How To Find The Best Value in Nonresident Whitetail Tags

It’s the difference between price and value or supply and demand.

Newcomers to the deer-tag stock market—at least anyone looking to buy individual equities to hit it big on a 10-pointer—focus heavily on price. The cheaper the tag, they reason, the better the value. However, there is an explanation for this low share price, and it’s rarely because the stock is a screaming buy. It’s because the demand isn’t there, most likely for a good reason.

These low prices generally exist because experienced hunters don’t see much in the way of future value. Sure, it’s cheap now, but is there going to be a return on investment? The growth potential is low, which means the stock might sell for pennies, but it doesn’t mean it’s cheap. Generally the opposite is true, and that’s a hard lesson to learn.

When it comes to nonresident tags, the difference between price and value is real. It’s up to you to decide what tags are worth it and why. This almost always starts with the license price.

Bargain Basement vs. Luxury Whitetails

I recently punched in my credit card number to apply for an Iowa nonresident tag. I’ve drawn three in my life, and I’ve had incredible hunts all three times. The overall cost, after factoring in preference points, puts the current tag upwards of $700.

Is that a good value? Well, for me, it is. I know I’ll have an amazing public land hunt, and have the option to hunt the entire rut. When my home state of Minnesota opens its gun season in the first few days of November, I can drive a few hours with my camping gear, and hunt rutting bucks without contending with the orange army.

I can also get there without burning more than half of a tank of gas, which increases the value of the hunt. The sticker price for the tag is elk-level expensive, but worth it for me. If it wasn’t, I could look across the river to Wisconsin and pick up a buck and a doe tag without having to enter a lottery for 30% of what Iowa will cost me.

But, I’ll also have to deal with far more hunters, a different season structure, and the reality that Wisconsin pales in comparison to Iowa. Both opportunities are there, and both offer up a vastly different value proposition.

Move Beyond Price

It’s hard to look past price. I get it. But it’s important if you want to figure out whether a hunt is worth it. In my example of hunting the rut in Iowa, that’s worth a lot to me because it offers the kind of hunt I just won’t get in my home state.

Here’s another example: what if you live in a state that doesn’t open until October? Maybe you could load up the truck and head down to Kentucky to hunt a velvet buck a full month before you could hunt at home? A jumpstart on the season is valuable to many hunters.

Or, instead of focusing on record-breaking deer and paying the license fees that go along with the top-tier states, maybe it’s about an experience that resonates. For me, that’s western whitetails. The smell of sage in the air, glassing a meandering river bottom, and camping with my buddies are all worth the cost of admission for me. I love the environment and that type of hunt.

In North Dakota for example, that tag will run you about $300. There are other states farther east where you can buy a nonresident tag for a similar price. But the hunt will be vastly different, as will the season structure and the logistics of getting there. Which one is worth it for you? Do you need rolling bluffs and deciduous forests to scratch the itch or just a few cottonwoods mixed along a shallow river where the visibility stretches for miles?

Think beyond the price and the likelihood of killing a big deer, and consider what a specific hunt in a specific location allows you to do. The buy-in for most states is in the $200-$700 range but the game you’ll get to play can be vastly different from location to location. Figure out what you want out of the experience of the hunt, then look at the cost.

Somewhere out there is an opportunity that will be worth every penny, for you, specifically.

For more info on traveling to hunt whitetails, check out these articles: How To Plan An Out-Of-State Whitetail Hunt, 3 Whitetail Tags You Should Buy Preference Points For, and 4 Money Saving Tips For Out-Of-State Deer Hunting Trips.