A $3,710 Elk Tag? Utah Set to Double Hunting Fees for Nonresidents

In the last few years many states, particularly in the West, have been increasing fees for hunting license, tag, and application fees. No matter how long it’s been since your state saw a license fee increase, raising the cost of hunting fees is never popular among residents. But one strategy usually has overwhelming support: Require out-of-staters to shoulder the heftiest price increases.

Following this strategy, Utah plans to increase nonresident license fees by 100 percent this year, which will price many DIY hunters out of the state and — potentially — out of the application process.

Although Utah has already increased nonresident hunting fees several times in the last five years. In 2022 it raised prices for both residents and nonresidents. And in 2020, Utah raised the fees for nonresidents while resident fees remained in place from 2014. The Utah Department of Wildlife Resources is 92 percent self-funded and receives only limited funding from the state’s General Fund, the agency reported that year.

The newest provisions are included in Senate Bill 8, a massive 263-page appropriations proposal that authorizes fee increases for all nonresident hunting and fishing licenses. SB8 already passed the state House and Senate, and if it’s signed by Governor Spencer Cox, it’ll go into effect this July.

Here’s a look at the price difference for some key examples:

Fees for nonresident landowner mitigation hunts have also doubled, with a cow tag now slated to cost $700. You can find the rest of the fee increases in the bill on page 128.

Resident tags will remain unchanged. The language of the bill sets the below fees as the maximum amount the DWR can charge for a hunting license fee. So although the DWR could theoretically charge less than these amounts, it’s unlikely.

While the fees are hefty for nonresidents, the hikes aren’t nearly as extreme as what neighboring states have considered. (Earlier this year, Wyoming was considering quadrupling hunting license fees.) In general, nonresident deer licenses range from roughly five times the cost of a resident license, as in Pennsylvania, to as much as 28 times, as in Montana. 

As we’ve reported previously, charging nonresident hunters half a grand for a deer tag, say, is a smart tradeoff for state agencies. If you’re traveling out of state to hunt, your primary motivation is likely recreation rather than subsistence.

Read Next: How Much Should a Deer License Cost?

Nonresident hunters are also a minority customer base, so wildlife managers and lawmakers are more comfortable subjecting them to extreme price hikes and keeping resident hunters happy. And in states like Utah, where license fee increases must be approved by the legislature, politicians are more likely to put the squeeze on out-of-staters than their own constituents.