- Joined
- Sep 16, 2005
- Messages
- 1,364
First off Hunting is not a sport never has been and should not be treated as such, it is part of our heritage, cultural and traditions, it is a lot of things but it is not a sport. It is heritage plain and simple. Our society views it a sport because it has a become for most of its participants now a leisure time activity, just like bowling, golf, weight training, tennis, etc.
It is not the amount of land or lack of animals check out the NRCS office numbers on wilderness and we have as much now in the CONUS as we did near the turn of the century (1900), that is a fact I know it doesn't seem like it but we do. Additionally most game animal herds here in the CONUS are at all time highs thanks to hunters and groups like, Rocky Moutain Elk Foundation, Quail Forever, Ducks Unlimited, etc.
The problem is four fold.
First, access to the lands we have. Most wild lands are either leased to private individuals or groups, or owned by by same. Some of it is locked up as the owners do not approve of hunting or purchased by animal groups or environmental groups pushing an agenda who want the land left alone, no hunting, no logging, no people, no nothing. So while we have plenty of wild lands and more being placed back into wilderness, wild lands, or timberland every year access is declining.
Second, cost. When I first start paying hunting club dues back when I was 18 you could get into a good club for $400.00/$500.00 a year a do all the hunting you wanted, squirrels, ducks in the sloughs and deer. Now 22 years later I'm in an ok club that allows DEER hunting only, now we have all the other animals and plenty of em but it is a DEER club and it runs me every bit of $1,600.00 per year just for membership which allows me two tag areas approximately 350 yards square by 350 yards square that no one is allowed to hunt in but me. There is a not guest policy to keep pressure down and daylight deer movement up, my son can hunt with me on my membership at my tag locations until he is 16 and then has to get his own membership. Good thing I only have one son because that is all that is allowed have more than one child and you buy a membership for each additional child. This policy was brought about after one year a new member showed up opening day with one four wheeler and four kids all with high powered rifles. he went in and starting dropping off at kids at stands and had taken up 5 stands and paid one membership. He was refunded his money that morning and politely asked not to come back. To continue with cost, climbers, ladder stands, shooting houses, tractors, 4 wheelers, seed, fertilzers, soil test, etc, I'm dropping $5,000.00 a year easy and compared to nearly all the people around us were poor boying it bigtime. The real good clubs here are $3,500.00 per year just for membership, that just gets you in the door. Land is being bought up and leased up all around for insane prices mainly by local trail attorneys who hit one big case and whamo its like they have just won the lottery, its amazing to watch it happen.
Time, my lease is 50 minutes from my house or office and if I make a morning midday or evening hunt the whole day is pretty much gone. That is just for hunting thats not counting all the work days, building stands, planting food plots, bush hogging roads and shooting lanes, camp clean up etc. My days to refill all the supplemental feeding stations during the off season because we have to feed year around. I spend 30 days a year there and I could easily spend 45 but I just don't have the time. I have to jockey my scheduel and run on fumes for hunting season, I'm drinking two pots of coffee a day right now just trying to get in and out the woods. Try and take the kids with school, scouts, bitty ball, fall ball, friends, you can forget it.
Last is what Blue Sky just hit upon, while I love to sit in a climber, ladder, tri pod, shoting house etc. for hours on end enjoying the solitude and the woods my 6 six year old wants action and wants to shoot, NOW DADDY NOW. Heres the problem my club says NO, deer hunting only, period end of discussion. So he is pretty much going to be out on deer hunting, loves to duck hunt but deer hunt not unless your texas or alabama on a big greenfield in January and theres deer everywhere, he is just not interested. Not his fault he's six that how he is was made. Blame QDMA for this and most of the other things referrenced above except the time issue. Trophy hunting has taken over and thats not hunting, we've turned into deer farmers not hunters, my hunting mags now have more tractor and seed advirtisments than bullets and guns. Trophy hunting is also what the anti hunting crowd hates the most and that regardless of what QDMA says is what their about more than anything else. Down south QDMA really went gang busters about 7 to 8 years ago but now were seeing a back lash and even recently Outdoor Life magazine had a pretty good article about the brewing backlash againest QDMA. To QDMA's credit their trying to get in front of this and say trophy hunting is not their goal, but its hard to ignore their track record, web site, magazine, etc. for the past 10 years or so. Part of the reason our cost or so high is we have to feed year around, water and grow seasonal food plots because all our neighbors are and if we don't the deer will leave for greener pastures we only have 2100 acres, we've got neighbors who have 10,000+ and the place looks like a golf course for deer hunting, they have their own club equipment (tractors, excavators, etc) and a full time staff including a biologist and forester. Its sick, but we can thank the plantiffs bar and QDMA for most of it plain and simple.
