Ranchers, private landowners can supplement operations with outfitters, public access | Destination

Big game lure for out-of-state hunters

According to Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association, a 2015 study conducted by Southwick Associates, outlined the importance of big game hunting specifically. That study was later updated in 2020, showing a 0.6% increase in resident hunters, but a 9.2% increase in nonresident hunters recreating in Wyoming.

In total, the economic contributions of big game hunting to the state totaled $339.2 million, spread across gear, travel, guides and other goods and services.

Outfitters and ranchers, among others, benefit from the spending of nonresident hunters in particular. According to the study, guided, nonresident big game hunters in Wyoming spent $4,003 on average for guides and outfitters in 2020. When added to their total spending on other hunting-related items, nonresident, guided hunters spend more than five times what unguided nonresident hunters spend.

While only approximately 24% of hunters opt to use guides and outfitters, those local services were paid a total of $52.8 million by hunters in 2020, 85% of which came from nonresidents. Those dollars then trickle down, providing much needed revenue for landowners. According to the study, revenues dedicated to compensate landowners total about $11 million annually in Wyoming.

While the study focused on the impact of big game hunting in Wyoming — which includes species such as antelope, deer, elk, bear, mountain lions and moose — the impact and cooperation between outfitters, guides and landowners stretches beyond big game.

Angling for well-maintained waterways

Clark Smyth, who owns and operates Fly Shop of the Bighorns and outfitting service Rock Creek Anglers, the path to becoming a fishing guide started in the mid-1990s when he began taking folks out to local waterways for Paradise Guest Ranch.

That expanded into guiding with the HF Bar Ranch then eventually morphed into his current role as downtown retail shop owner, travel guide agency and outfitter.

Rock Creek Anglers’ relationship with the HF Bar has extended the longest, starting with the outfitter’s founder in 1992. He approached the HF Bar to see if he could have a presence at the guest ranch and convince guests to pay him to take them fishing.

“Now we have 16 guides, four of whom are staffed out there,” Smyth said.

The ranch owners, in exchange for the guides helping with miscellaneous work on the ranch, provide room and board for the guides. The HF Bar also allows the outfitters to run a small satellite shop from the ranch.

Beyond the HF Bar, though, Rock Creek Anglers has relationships with several landowners in the area. Smyth noted while all the relationships are similar, they are each unique in what the landowners hope for out of the relationship. In some instances, for example, Smyth and his team of guides have carte blanche to manage the fisheries on private lands because the landowners trust them.

“We have the chance to take people out and teach them about the ranching lifestyle, gate etiquette and things we come across while out fishing,” Smyth said.

In addition, some of the landowners with which Rock Creek Anglers works used to provide public access to their properties, but may have been burned by those experiences — sometimes literally by those who started grass fires, left trash or over-fished an area. Offering leases to outfitters creates more oversight.

Smyth said without agreements with private landowners, outfitters would be limited to areas the general public fishes. This can create too much competition and spoil a fishery.

“The fact that we’re respecting the fishery — and that we pay extra to utilize the land, so those landowners can make a nice chunk of change for the summer without having to do too much to actively oversee that makes for a beneficial relationship for all involved,” Smyth said.

The relationship between private landowners and hunters goes beyond agreements and permits with outfitters and can include members of the general public as well — some local and some traveling from afar in search of hunting opportunities.

Christina Schmidt, public information specialist for the Sheridan Region of Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said the partnership between landowners and hunters or anglers has a long history.

“Private landowners play an incredibly important role in providing both habitat for wildlife populations and access for hunters and anglers,” Schmidt said. “This role is particularly important in the Sheridan Region (which covers a large area of the northeast corner of the state) where 85% of land is privately-owned.”

WGFD is responsible for managing and conserving wildlife, and hunting is the primary management tool utilized. Hunters, and therefore landowners who provide access to them, help WGFD meet management goals.

Eric Wilhelm, of Ucross Outfitters, noted a change in hunting access over the last few decades.

“When I was growing up you could knock on most any door in the country and find a place to hunt; now that has gone by the wayside and the hunting society as a whole has themselves to blame,” Wilhelm said. “Most landowners are tired of finding trash, cut fences and tire tracks off their roads.”

WGFD officials, in their annual report regarding the Access Yes Program, also noted the difficulty of finding places to hunt, but attributed the change to the monetary value of wildlife, complex land ownership and usage.

“The amount of private lands leased by those in the outfitting industry continues to increase,” the report from 2021 states. “With many traditional landowners now charging trespass fees to generate additional income, fewer people have the opportunity to hunt or fish on private and landlocked public lands.”

The goal of the Access Yes Program is to enhance and maintain public hunting and fishing access onto Wyoming private and landlocked public lands. This is accomplished by enrolling private landowners into one of the access programs (Hunter Management Area, Walk-in Hunting or Walk-in Fishing). The landowner and WGFD personnel negotiate the terms of an agreement including: agreement length (one to five years), the species that can be harvested, the geographic location, dates access will be allowed and any other specific rules or stipulations.

In exchange for granting access, landowners receive a monetary payment based on the number of acres or length of stream enrolled in the program, increased law enforcement presence, increased wildlife management and management of disruptions to landowners.

According to the WGFD report, in 2021, the Access Yes Program paid $1,025,431 to landowners for hunting and fishing access across the state of Wyoming, and every dollar spent provided approximately 2.8 acres of access.

John Buyok has participated in the Access Yes Program as a landowner for more than 20 years and noted he was among the first group to sign up to allow access to his land.

“People in Wyoming are luckier than most because of the public lands that are available,” Buyok said. “We also think that it is important to provide a place where our fellow county citizens can recreate.”

Buyok said for the first couple of years he and his wife were in the Access Yes Program, they only allowed access during hunting seasons.

“The positive effects we experienced in terms of reductions in trespassing damage, poaching and vandalism convinced us that allowing access was a net win both for us and the public so we opened up our land year-around not only for hunting but for other recreation, too,” he said. “We have met people who regularly use our property for hiking, dog walking, trail running, snowshoeing, skiing, horseback riding and bird watching as well as hunting.

“People have been really good about respecting the land and reporting any dangerous or illegal activities in order to make sure that we continue to allow access.”

While the Buyoks, like other landowners participating in the Access Yes Program, receive payment for allowing public access, Buyok said the amount isn’t enough to sway their decision on whether to participate.

“In our case, most of the financial incentive to remain in the program consists of our reduced expenses for repairs and replacements due to reductions in vandalism and trespassing,” he said.

In addition to an Access Yes payment, landowners can collect and turn in landowner coupons from hunters who successfully harvest a big game animal on their private property, Schmidt said. Landowner coupons are included with a hunter’s big game license and can be filled out by the hunter, detached and given to the landowner after he or she has harvested an animal. The landowner can then turn these coupons into WGFD and receive a $16 per coupon reimbursement.

While outfitter leases or Access Yes programs typically do not provide enough income for ranchers or farmers to survive on, they do supplement revenues in a difficult industry often wracked by uncertainty in commodity prices and weather while also benefiting wildlife populations and outdoor enthusiasts.

“There will always be conflicts and people who are difficult to deal with, but at least in our case, we’ve found that if hunters, recreationists and landowners have respect for each other and work together, we can come up with solutions that are mutually beneficial,” Buyok said.