RE: Horn Farming
Dave, if in your situation I don't know that I would have handled it differently than you have. You certainly don't want to give up your land, but cattle ranches aren't the business they used to be, so you have to do something. In your case you have conducted the business in a respectable manner. You have set your standards (bowhunting only) and made a living with what you've got. The kill farms that you have mentioned are the problem. That fierce competition and the realization that pockets can get fat have fueled that industry and created gluttony for the hunters at the cost of the animals. You know that you could make more money, but you have stuck to your principles and I respect that.
If I were in your shoes I most likely would have done the same thing as you, but that doesn't excuse what the others you mentioned have turned their land into. From what you've said too, I think you would agree that saying that they've turned to "hunting" is using the term hunting fairly loosely. Buying a fresh new stock of deer for the next crew of hunters to come in andshoot updoesn't constitute what I know as hunting.
Things could be worse, here in PA when family land is passed down to generations that don't want to or can't farm and the IRS comes looking for their cut, they subdivide and the next expanse of homes for urban sprawl pop up. At least people get to hunt on your land.