Don't feel bad, I remember spending a ton of money at one time last year.... I looked at my old tag and realized I bought everything at one time last spring! Of course, that was because they told me I would save some money!

You may find this interesting:

I was not able to find any information about the number of small game licenses sold in 2013 for the state (last year for that license). If you remember, in 2014, that was part of the "new" license package and you didn't have a choice. While looking through the latest Woods-n-Water magazine, someone else had the same idea as me. They took the total number of licenses sold in the State last year and multiplied it by $11.00 (cost of the base license). The state of Michigan recieved over 8 MILLION dollars for that addition. Although I could not subtract the 2013 small game license numbers from the 8mill, one could only guess that the revenue generated would be somewhere over 5million dollars as I suspect the number of previous small game licenses sold in the state in 2013 was less than 1/3 of the number of hunting licenses sold in 2014.

Chew on that for a while. Four years ago, they proposed a new license fee structure that (with the help of MUCC) was shot down. So, they throw this new scheme at people.... it was a different approach at the same idea and actually generated more revenue than the previous license fee structure change idea... Careful what you wish for I guess. Econimics can be cruel to people that don't understand it.

Just an FYI, my out of state Alaska fishing license, Bear license, Moose License, and Caribou tag (which allowed me to kill 5) was less than a resident Michigan Fishing license and Hunting license for two antlered bucks!!!!

That being said, I realize that I could buy beef and fish in the store for way less than I spend chasing them each year. The difference is that it is something I truely enjoy and love to do. Yes, the rates are forcing people to make changes, and compain, grumble and so on... however, because I don't have any other choice, I'll pay the price because that is my love and passion. Whats the old saying: I don't have to like it, I just have to live with it?