Tony - don't think I'm not just as sore as everyone else about the decrease in available land to hunt and the increase in fees because I am. But is it really anyone's "fault".

Can I blame the developer who bought my hunting spot so he could subdivide it and build $500,000 homes? Not really. He's the fire that fuels our entire economy and the basis upon which our country was built.

Can I blame guys like Craig Neace for wanting to make a couple bucks and help guys who might never have a chance at killing anything bigger than a 100 inch deer come to a state like IL and live their dream? I'd like to think not.

Can I blame the Outdoor Channel, North American Whitetail magazine, and the B&C record book for showing people that IL has some monster bucks? No, not really.

The fact of the matter is that this is real life. Just because it's our passion and what we all live for doesn't make hunting exempt from the trends, rules, and laws of our overall economy. There's only so many big bucks and only so many spots to hunt, and everyone wants a piece of the same pie. It's no different than buying lakefront property somewhere. There's only so many miles of shoreline and everyone wants a piece. There's only so many mint condition 66 Mustang GT350s left in the world, and if you want one you're going to pay a lot more for it today than you would've 30 years ago. That's just the way the world works.

The thing that irks me about this entire post is that immediately you read Craig's post and want to jump on his back without ever having met or talked to the guy once in your life. As if he's some rich out-of-stater who came in and bought up all this land in your backyard and is selling high-fenced hunts for a million dollars per inch of antler.

Craig will be at the Hunt'n Camp on Saturday, so you'll have a chance to pick his brain, talk to him, hang out with him, and then you can let me know if you think he's ruined hunting in Illinois for everyone.