# Alabama Hunting License Went Up Again



## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

I just looked on their website and an out-of-state all-game license is now $287.45. I always said if it goes up again, I'm done hunting deer in Alabama and I will stick to that.
I will still buy a small game license for $94 so my son and I can shoot dove and quail but they won't be getting the almost $600 out of me that they've gotten for the last several years.
When I started deer hunting in Alabama over 25 years ago, a license was $50, last year it was $277.50.
If all Florida hunters would just quit, the landowners and businesses would put pressure on the legislature I'm sure because we spend a ton of money in their state.
I'm sure the Alabama hunters would love it if we all pulled out because lease prices would plummet.


----------



## pcola4 (Apr 13, 2009)

A lot of people stopped when the license went to 250 but that hasn't slowed things down much in Alabama. I went ahead a paid this year because my son goes off to college next fall. If I'm going to pay that kind of money I'm going to the midwest to hunt public land for a week every year. I will spend less money and see more good bucks they you will ever do around here.


----------



## GatorUSN (Jan 17, 2012)

Anyone know what the in-state license is? What about out of state Military? I was an in-state resident when I entered the military, but have since changed my home of record to Florida....was tired of paying taxes to a de-funct, dept-ridden, state that never took my money and did anything with it of use...the roads are still horrible, the education system sucks(more than normal), and the legislation sucks. Oooh...almost high-jacked this thread...sorry welldoya!


----------



## snapperfan (Aug 30, 2009)

It's crazy. My son from Jacksonville can't even afford to come over here and hunt with me.

For AL residents, I bought just about everything, fresh water, salt water, small game, big game, WMA license and the total was around $80.


----------



## 69Viking (Oct 30, 2008)

Yeah I'm not sure what their reasoning behind it is. It surely doesn't cost them anymore to have us hunt their state from year to year. With all the money we spend on gas, seed and food up there when we go to the hunting camp you'd think they'd keep license costs down. I imagine I'll pay their outrageous license cost for a few more years and by then maybe I'll be able to get my own property in Florida.


----------



## bobinbusan (Feb 16, 2010)

$300.00 will be my limit and thats only around $12.55 away, wonder how long before it gets there? :whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling:


----------



## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

On top of the license going up, the company that owns our land tried to go up on the lease........again.
They dropped it back down after a bunch of their leaseholders left.
I've killed a ton of deer over the years so not deer hunting this year won't really bother me. It's gotten to where I enjoy bird hunting more anyway.
Anybody who lives in Alabama and thinks they might eventually move out of state should buy a lifetime license for something like $400. It's good even if you move.


----------



## Burnt Drag (Jun 3, 2008)

It's the same in Mississippi. I'm from there and don't get any break on license, so I just hunt my dad and brother's land and MSG&F can just eat cheese.


----------



## bamaman08 (Dec 22, 2008)

The prices are ridiculous...I am planning to pick up mine today. Oh well, I love it, so I'm gonna do it no matter what. Give me a month or so and I might be done complaining.


----------



## Grassflatsfisher (Oct 3, 2007)

The AG&F Advisory Board did a break down of revenues a few years ago. It was something like 85% of the gross revenue from license sales was made up by out of state license purchases. A resident hunting license in AL is less than $30. I hunt family land here in FL and it cost me $60 for my license. AL definitely needs to adjust their res license and bring down the Out of state. Ridiculous. 

I bought a lifetime license before moving back many years ago. Best $300 I've spent!


----------



## Outside9 (Apr 30, 2008)

I"m a life timer in Alabama. Got mine 17 years ago before I moved to Florida, best 200.00 I ever spent.


----------



## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

I'm sure their reasoning is like the old boiling frog story - if you turn the heat all the way up, the frog will jump out of the pot but if you just increase the heat a little at a time........
They probably figure that nobody will stop coming if it's just a $12.50 increase and they can make x number of millions if they do that. Well, that $12.50 just broke this camel's back.
Somebody told me last year that they were getting their license in a sporting goods store up there and the owner told him that his sales to out of staters were down 30%.


----------



## scootman (Oct 6, 2007)

welldoya said:


> I'm sure their reasoning is like the old boiling frog story - if you turn the heat all the way up, the frog will jump out of the pot but if you just increase the heat a little at a time........
> They probably figure that nobody will stop coming if it's just a $12.50 increase and they can make x number of millions if they do that. Well, that $12.50 just broke this camel's back.
> Somebody told me last year that they were getting their license in a sporting goods store up there and the owner told him that his sales to out of staters were down 30%.


