I was on the Oklahoma Wildlife Dept. website trying to find the new non-resident regulations for turkey next spring. Noticed they've added a new $100 Non-Resident Game Bird permit for non-residents hunting game birds on WMAs. That effectively makes Oklahoma $349 for a single turkey.
Non-resident annual hunting - $209
Non-resident turkey - $40
Non-resident game bird permit - $100
For a total of $349! To my knowledge, the most expensive tag for a single turkey to date. This bypasses Arkansas's $325.
You can view the non-resident license prices here:
https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/licensing/regs/license-fees#nonresident
And the new Game Bird Permit regulation here:
https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/hunting/regs/regulation-changes
The madness knows no end. Other states will take notice and respond accordingly in the future.
And to think a certain subset of turkey hunters helped bring this upon us all. Sad, sad, sad!
Well, I guess I don't have to research Oklahoma any further. ::)
Yep, a certain subset, and a lot of them. More than the flocks can stand. The most dangerous thing in the world is loose lips.
I live in Oklahoma, and there's no way I'd pay that kind of money to hunt turkeys in this state. Ridiculous. There's much better hunting for less money in other places. It's truly sad what turkey hunting is becoming, and scary how fast it is happening.
Dang shame.
:TrainWreck1:
Imagine that.....loose lips do sink ships.
And non residents have to now sign in online before hunting WMAs.
I'm playing the devil's advocate to a degree with this reply so don't shoot the messenger, but with decreasing hunting land in general across the country resulting in more crowded lands for resident hunters, something has to change from the good ole days of free for all. If that means pricing out non-residents, so be it. Have YouTubers contributed to the problem, certainly in some situations, but you can't rationally put the sole blame on them. Reduced pressure and harvest is good, no matter how is achieved. Everything cost more than ever and to expect licenses not to follow suit is burying your head in the sand. Just think about how much the vehicle you drive to hunt in costs now versus a few years ago. Everything goes up!
I personally believe the biggest issue is the state agencies and biologists have been asleep at the wheel for far too long and they rode the population boom without enough study on keeping it up and now all of the sudden need more time and $ to study and find solutions as they panic. I would love to see states close an entire season with actual population surveys before and after to prove beyond a doubt that hunters taking gobblers is a significant cause of the population declines. If you don't shoot any for a year and the population is still trending down, it kills that argument permanently and forces them to address the other factors faster. The reduction of non-resident hunters is just an easy knee-jerk action that may not change the population trends at all.
In the end, we all want more birds, but very few present factual solutions beyond the usual suspects.
I'm just saying that it's a train wreck down here
Quote from: akp on December 10, 2025, 06:59:19 PMAnd non residents have to now sign in online before hunting WMAs.
Which is kind of silly to only require non-residents to check in. Several states have WMA Check-In for all users, which provides extremely valuable data. So now they are going to gather non-resident use, but not resident use? What baseline are they going to compare the non-resident use to? They really should just require WMA check-in for all. They are leaving good data on the table.
I imagine they will use the non-resident use data to eventually go to a draw/quota system, which was first proposed. Personally, I'd much rather see a draw/quota system rather than trying to price out non-residents. With WMA Check-In for all hunters, they'd get a great idea of what quotas should be. I guess since they didn't go the draw/quota route from the start, they figured the new $100 Game Bird permit would help alleviate some NR numbers.
Ultimately, their resident hunters who travel out of state will suffer too as other states respond. "Oh, Oklahoma can get $350 for a turkey and $700+ for a deer? We can too!"
I'm all for states getting a handle on non-resident pressure. They owe it to their resident hunters. But this route of pricing people out is bad for the future of hunting.
Is there state land in OK. that is worth that price tag anymore? A certain popular one was a total mess a decade ago when it probably still had birds!
Quote from: Dtrkyman on December 11, 2025, 10:23:43 AMIs there state land in OK. that is worth that price tag anymore?
...Probably is somewhere, but not to my knowledge...that is, in terms of the quality of hunting I would expect when paying the increased license fees. On the other hand, IF the quality was there, I would have no problem paying an extra hundred or so dollars for it.
In the meantime, wildlife managers will likely accomplish reducing hunting pressure...at least a bit...by the license increase. That is their intent, I suspect. They could take some of the other measures we have discussed ad nauseum such as limiting permits and/or going to a drawing...or further shortening season lengths (can't go any lower on the bag limit). I am guessing none of those options would suit most of us turkey hunters, either.
As it is, at least a nonresident can still grit his teeth and pay extra cost and go hunting...if he knows somewhere that there is a turkey in OK... ::)
I mean if your a South Carolina resident wanting to hunt in North Carolina your gonna pay $385.
10 day hunt- $75
Nonresident big game - $310
(If you want the year that's $125 vs $75) I mean you can kill 2 but good Lord
Money is not as big a deal for a quality hunt, the most expensive tag I ever bought was also a fantastic hunt so I would do it again.
Ok. must be banking on guys buying tags for private land hunts with their turkey population issues!
Texas is right behind them with a $315 license fee and $7 upland bid endorsement which brings the total to $322 for a non resident to hunt turkey. But, you do get 4 tags...
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Quote from: NYturkey on December 12, 2025, 03:10:59 PMTexas is right behind them with a $315 license fee and $7 upland bid endorsement which brings the total to $322 for a non resident to hunt turkey. But, you do get 4 tags...
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Didn't realize Texas had gone up too. I paid $133 last spring for my turkey tags.
