I think so many people are just missing it. The fact is, hunting is not what it was 20 years ago. Bill Jordan and his monster buck videos years ago has changed hunting forever. People now crave the booner, people are now more worried about how many inches a deer score instead of just being happy they are able to kill a deer. The Drury Brothers turned Pike County into what it is today. When they first start hunting Pike you could buy land all day for $800 an acres in Pike, Adams, Calhoun, now that same land (which most of is not farmable) goes for between $4,500 and $5,000 an acres. You cannot turn on a T.V show anymore and not see such and such county Illinois, or such and such county Iowa, or Kansas, Missouri. They are the ones the have drove the prices up and the local hunter out. I know some guys from Texas that come up to Illinois every year to hunt. They say they cannot afford to hunt in Texas anymore, so they come to Illinois and hunt public ground. Texas started, Drury brought Illinois into and every other state that has a good number of big deer has either followed or is starting to follow. You cannot blame the farmer for cashing in. That would be same and getting upset because some selling something you want to buy at a price you cannot afford. They own the land, simple, their rules. You cannot get upset at the local hunter who is just trying to hunt. I will tell you for a fact that public ground in Illinois is over ran, mostly with out-of-state hunters. They all seem to think that there is a 150" deer behind every tree. Yes, land owners are cashing in on this. Cannot blame them, cannot blame the local hunter who is just wanting to hunt. If you want to get upset at someone, blame yourself the next time you turn the T.V. on and watch the outdoors channel, blame the guy that is willing to fork over $5,000 to hunt for a week. This is why the land owners are able charge for hunting, this is why the price will continue to sky rocket. It is funny, I read posts on here all the time about someone going on an out-of-state hunt with an outfitter and don't ever hear anyone complain about that, but instead here people wish them luck, but then get upset when a guy is paying more that 1/2 what an outfitter will charge for week for hunting rights for the entire season. I don't hate the out-of-state hunter, I don't hate the outfitter. I understand exactly what it is. A guy wants a huge buck, he is willing to pay for it, an outfitter is willing to charge him for the chance, the outfitter needs land, the land owner has it. You just have to understand the rules of the game and be willing to play by them, or stop playing the game.