-Resident Tags Are About to get 100 Percent More Expensive in Utah

When it comes to hunting the American west as a non-resident, you’d better have a good job and bring your checkbook with you. In a trend that has exploded over the past decade or so, most, if not all, western states have gone on a price-hike frenzy and the state of Utah is looking like the next one to follow suit.

Despite having raised prices for both residents and non-residents many times over the past five-or-so years, the state is now eyeing one of  its biggest increases yet. Sticking with the more popular option of targeting non-resident licenses, the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources, which remains 92% self-funded, has introduced a new appropriations bill entitled Senate Bill 8. The nearly 300-page proposal outlines the potential increases to all non-resident hunting and fishing licenses while stating that the current pricing for resident hunting and fishing licenses will be left alone for the time being.

The math inside the bill seems relatively simple, at least when it comes to popular big game tags.  According to the bill, basic adult hunting licenses, limited entry multi-season bull elk, limited entry buck tags, limited entry sheep tags and swan permits have all simply been doubled.

With a 100 percent increase across the board, out-of-state hunters looking to tag a nice bull may very well be on the hook for nearly $4,000 if the bill passes. Other notable non-resident tag costs include the $2,260 limited buck tag and a whopping $4,488 for a limited entry sheep tag. Compare these prices to the resident cost of $170 and $564 respectively, and you can see how this type of bill can easily pass state House and Senate committees, as it already has. Given that the costs are solely aimed at non-resident hunters, lawmakers see bills like this one as an easy way to keep their constituents happy.

These hefty hikes certainly have the effect of causing sticker shock to out-of-state hunters, but remain among the lower-end of increases in comparison with neighboring states. Earlier in the year Wyoming toyed with the idea of quadrupling fees, while many non-resident tags in Montana are 28 times more expensive than their resident tags.

With a boom in western hunting, these types of increases, although expensive, seem to be making sense for state agencies. In an effort to bolster their budgets to help with wildlife management, or decrease their reliance on their state’s general fund, we shouldn’t expect that these types of increases will stop any time soon. 

The bill is currently headed to Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk and, if signed, should signal the necessity for some strategic saving if we, as out-of-staters, want a shot at a bucket list western bull.