They did away with their special spring turkey tag. I received this email from them
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20251213/9a8f0e266a913278b056114e89411029.jpg)
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Just a thought:
Since most all hunting in TX is on private ground and with access to that ground easily costing a thousand or more for a turkey hunt, I doubt seriously that the extra $200 for the license is going to matter much to those who hunt there. Could be wrong, I suppose...but I have my doubts... :toothy12:
I understand that thought and don't disagree with you. Doesn't change the fact that they raised it and more states are following.
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Quote from: deerhunt1988 on December 09, 2025, 10:01:12 AMI was on the Oklahoma Wildlife Dept. website trying to find the new non-resident regulations for turkey next spring. Noticed they've added a new $100 Non-Resident Game Bird permit for non-residents hunting game birds on WMAs. That effectively makes Oklahoma $349 for a single turkey.
Non-resident annual hunting - $209
Non-resident turkey - $40
Non-resident game bird permit - $100
For a total of $349! To my knowledge, the most expensive tag for a single turkey to date. This bypasses Arkansas's $325.
You can view the non-resident license prices here:
https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/licensing/regs/license-fees#nonresident
And the new Game Bird Permit regulation here:
https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/hunting/regs/regulation-changes
The madness knows no end. Other states will take notice and respond accordingly in the future.
And to think a certain subset of turkey hunters helped bring this upon us all. Sad, sad, sad!
I think it's another fee to hunt the public access private land as well.
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Quote from: Ryanmc on December 14, 2025, 08:27:16 PMQuote from: deerhunt1988 on December 09, 2025, 10:01:12 AMI was on the Oklahoma Wildlife Dept. website trying to find the new non-resident regulations for turkey next spring. Noticed they've added a new $100 Non-Resident Game Bird permit for non-residents hunting game birds on WMAs. That effectively makes Oklahoma $349 for a single turkey.
Non-resident annual hunting - $209
Non-resident turkey - $40
Non-resident game bird permit - $100
For a total of $349! To my knowledge, the most expensive tag for a single turkey to date. This bypasses Arkansas's $325.
You can view the non-resident license prices here:
https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/licensing/regs/license-fees#nonresident
And the new Game Bird Permit regulation here:
https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/hunting/regs/regulation-changes
The madness knows no end. Other states will take notice and respond accordingly in the future.
And to think a certain subset of turkey hunters helped bring this upon us all. Sad, sad, sad!
I think it's another fee to hunt the public access private land as well.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It sure is, another $100 for OLAP land. I had forgotten about that.
Quote from: blake_08 on December 15, 2025, 08:38:42 AMQuote from: Ryanmc on December 14, 2025, 08:27:16 PMQuote from: deerhunt1988 on December 09, 2025, 10:01:12 AMI was on the Oklahoma Wildlife Dept. website trying to find the new non-resident regulations for turkey next spring. Noticed they've added a new $100 Non-Resident Game Bird permit for non-residents hunting game birds on WMAs. That effectively makes Oklahoma $349 for a single turkey.
Non-resident annual hunting - $209
Non-resident turkey - $40
Non-resident game bird permit - $100
For a total of $349! To my knowledge, the most expensive tag for a single turkey to date. This bypasses Arkansas's $325.
You can view the non-resident license prices here:
https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/licensing/regs/license-fees#nonresident
And the new Game Bird Permit regulation here:
https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/hunting/regs/regulation-changes
The madness knows no end. Other states will take notice and respond accordingly in the future.
And to think a certain subset of turkey hunters helped bring this upon us all. Sad, sad, sad!
I think it's another fee to hunt the public access private land as well.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It sure is, another $100 for OLAP land. I had forgotten about that.
$200 for non-residents!
So $549 for a single turkey off OLAP!!!!
Unreal.
Quote from: deerhunt1988 on December 15, 2025, 11:26:10 AMQuote from: deerhunt1988 on December 15, 2025, 11:26:10 AMIt sure is, another $100 for OLAP land. I had forgotten about that.
$200 for non-residents!
So $549 for a single turkey off OLAP!!!!
Unreal.
Geez...I didn't see that note that the NR fee for public ground was $200.
...And here I had just been talking to a friend in OK about coming back over there to hunt this spring. Ain't no way I am paying that kind of money to hunt on the public ground I am familiar with over there! :o >:(
If the goal is to keep nonresidents from coming to OK to hunt, it is definitely going to work with this particular fellow. Too many other states with way lower license costs and far better public-land turkey hunting! ::)
Quote from: GobbleNut on December 15, 2025, 12:36:54 PMQuote from: deerhunt1988 on December 15, 2025, 11:26:10 AMQuote from: deerhunt1988 on December 15, 2025, 11:26:10 AMIt sure is, another $100 for OLAP land. I had forgotten about that.
$200 for non-residents!
So $549 for a single turkey off OLAP!!!!
Unreal.
Geez...I didn't see that note that the NR fee for public ground was $200.
...And here I had just been talking to a friend in OK about coming back over there to hunt this spring. Ain't no way I am paying that kind of money to hunt on the public ground I am familiar with over there! :o >:(
If the goal is to keep nonresidents from coming to OK to hunt, it is definitely going to work with this particular fellow. Too many other states with way lower license costs and far better public-land turkey hunting! ::)
Well that $200 permit is just for OLAP lands, which is their "private land public access program". The main public land fee that is new for this coming spring is the "Non-resident game bird permit" at $100.
You could still hunt public for $349. But yes, $549 will definitely deter some non-residents!!