ORIGINAL: Cougar Mag
For those that are irritated about outfitters grabbing up land...........the only ones to thank for that are your fellow hunters. If guys were not willing to pay to hunt they (and leases) would not exist. You can't blame the landowners for taking money for something instead of giving it away for free.
I agree
They have a family and taxes to pay on that land...........farmers around me are FAR from wealthy so I wouldn't blame them one bit. They would be crazy not to take the money.
I somewhat agree but mainly disagree. I've lived in the midwest all of my life and grew up on a small farm. Many if not the majority of the farms are now corporate operations. Even 2,500 acres is not considered that large any longer. Farm land is being grabbed up at record prices, even way out in the boonies. Right now with the bio fuel surge, beans are $12 a bushel and corn at $4 a bushel. So the large corporate farms are doing pretty dang good. They are investors, not just farmers and they know what they are doing. I think thats part of the problem. Much of the land is now gobbled up by investors who realize there is a large profit to me made not just now but in the future.
I don't doubt that some farmers make a nice profit.........I simply stated that the guys I know around me are not rolling in money that is for sure.
We worry about outfitters scooping up all the land??........God forbid one of these huge corporations figures out that guys will gladly drop $8,000-$10,000 a year to hunt on prime land. Even a 50 million investment could be easily made back in under 10 years...........and for that much money you could own half a state.
I pray we never see the days of MASSIVE hunting "clubs" that sell memberships like Gold's Gym.