Guys I've been reading a lot of your threads and something that I notice thats very different from Aus is "Tags" and "Cost to hunt" and "Seasons". We dont have seasons here on anything. And typical cost to hunt is a carton of beer for the property owner. Its almost all done on private property trying to reduce numbers of pest animals. Could someone explain how the whole hunting system works for you guys? Could I come in as a foreigner and hunt a deer or a turkey? If its possible what would I have to do? Not that I am planning anything yet.. but the idea has occured to me that a trip to the US and a bit of a hunt could be a really good holiday!
Depends on where you go and what you hunt. In IL, you'd need a hunting license and a habitat stamp to hunt small game and upland game birds. If you want to also hunt deer, you'll need a deer permit. (also called a 'tag'.) You'd also need a permit for turkeys. In this state, a resident can buy archery deer and fall archery turkey tags/permits 'over the counter'. For non-residents and firearms tags, there's a lottery system (long and annoying one at that) to get the permits. Others states have different permit/licenses systems. (a deer tag comes with a hunting license)
and then there are preference points, combined with years of waiting for some states/species . . . . :d
Benno, every state is different. Here in Iowa, it costs me $27 for my hunting license. This allows me to hunt small game and birds. It costs me another $27 for each deer permit(tag). I can get 1 for archery, 1 for black powder, 1 for shotgun, and 1 for late season doe only. Plus we have a bonus season on 1 holiday weekend. We just added a rifle season for the southern 3rd of the state, and they are doing in city hunts to thin the deer herds. I can get 1 fall turkey and 1 spring turkey I think. I don't hunt turkey so I'm not sure. Here is the website for our Department of Natural Resources. They control (rip us off) the licenses. As far as non-residents take everything times about 10. www.iowadnr.gov
thanks for the info and link, very interesting. So basically the animals are managed at a reasonable level by limiting the number of tags available to hunters. So does much poaching happen? - you know just forget the tags and go and try and drop a deer or whatever? And if your hunting on public land isnt it gonna be pretty crowded with heaps of guys out during the season?
Also say for most species it is mostly fall seasons. So you may only have the option to hunt from Sept - Jan in most places. You would have to decide what you would like to hunt and where and go from there. Every State is different and in some states you would have zero chance at even hunting the first year.
The laws in Georgia and Tennesse are a little less complicated then some of the other states. Georgia DNR website TWRA website
50 states. 50 different sets of rules & regulations. Not counting the myriad of rules that may pertain to the different regions within that state. For a DIY hunt you best bet would be to Pick an animal to hunt Determine the states that it lives in Investigate each states ease of obtaining a NR license/tag Investigate success rates and locations within said state that offer the bext chance Get very familiar with the laws pertaining to hunting that animal That all is a HUGE undertaking Another option would be to research guides or outfitters. It will cost more, but you can SAVE tons of work & head ache since you would be coming from such a far off land OR as sometimes happens...you befriend a person from this website and get to know each other. They offer to host you here for a hunt & then return the favor for a hunt in Austrailia.
Benno, contact Kanga. He's from Australia and can probably make it much easier for you to understand since he knows how it works both ways! He's a good guy.
Thanks a lot everyone. Im getting a bit of a handle on it now and im thinkin some local knowledge would be the go. All the different systems and regulations.. wow! On the other hand it is pretty cool that with such a large active population of hunters you guys still have good numbers of deer and other animals to hunt.