It is not the amount of land or lack of animals check out the NRCS office numbers on wilderness and we have as much now in the CONUS as we did near the turn of the century (1900), that is a fact I know it doesn't seem like it but we do. Additionally most game animal herds here in the CONUS are at all time highs thanks to hunters and groups like, Rocky Moutain Elk Foundation, Quail Forever, Ducks Unlimited, etc.
The problem is four fold.
First, access to the lands we have. Most wild lands are either leased to private individuals or groups, or owned by by same. Some of it is locked up as the owners do not approve of hunting or purchased by animal groups or environmental groups pushing an agenda who want the land left alone, no hunting, no logging, no people, no nothing. So while we have plenty of wild lands and more being placed back into wilderness, wild lands, or timberland every year access is declining.
Second, cost. When I first start paying hunting club dues back when I was 18 you could get into a good club for $400.00/$500.00 a year a do all the hunting you wanted, squirrels, ducks in the sloughs and deer. Now 22 years later I'm in an ok club that allows DEER hunting only, now we have all the other animals and plenty of em but it is a DEER club and it runs me every bit of $1,600.00 per year just for membership which allows me two tag areas approximately 350 yards square by 350 yards square that no one is allowed to hunt in but me. There is a not guest policy to keep pressure down and daylight deer movement up, my son can hunt with me on my membership at my tag locations until he is 16 and then has to get his own membership. Good thing I only have one son because that is all that is allowed have more than one child and you buy a membership for each additional child. This policy was brought about after one year a new member showed up opening day with one four wheeler and four kids all with high powered rifles. he went in and starting dropping off at kids at stands and had taken up 5 stands and paid one membership. He was refunded his money that morning and politely asked not to come back. To continue with cost, climbers, ladder stands, shooting houses, tractors, 4 wheelers, seed, fertilzers, soil test, etc, I'm dropping $5,000.00 a year easy and compared to nearly all the people around us were poor boying it bigtime. The real good clubs here are $3,500.00 per year just for membership, that just gets you in the door. Land is being bought up and leased up all around for insane prices mainly by local trail attorneys who hit one big case and whamo its like they have just won the lottery, its amazing to watch it happen.
Time, my lease is 50 minutes from my house or office and if I make a morning midday or evening hunt the whole day is pretty much gone. That is just for hunting thats not counting all the work days, building stands, planting food plots, bush hogging roads and shooting lanes, camp clean up etc. My days to refill all the supplemental feeding stations during the off season because we have to feed year around. I spend 30 days a year there and I could easily spend 45 but I just don't have the time. I have to jockey my scheduel and run on fumes for hunting season, I'm drinking two pots of coffee a day right now just trying to get in and out the woods. Try and take the kids with school, scouts, bitty ball, fall ball, friends, you can forget it.
Last is what Blue Sky just hit upon, while I love to sit in a climber, ladder, tri pod, shoting house etc. for hours on end enjoying the solitude and the woods my 6 six year old wants action and wants to shoot, NOW DADDY NOW. Heres the problem my club says NO, deer hunting only, period end of discussion. So he is pretty much going to be out on deer hunting, loves to duck hunt but deer hunt not unless your texas or alabama on a big greenfield in January and theres deer everywhere, he is just not interested. Not his fault he's six that how he is was made. Blame QDMA for this and most of the other things referrenced above except the time issue. Trophy hunting has taken over and thats not hunting, we've turned into deer farmers not hunters, my hunting mags now have more tractor and seed advirtisments than bullets and guns. Trophy hunting is also what the anti hunting crowd hates the most and that regardless of what QDMA says is what their about more than anything else. Down south QDMA really went gang busters about 7 to 8 years ago but now were seeing a back lash and even recently Outdoor Life magazine had a pretty good article about the brewing backlash againest QDMA. To QDMA's credit their trying to get in front of this and say trophy hunting is not their goal, but its hard to ignore their track record, web site, magazine, etc. for the past 10 years or so. Part of the reason our cost or so high is we have to feed year around, water and grow seasonal food plots because all our neighbors are and if we don't the deer will leave for greener pastures we only have 2100 acres, we've got neighbors who have 10,000+ and the place looks like a golf course for deer hunting, they have their own club equipment (tractors, excavators, etc) and a full time staff including a biologist and forester. Its sick, but we can thank the plantiffs bar and QDMA for most of it plain and simple.