Mountain Pursuit Recommends Wyoming Game & Fish Commission Stop Giving Tags to The Lander One Shot Antelope Hunt
A report completed this week by Mountain Pursuit, Lander One Shot Antelope Hunt and Its 80 Tags: A Comprehensive Analysis, analyzes the male only hunting competition that receives a set-aside of 80 antelope tags from the Wyoming Game & Fish Commission every year.
Through W.S. 23-1-705(b), the commission has issued 80 antelope tags per year for the sole use of the Lander One Shot Antelope Hunt. Since 1979, the Lander One Shot Hunt has received approximately 3,200 antelope tags.
Only 24 of the tags are used for the Lander One Shot Hunt, and the remaining 56 are given to the Past Shooters Club. One of the most prevalent responses found for why the Past Shooters Club receives the tags, is that they fund the Water for Wildlife Foundation.
The report goes into detail about the purposes and impacts of the Wyoming Game and Fish department offering this set aside, as well as the relationship between the Lander One Shot Antelope Hunt Club, Past Shooters Club, and the Water for Wildlife Foundation.
"Wyoming's wildlife is owned by the state, and by definition, Wyoming residents," said Mountain Pursuit Board President, Rob Shaul. "That we are giving a private, all male "social club" 80 antelope tags a year borders on criminal, especially when 93% of the tags are going to nonresidents, and the amount of money raised for wildlife conservation is minimal. The Commission currently has the authority to stop giving these tags to the Lander One Shot and should do so. As well, the Wyoming Legislature needs to purge the statute which allows this in the first place."
The key findings from the report are:
From 2008-2018, 880 Lander One Shot Hunt tags (93%) went to nonresidents and only 73 (7%) went to Wyoming residents.
Each year, the Lander One Shot Hunt kept 24 tags for his annual, 3-man team, 8 team antelope hunting competition, and passed through 56 tags to the "Past Shooters Club" whose membership consists of past male participants of the Lander Once Shot Hunt Competition.
Men only received tags as part of the Lander One Shot Hunt competition and the Past Shooters Club. Women do not receive tags. In response, in 2018, a new Wyoming State Statute allows the Wyoming Game & Fish Commission to give up to 80 tags to the women-only, Wyoming Women's Antelope Hunt, also headquartered in Lander.
From 2008-2018, 45 male hunters received 5 or more antelope tags through the Lander One Shot Hunt or the Paster Shooters Club. In that time period, 6 nonresidents have received 10 antelope tags.
Since the start, 259 tags have been given to governors and celebrities, including 8 tags to former Wyoming Governor Matt Mead and 6 to former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper.
Three separate non profit organizations are involved in Lander One Shot Hunt:
(1) Lander One Shot Hunt Club a 501(c) (7) "Social Club"
(2) Past Shooters Club, a 501(c)(7) "Social Club"
(3) Water For Wildlife, a 501(c)(3) charitable non profit.
These three organizations share staff and board members, and make the flow of tags and funds confusing and difficult to follow.The Lander One Shot Hunt generated less than $5,000 for wildlife or conservation in 2018. Donations and fundraisers from the Past Shooters Club generated $40,665 in 2018 which was split between (a) hosting the annual reunion for its membership, and (b) assist with wildlife management and conservation efforts. The amounts of this split are unknown and according to the Past Shooters Club website, the money split for wildlife management and conservation went to Water for Wildlife.
The Past Shooters Club is not the only funding source for Water for Wildlife. In 2018, Water for Wildlife received $187,348 in public support, which went to helping preserve the history of the Lander One Shot Antelope Hunt ($22,637), local scholarships ($4,000) and develop water resources for wildlife habitat ($98,631). The remaining income went to staff, fundraising expenses, etc.
Not all Water for Wildlife water enhancement projects are completed in Wyoming. Since 1975, 196 of 450 projects (44%) were completed in Wyoming.
Each year, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission has the authority to restrict the number of antelope tags given to both the Lander Once Shot Antelope Hunt and the Wyoming Women's Antelope Hunt. Wyoming Statute W.S. 23-1-705(b), states that Game and Fish commission "may… issue up to 160 antelope licenses each year for the exclusive use of not more than two antelope hunts."
Mountain Pursuit’s Recommendations:
Wyoming's Wildlife are property of the state, and by definition, all Wyoming Residents. Big game tags should not be given by statute to a private, exclusive all men's or all women's "social" clubs for a hunting competition or anything other purpose, especially when nonresidents receive the vast majority of the tags.
The proceeds from all Wyoming Big Game Tags should go to fund the general operations of the Wyoming Game & Fish Department.
Short Term:Pending new legislation and re-writing of the state statutes, the Wyoming Game & Fish Commission should not issue any antelope tags to the Lander One Shot Hunt or Wyoming Women's Antelope Hunt.
Long Term:The Wyoming Legislature should purge Wyoming State Statute W.S. 23-1-705(b) and end this tag giveaway.
For the full in-depth report, click HERE