I suspect last year's 30% decrease is more tied to the terrible economy rather than the $12.50 cost increase....This year, it looks like I will offset your absence because I have open access to 4 places in Alabama this year and there's no way I'm gonna squander the opportunity to hunt those properties....Nothing but respect for your decision however. 

Scoots


----------



## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

What does a Florida out of state fishing license cost a guy from Alabama ? Seems like a chance to even the score!!


----------



## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

scootman said:


> I suspect last year's 30% decrease is more tied to the terrible economy rather than the $12.50 cost increase....This year, it looks like I will offset your absence because I have open access to 4 places in Alabama this year and there's no way I'm gonna squander the opportunity to hunt those properties....Nothing but respect for your decision however.
> 
> Scoots


That is my point. In this terrible economy they are still increasing the price. There was no price increase last year. It's been $277 for probably 3 or 4 years.
They've gotten my money for the last 25 years, I will be more than happy for you to give them some of yours.


----------



## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Try'n Hard said:


> What does a Florida out of state fishing license cost a guy from Alabama ? Seems like a chance to even the score!!


Thanks. They're about $55 a year. And if they went up too much, then I would just come in through Perdido Pass.


----------



## MULLET HUNTER (Oct 3, 2007)

Dang bloodsuckers.....


----------



## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

MrFish said:


> Thanks. They're about $55 a year. And if they went up too much, then I would just come in through Perdido Pass.


But would you feel guilty if you caught a fish that you thought lived most of its life in the fertile waters of Florida ? Never mind - I know


----------



## bigbulls (Mar 12, 2008)

Alabama is cheap for non residents. Y'all have nothing to complain about. $287.45 is nothing for a non resident hunting license. It is well down on the list of non resident hunting license fees.

You guys should try going hunting out West sometime.
A non resident elk tag (one elk) in Colorado is $576. 
A non resident deer tag (one deer) is $349. 
A non resident pronghorn tag is $349.


----------



## k-p (Oct 7, 2009)

This has been going on for years, AL knows how to gouge FL residents. Contact your FL representatives and ask them to up the non-resident Saltwater license. I think it should be at least $100 or so, that's only 1/3 the cost of the AL hunting license so still a good deal to them.


----------



## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

k-p said:


> This has been going on for years, AL knows how to gouge FL residents. Contact your FL representatives and ask them to up the non-resident Saltwater license. I think it should be at least $100 or so, that's only 1/3 the cost of the AL hunting license so still a good deal to them.


If you feel gouged, then stay in FL and hunt FL deer. If you think that ALDCNR gives a shit if I pay more for a FL license, then you are mistaken. You want to call your rep and raise the cost for me, why?? This may shock you, but us fishermen and hunters don't set costs or policy in AL.


----------



## Instant Karma (Oct 9, 2007)

Just more political BS. "No New Taxes" but raise fees whenever they get a chance. What's the difference?


----------



## fromthedepths (Nov 21, 2008)

Grassflatsfisher said:


> The AG&F Advisory Board did a break down of revenues a few years ago. It was something like 85% of the gross revenue from license sales was made up by out of state license purchases. A resident hunting license in AL is less than $30. I hunt family land here in FL and it cost me $60 for my license. AL definitely needs to adjust their res license and bring down the Out of state. Ridiculous.
> 
> 
> why should they raise the resident license and punish the ones who live here when they can charge the people that dont live here and pay taxes here. i know it sucks for you guys but that's how they look at it. your a source of revenue when it comes down to it where you like it or not,states got to get their cut.i'm sure it's a small percentage from all the other money you dump into leases ,gas and what not.


----------



## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

"i'm sure it's a small percentage from all the other money you dump into leases ,gas and what not."

That is exactly right and part of the point I'm trying to get across. We are not taxpayers in Alabama but we don't use a whole lot of services either. Everything we spend is gravy for the state of Alabama. 
Where my lease is , the deer are the same as Florida deer. It's not the black belt so I'm really not losing anything by hunting in Florida from now on. But I won't be leasing 1200 acres from an Alabama company who has already lost most of it's hunting clubs and has 100s of acres up for lease that used to be fully leased. I won't be buying $500 worth of propane at a time from South Alabama gas. I won't be buying seed, fertilizer,groceries and hardware from Alabama businesses and the state will be losing about $560 a year instead of beating me out of another $25. 
Florida resident used to get a break on Alabama licenses over other states. I don't know what happened to that.


