I really wanted to stay out of this conversation, but I can't help myself, and need to say a few things. For starters, don't lump all outfitters together. There are alot of different kinds of outfitters. I am an outfitter in southern Iowa. I will say I am different from most. My dad and I run the service. We OWN the land we hunt and have for 15 years. We don't lease anything. We aren't getting rich doing this either. We do this because it was something I have always wanted to do, and it pays for the management we do. It pays for treestands, food plots, and all the other little stuff we all buy every year.

I throughly enjoy doing this. I have met guys from all over the country. We have had some of the most hard core hunters you will ever see. These are just regular guys, who live in places that don't have the trophy class bucks these guys have been dreaming about their whole lives. So they go somewhere that does. To be an outfitter in Iowa you have to be in it because you like it. Because of the minimal amount of non-resident tags the state gives out, nobody is getting rich here.

Which leads me to bring up this thought. A lot of the blame in Illinois lies with the state. When you give out 20,000+ tags a year to non-res hunters, what do you think is going to happen. These hunters and outfitters/landowners know they are guaranteed hunters every year. That is not the case in Iowa. Still I have had conversations with state reps and DNR officials about licensing outfitters, to keep the business in check. I don't want my state to end uplike Illinois.

Another thing that puzzles me is why I hardly ever see anyone hunting the 4500 acres of public land that borders our farm. This is some of the best hunting ground you will ever find. I hunt it some myself, and I don't have to. I hunt it because it is excellent hunting. Besides the first weekend of shotgun season I rarely see more than 2-3 vehicles a day there, and that is a weekend. You hardly see anyone during the week. The only reason I can come up with is people are lazy. There are no motorized vehiles allowed on state ground, so people have to walk.

I am sure I have offended some people with this, and I am sorry for that, but I was getting sick of people lumping all outfitters together. I will be the first to tell you that there are some real crooks out there, but that is the same with anything. I do feel bad for guys that don't have a place to hunt. I can't imagine how bad that would suck, but I think the blame can be spread around to a lot of different people. So the next time you decide to go off on a group of people, remember that not everyone is the same.

Thanks,
Dan