This is part of the MCEMC/MOGA consensus package. The bill would place a restriction on NR's to be able to only purchase up to two B8 antlerless deer licenses if they hold a B10 or b11 Big Game/Deer combo license, and 1 B8 license if you do not.
Over the last 10 years, NR Antlerless license sales have climbed over from around 6,500 to over 13,000. This bill does not eliminate NR opportunity for antlerless harvest, but it does help get to a critical issue of overcrowding on public land, and over-harvest of antlerless mule deer. I expect we will see big reductions in resident antlerless harvest opportunities in the next round of season setting.
Back of the Napkin calculations indicate that this could result in 3-4,000 fewer B8's sold, and if we use the hunter day multiplier of 4-5 days per animal, that's between 15,000 & 20,000 fewer hunter days in the field. Not a huge drop, but a positive step in the right direction.
We are expecting this to be up in committee next week, and I'll update this thread when it's scheduled. We are hoping for folks to comment in support of this bill to the Senate Fish & Wildlife Committee once scheduled.