I've been formulating some thoughts around the topic of non-resident fees for some time now... I'm not saying I've come to any concrete stances yet, but I've got some ideas floating around,some concepts that seem to make sense in a nebulous sort of way that I'm trying to work into a more solid position in my own mind. Maybe discussing them here will help me solidify my thought process.

I guess what burns me up about the ridiculous prices Illinois -- and other states as well -- charge for access is that their boundaries are abritrary, imaginary lines (well documented, of course -- but just as imaginary) that say this is where "our state" stops and yours begins, based on someone standing in a spot150-200 years agoand saying "Uh, this looks good"... and then the corresponding attitude that the deer (or whichever game animal you want to plug into the equation) are "ours" that we can hold ransom and rake the common, everyday sportsman over the coals for...

I live just a couple miles across the Mississippi river, and guarantee you I live closer to the deer I hunt than a lot of the Illinois residents do which hunt the same public grounds. Don't get me wrong; I think it's just as unfair when Missouri or anyone else does it. I just wonder about the sanity of charging such exorbitant prices for "out-of-staters."

It's getting so that only the wealthy will be able to enjoy the finer hunting territories in our great country, and that will affect the future of our sport. There's a reason you take a kid fishing in a farm pond stocked with hand-sized bluegill, and bait his hook with a plump, juicy cricket and allow it to hang underneath a bobber; he will be much more likely to get hooked on the sport (pun sorta intended) when enjoying early and often success.

There's a huge difference in introducing that kid to fishing that way as opposed to handing hima fly rod and a handful of nymphs and streamers, telling him to"go to it, boy"... just like there's a huge difference in taking a youngster to a state like Illinois where he's got a better chance of seeing deer -- maybe not killing, but at least seeing -- as opposed to some other areas wherehe'll belucky to see a deer all season, let alone in one evening hunt.

I think we should have a national hunting license, valid in all 50 states...

I realize this could be very controversial, and the strongest feelings will probably be elicited by those who already reside in incredible deer-hunting geographical states like Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, etc...

I think it could make for a great dialectic, though... and I can finally have a chance to flesh out this vague idea I've got floating around somewhere up there...