----------



## saltgrass (Sep 1, 2008)

It is BS but we deal with it and hunt any way, well most of us. I am going to Montana next year and it is a $1000 for a ELK/Deer combo tag. 

All the states are high, Look at LA, TX and so on Non res. license cost out the butt. In TX last time we went they didn't have a trip Lic. so you paid $300 to hunt 1 day or the hole season as a non res. I only see it getting higher but could be wrong. Sure hope so...


----------



## s1nger1 (May 14, 2012)

small game florida license for alabama resident is $161.50.Thast what it cost me to shot doves this year in florida.


----------



## Try'n Hard (Oct 23, 2008)

s1nger1 said:


> small game florida license for alabama resident is $161.50.Thast what it cost me to shot doves this year in florida.


Man! Doves?? That right there is a ripoff


----------



## fishyfingers (Oct 3, 2007)

I certainly understand the pain of buying an out-of-state license. I took a quick look at what I would cost me, an AL resident, and it appears to be about the same after all the various permits and add on fees. I can't say for sure but I know that when I hunted in Mississippi about 8 years ago I had to buy a non-resident all game license which was something like $150, then if I wanted to hunt deer it was another $5, $25 for turkey, $75 if I wanted to hunt primitive weapon which was half the season plus a few others and the total bill was about $400. Louisianna is about $600.


----------



## whome (Oct 2, 2007)

I would like to see a break down on where exactly the license money goes too....It's public record so I am sure someone can get it with a little effort, and I don't mean the typical, law enforcement, studies, education etc... I am curious to the exact details..


----------



## fromthedepths (Nov 21, 2008)

alabama is still nowhere what other states charge


----------



## fishyfingers (Oct 3, 2007)

To say that AL should lower its out of state license fees because it accounts for so much revenue is the same as saying beachfront accomodations in FL should be cheaper because FL makes so much money from tourism. You have beaches, we have huntable land.


----------



## Grassflatsfisher (Oct 3, 2007)

fromthedepths said:


> Grassflatsfisher said:
> 
> 
> > The AG&F Advisory Board did a break down of revenues a few years ago. It was something like 85% of the gross revenue from license sales was made up by out of state license purchases. A resident hunting license in AL is less than $30. I hunt family land here in FL and it cost me $60 for my license. AL definitely needs to adjust their res license and bring down the Out of state. Ridiculous.
> ...


----------



## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

s1nger1 said:


> small game florida license for alabama resident is $161.50.Thast what it cost me to shot doves this year in florida.


My first thought when I was read this was "That is ridiculous, Florida is worse than Alabama about being money-hungry".
So, I looked it up. Apparently Florida doesn't have a small game license. A non-resident license is $151.50 and that's an all game license. And they have a 10 day license for $46.50 so if you were just coming for one hunt or maybe two hunts on consecutive weekends, that would be the way to go.


----------



## k-p (Oct 7, 2009)

MrFish said:


> If you feel gouged, then stay in FL and hunt FL deer. If you think that ALDCNR gives a shit if I pay more for a FL license, then you are mistaken. You want to call your rep and raise the cost for me, why?? This may shock you, but us fishermen and hunters don't set costs or policy in AL.


Why would I want to raise the cost for AL residents....very simply--fairness. You can come down here and fish 12 months for a third of the cost it takes FL residents to go to AL and hunt for only 3.5 months and costs 3x as much. And yes some Reps who set policy do listen to their constituents.


----------



## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

k-p said:


> Why would I want to raise the cost for AL residents....very simply--fairness. You can come down here and fish 12 months for a third of the cost it takes FL residents to go to AL and hunt for only 3.5 months and costs 3x as much. And yes some Reps who set policy do listen to their constituents.


Why would you raise the cost of fishing?? Fairness would require you to raise the cost of a non resident HUNTING license in FL. And you would raise it for only AL??


----------



## k-p (Oct 7, 2009)

Yes, FL needs to raise the non-resident hunting license too now that you've mentioned it. There's nothing for anybody to come down to FL to hunt right so it won't matter? So that's been too cheap in the past too.


