Game, Fish and Parks has failed to hit its target for trapping licenses in five out of the last six years.
While the department said some of that is out of its control, it’s important to get those numbers up.
GFP has a goal to sell more than 4,000 fur bearing licenses a year. Since 2019, it has only done so in 2021. In 2023, numbers dipped to 3,300, before bouncing back slightly to between 3,600 and 3,900.
Kevin Robling is the secretary of Game, Fish and Parks and he spoke on the numbers at the latest state Government Audit and Operations Committee meeting. He said while they haven’t hit that 4,000-license benchmark, a lot of it has to do with the markets.
“Trapping licenses are a reflection of the fur market. And the fur market right now is very poor, very poor. You might get $3 or $5 for a raccoon in prime condition. Coyotes are bringing $10, maybe,” Robling said. “You know? So, the fur market does definitely get folks more excited to buy a fur-bearer license. If fur prices are good, more folks are going to put effort into that recreational opportunity.”
He said one promising thing is that the department’s Nest Predator Bounty Program has increased youth trapping involvement in the state. The program gives participants $10 a tail per raccoon, striped skunk, badger, opossum and red fox trapped and killed.
Robling said that’s encouraging.
“That’s been a strong indication of ensuring our trapping heritage does not fade away because across this nation it is," Robling said. "Trapping has become a less pursued opportunity."
He added that keeping trapping and fur bearing license numbers up is vital to agriculture and GFP’s mission of wildlife management.
“But that 4,000 number isn’t like this silver bullet of we need 4,000 to manage the coyote population. We could probably use 10,000 quite honestly, you know as far as the number of coyotes we have, the number of raccoons we have. They definitely help us though manage, let’s say in this case coyotes," Robling said. "Coyotes, we have a whole entire wildlife damage management program. Twenty-eight full time trappers that everyday they’re trying to help producers make sure they don’t lose lambs and calves in the agricultural space. We could use some more folks out there killing coyotes, harvesting coyotes.”
Robling said once license numbers decline, it’s hard to get them back up.
