A proposal to boost the number of acres people must own to apply for landowner hunting tags in Wyoming could cut out smaller property owners across the state, hunters told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday.
“I put generational sweat and blood into my property, as I’m sure a lot of people in Wyoming have,” said Ken Ball, who owns 400 acres south of Glenrock.
The change would require landowners to own 640 acres, up from 160 acres. Ball currently qualifies for two landowner antelope and two landowner elk tags each year. He uses one of each per species, while he typically gifts the other tags to family.
“It’s a generational thing. My daughter grew up thinking she was going to have access to those tags, along with her soon-to-be husband,” Ball said.
Kevin Christopherson owns a total of 490 acres on two parcels in the Box Elder Canyon area, also south of Glenrock. He and his family have used landowner tags to hunt elk there, and he wants to pass that legacy on to his grandchildren.
If the qualifying amount of land is boosted to 640 contiguous acres, it would disqualify “hundreds of property owners” from getting landowner tags, he said.
“This is a statewide issue. Not just a regional issue,” Christopherson said.
What Are Landowner Tags?
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s landowner tag program allows qualifying property owners to apply for two hunting tags for each of certain huntable species. Those species include elk, deer, antelope and wild turkeys.
To qualify for tags, one needs to own at least 160 contiguous acres in a draw-only hunt area for each species being applied for, according to Game and Fish regulations.
If general hunting tags – which may be purchased over-the-counter – are valid in that area, the property owner can’t apply for landowner tags.
The land must also provide food, cover and water for the species being applied for. And it must provide at least 2,000 days of use each year for the species the landowner is applying for.
What that means, for instance, is if 10 deer occupy the land for at least 200 days a year, that counts as 2,000 days of use.
Or, likewise, if 500 elk are on that land for four days a year, again, that would also count as 2,000 days.
Tags can be issued to immediate family members.
The regulations define “immediate family members” as the landowner’s parents, grandparents, lineal descendants and their spouses, or the landowner’s siblings.
Kevin Christopherson has used trail cameras to capture numerous images of wildlife on land he owns in the Box Elder Canyon area south of Glenrock. (Courtesy: Kevin Christopherson) 
Kevin Christopherson has used trail cameras to capture numerous images of wildlife on land he owns in the Box Elder Canyon area south of Glenrock. (Courtesy: Kevin Christopherson) 
Kevin Christopherson has used trail cameras to capture numerous images of wildlife on land he owns in the Box Elder Canyon area south of Glenrock. (Courtesy: Kevin Christopherson)
Changes In The Works
There’s been an ongoing discussion about changing the parameters for landowner tags.
Concerns about the program have included worries that some people use the landowner tags to market Wyoming properties as essentially hunting preserves for wealthy out-of-staters.
It was initially decided to boost the requirements to a minimum 160 acres of cultivated land, or 320 contiguous acres of land, cultivated or uncultivated.
However, during its November 2024 meeting, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission opted to take things farther – by recommending minimums of 160 cultivated acres, or 640 contiguous acres.
It was also proposed to raise the days of use requirement from 2,000 to 3,000, according to minutes from that meeting.
The commission is expected to take the matter up again during its July meeting.
Could Changes Encourage Subdivisions?
Christopherson said he’s always enjoyed elk hunting, and used to frequently hunt in the Cody area.
However, the grizzlies are getting thick there, he said, and he was “almost eaten” a couple of times.
“I knew I was going to die if I kept hunting elk there. It’s getting dangerous there,” he said.
So he started seeking some property with wildlife on it, in hopes of applying for landowner tags – and found what he was looking for in the Box Elder Canyon area.
“It’s a really cool piece of land. It’s like wilderness, we don’t have roads in there,” he said.
The landowner tag program encourages people to buy larger parcels, instead of 2 to 40-acresubdivision properties, he said.
However, if qualifications cut out people buying properties in the 160-to-320-acre range, that could lead to more subdivisions when huge “legacy ranches” get sold off in chunks, he said.
“The most valuable thing you can do with a piece of property like that is to subdivide it,” Christopherson said. “There’s an incentive not to subdivide it, if you qualify for those landowner elk tags.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