----------



## Tightline (Oct 4, 2007)

fishyfingers said:


> To say that AL should lower its out of state license fees because it accounts for so much revenue is the same as saying beachfront accomodations in FL should be cheaper because FL makes so much money from tourism. You have beaches, we have huntable land.


 
Yes, but it costs us the same, as it does you, for beach accomodations. How would you bama boys like to pay $280 for resident license? What ever a beach house costs you, it's the same for me. Hotel, same thing.
I think Fl should charge $350 for AL residents to fish here. Make those charter fishing trips expensive for those pollititicians when they come. That might stir up something. Make them rethink. As long as you dont need a license on a charter boat, we'll be paying $$$ for hunting license. 
AL fishing license has a different rate, depending on what state your from. Thats what we need in FL.:001_tongue:
Not many come here to hunt. But many come to fish.


----------



## jasoncooperpcola (Jan 2, 2008)

People keep saying that Alabama is low compared to other states, that is not the point. Some of us have hunted Alabama our entire lives and may not care for anywhere else. I have never hunted Florida. 100% of my hunting is in Alabama. and for the license to keep going up makes me feel like i am being taken advantage of. I have not hunted in two years due to my dads health and he passed away in June but i may not purchase an Alabama license again.


----------



## bigbulls (Mar 12, 2008)

> People keep saying that Alabama is low compared to other states, that is not the point. Some of us have hunted Alabama our entire lives and may not care for anywhere else. I have never hunted Florida. 100% of my hunting is in Alabama. and for the license to keep going up makes me feel like i am being taken advantage of.


The price of everything was much lower 25 years ago. It could a whole lot worse.

But, you are correct. We are all being taken advantage of........ every day of our lives.

One thing you can count on is the price of everything going up and the value of the dollar continuing to go down. Overspending, wasteful spending, unaccounted spending, massive borrowing, etc... by all governments from local to the fed will continue to cause inflation, inflation, inflation.

When this country was founded an ounce of gold was worth 1 dollar. Today it sold for $1778.16 per ounce.


----------



## Hopin4aboat (Jul 5, 2009)

bigbulls said:


> The price of everything was much lower 25 years ago. It could a whole lot worse.
> 
> But, you are correct. We are all being taken advantage of........ every day of our lives.
> 
> ...


So what your saying is quantitave (sp) easing infinity is a great idea?:no:


----------



## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

jasoncooperpcola said:


> People keep saying that Alabama is low compared to other states, that is not the point. Some of us have hunted Alabama our entire lives and may not care for anywhere else. I have never hunted Florida. 100% of my hunting is in Alabama. and for the license to keep going up makes me feel like i am being taken advantage of. I have not hunted in two years due to my dads health and he passed away in June but i may not purchase an Alabama license again.


Now there's the problem. Some of us have had the same lease for 25 years and have greatly improved it. When we got our lease, it was nothing, just a bunch of woods. We have improved the roads, even built roads and brought dirt in to fill the mudholes. We have put in food plots, put up gates,put up permanent elevated shooting houses, put thousands of $ into the place.
The locals were using parts of the place as a dump until we got there.
I always thought we would have it from now on and my grandkids would hunt on it but doesn't look like it now.


----------



## bigbulls (Mar 12, 2008)

Hopin4aboat said:


> So what your saying is quantitave (sp) easing infinity is a great idea?:no:


Absolutely not! What I am saying is that until this country gets a complete reboot it will continue to go down hill faster and faster until we hit the bottom. The closer to the bottom we get the faster we are moving and when we finally hit the bottom it's going to effen hurt.


----------



## FOODDUDE (Oct 3, 2007)

Just curious , what is the fine if caught hunting in bama without a license ?


----------



## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

FOODDUDE said:


> Just curious , what is the fine if caught hunting in bama without a license ?


It can be just a fine or they could take anything you used while poaching. I.E. guns, vehicle, etc.


----------



## DaBreeze (Feb 25, 2012)

I was born in BAMA, lived there for 38 years before moving to Florida. My D.A. didnt buy the lifetime license and now pay well over $300 per year for Non Resident hunting & fishing license. Grips my A$$


----------



## 69Viking (Oct 30, 2008)

I have a pretty sweet place to hunt in Bama and the cost is reasonable. The more the cost of the license goes up though the less reasonable it gets. Every year I look for a comparable place in FL to hunt and one of these days I'm going to find it and when I do I won't be hunting in Alabama anymore. Sure the deer in the Northern part of our counties here in the Panhandle may be slightly smaller than the deer I hunt in Conecuh Co, AL but trust me there's not that much difference that I won't make the switch once I find the right setup for me and my boys. As it stands now with gas staying near $4 a gallon and the license fees going up it's only a matter of time before I say enough is enough.


