ORIGINAL: 5575gb
ORIGINAL: Splitear_Leland
I would personally go for public ground. I would hate to go to another state, use an outfitter, and know that I'm hunting on property that was leased so that no local hunters could use it. I firmly believe that outfitters and personal leasing will be the downfall of this great sport. It's destined to become a rich man's sport. Just my two cents. Do it yourself and take pride in knowing that you usedYOUR skill to succeed and have a good time.
I feel the same way as splitear on this one! Do it yourself in the lower 48, why contribute to a hunting pimp that takes away hunting land from other hunters.
i agree and at the same time completely disagree with this...
for locals, yes, it DEFINITELY sucks that the guides are sucking up the land and charging out the wang for a hunt... which, as other mentioned, I'd never use a guide for game I can hunt locally or that is available for me to hunt without a guide...
however....... for guys like me that want to hunt Elk, caribou, 'lopes, or etc., well, a guided hunt from a reputable guide service is about the only way you can do it economically... think about it, me living in the chicago area I'd have to buy a very serious amount of gear to be used for a one week per year hunt... not to mention travel (by truck of course)... it would take me about 5-7yrs of unguided hunts to make up the cost difference... then toss in the very low success rates of people hunting areas/animals they are not familiar with, not to mention eating up at minimum 1-2 weeks worth of vacation days that I can use for other things since I can hunt whitey's fairly locally...
what I hear from the anti-guide hunters sounds a lot like "local's rule, tourists drool" kinda sour grapes... they want their land all to themselves and can't stand the fact that there is an entire economy in the area based on this...
guides are part of hunting now, whether we like it or not... I'm takin each of my boys to WY for a guided antelope hunt for their 12th bday, its something they cannot hunt locally... they will have taken whitey's by then anyway so this is kind of a special treat for them...