Nice recollection "Mounting Man". I cut my teeth hunting ducks and small game in the swampy woodlands of south Lousiana in the late 1950's. I left La. in 1971. To give you an idea of the scarcity, my dad hunted deer with a group of 10-12 guys who used hounds. In the 20+ years that he hunted with them, he never had one single shot. Taking 4-5 bucks a season for the whole club was a big year. I arrowed a cow horn spike in the winter of my 15 th. year and for a time was a local legend of sorts. I never saw another deer.
I moved to Alabama in 1974. I started hunting deer again with a group of guys .... using hounds .... hunting on vast holdings of 3 pulp/paper companies. A permit to do so was under $10.00. Within 3 years, though I enjoyed the sound of hounds on a hot trrail .... and killed a couple of young bucks, I gave up the "dog world" and switched to "permission hunting" private land. That lasted only about 2-3 more years, then the tidal wave of leasing hunting rights swept across the state. In my view both the "slob hunter" and the enticement of "no work" income played the major roles in this transition. Now this is the rule rather than the exception. I have heard rumor that some of the hunting rightrs go for $20-$25/acre. The landowner where I hunt charges $8.50/acre for a group of us to hunt his 3000 +/- acres.
So .... like you, I have memories of a very different time. In some ways maybe better. In some ways maybe not. For me the fun has always been the "camp", the BS, the serenity of a day in the woods .... and the slowed pace away from the work-a-day world ... and yep, from time to time a bit of "shine" has shown up.
Oh ... and I also like a grilled 2" thick chunk of mairinated back-strap on my plate (rare), with a pile of wild rice and 2-3 slices of fried green tomatoes ... followed by a thick piece of my wife's home made sweet 'tater pie ... a strong cup of Community coffee.
Life is good. God is great !