----------



## jasoncooperpcola (Jan 2, 2008)

I agree with you welldoya. Me and my dad took over a 2300 acre lease in 2006 that he had hunted since 1995. We did everything in our power to improve it. We strung around ten rolls of barb wire to stop trash dumpers. Wasted time. I built shooting houses out of my money and spent countless weekends clearing roads. I did everything I could to make it so my members could enjoy themselves. Then our lease went from $8000 to $14000 in four years and it became harder and harder to fill the roster. The last year I put in $6000 out of my pocket to pay the lease. And one guy was still not happy and decided to take revenge on everybody. My point is, everything is going up. In the five years dad and I ran the club the lease went up $6000 and more and more trees came down. After my last year up there I could care less about Alabama hunting. Go thru the hunting for sale section here and you will see where i sold all my shooting houses and gates last year. 

I did learn one thing. I do not want to run another club. Not everybody realizes just how difficult it is.


----------



## bobinbusan (Feb 16, 2010)

This story topic is sort of like they,the state and land owners, AIN"T GOING TO BE HAPPY TILL THEY KILL THE GOLDEN GOOSE THAT LAYED THE GOLDEN EGG, us hunters,hunting there will have to call that shot! :whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling: :whistling:


----------



## FOODDUDE (Oct 3, 2007)

Mr Fish , I'm not talking about poaching , just want to know if I join a lease in Al. and have acouple of teenage boys that want to hunt the cost of license could be more than the cost of the lease . Is it worth rolling the dice for a couple of years if the fine for hunting with out a license is , less say $500 ? License for the three of us would be close to $ 900 a year .


----------



## jaksprat (Jul 2, 2009)

Food dude, don't speculate on those fines. Alabama dramatically increased all of its fines a few years back for reasons just as you wrote. And the game warden will show up when you least expect it.


----------



## wareagle22 (Oct 3, 2007)

The fine now is $1000 plus you have to buy the license! So it'll cost you about $1300 if you get caught plus I believe you lose your license for the next year. I know guys who have done it for years without getting caught but with my luck, I'd get caught the first day that I tried it!


----------



## Grassflatsfisher (Oct 3, 2007)

FOODDUDE said:


> Mr Fish , I'm not talking about poaching , just want to know if I join a lease in Al. and have acouple of teenage boys that want to hunt the cost of license could be more than the cost of the lease . Is it worth rolling the dice for a couple of years if the fine for hunting with out a license is , less say $500 ? License for the three of us would be close to $ 900 a year .


This is the exact reason why AL license system is screwed up. By the time you pay for the lease, gas, food, etc all season you could probably take you and your boys to TX for a week and come back with a bed full of bucks.


----------



## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

I've been mulling this over ever since I started this thread. The deciding factor in me having anything at all to do with Alabama hunting is an older family member. He doesn't want to give up the lease. Says he's too old to start over. He won't be able to hunt too many more years so I don't want to give up those years.
I feel like I could easily hunt without a license and not get caught. I've never seen a warden in 25 years up there. I believe there's one warden for 3 counties. What are the chances ?
But, I believe I'll get a small game license because I do enjoy hunting dove and quail. With a small game license ($94) you can hunt anything but deer and turkey.
I'll still go up and stay, even sit in a stand with my Ruger 10/22 and film deer and whatever else comes along. I can still pop a coyote if he comes along. I'll just see how it goes.
Then in a couple of years, I'll tell the timber company and the state of Alabama to stick it. I know I'll only save $200 but I've cut my nose off to spite my face before. It's just the principle of the thing with me.


----------



## Tightline (Oct 4, 2007)

FOODDUDE said:


> Mr Fish , I'm not talking about poaching , just want to know if I join a lease in Al. and have acouple of teenage boys that want to hunt the cost of license could be more than the cost of the lease . Is it worth rolling the dice for a couple of years if the fine for hunting with out a license is , less say $500 ? License for the three of us would be close to $ 900 a year .


Hunting without a license is considered poaching.


----------

