This is going to be long so I appologize in advance. What I dont understand is where you are coming up with the conclusion that everywhere in the country is under the same situation as your area. I also do not understand why you have such a problem with leasing property. How is leasing property any different then giving the person whos land you are hunting on some venison if you are lucky enough to come away with a deer? Or how it is different from an agreement to where you help the land owner out with some sort of work? They are all the same idea but when you lease you use cash instead of meat or work. I am saying all of this and I dont lease any land, nor can I afford to. I am just another person living from paycheck to paycheck that has a deep pasion for hunting and the hunting community.

Look at it from this point of view. You live in the city because it is what is affordable to you. You used to be into hunting but got out of it once your son was born. Now 12 years later,you and your son are trying to get into hunting but do not know any of the local land owners.You stumble across an oppertunity to lease 100 wooded acres from a local gentleman for $800 a year. Money is tight but you manage to come up with the money to lease the land. You use your older bow equiptment and you buy your son a used setup and they hunt the land after going through all of the proper safety education courses and getting all of their permits. Now this whole time you have spent alot of money but made alot of friends in the process. But most importantly you are bonding with your son. All with the help of being able to lease the land. My point is you cant assume that everyone is out to get a trophy buck. For most hunters they are in it for another reason other then the trophy buck. The people that are in it for the trophy buck... these so called rich people you speak of can go to one of these "outfitters" and "hunt" tame and caged deer for their thrills. These people that you speak of are the ones who can usually afford to BUY the land and not lease it. There are a million different ways to look at this topic and no matter what you do there is not going to be a right answer. These "facts" that you are stating are actually "Opinions". If you want something done about it dont argue with these here good people. Go out and get some real facts and then try to get people to help you with your cause. Not trying to be mean but until there are solid facts and ways to fix the wrong doings... why fight about it?