You can always tell the guys who cant afford a hunt in XYZ for big 123 animals yet want to, from the guys who either can't or don't care to. The first ones are the ones to complain about it the most! Simple jealousy...
THE first rule of trophy hunting ANYTHING is 1). Hunt where such animals exist!
I have had the God given luck of hunting just such places. The Encinitos in south TX twice in 99 (Real Tree was there between my trips), The Gila/Apache area in NM (Real Tree and Mossy Oak both hunt this area each season for the amazing bulls there) and the largest private lease in Kansas just outside of Manhattan, KS (could look across the valley and see the ranch where Real Tree hunts when in KS and the place were Bill Jordan took that monster bowkill down in the cooley a few years ago). And I will be honest with you guys, I look forward to hunting other such places. I don't look down on anyone or think I am any better than anyother hunter, just luckier to be able to partake in such experiences. I am GLAD for the next guy to be blessed with the luck to pull the trigger on such amazing animals. GOOD FOR THEM!!! Sure I wish it were me, but if it can't be I'm glad someone else took that animal instead of it being shoot over a headlight, run-over by a car or the horns cutup to make knife handles out of by some redneck who thinks B&C is what comes between A&D!
I will admit that I haven't hunted behind a fence yet, but after hunting on The Encinitos for one season (some of its neighbors were) I can see where humongous tracks of land indeed NEED to be fenced for proper management. If you have never hunted un-molested animals on a large tract of private land you simply are missing out and I hope that EVERYONE reading this post gets the opportunity at least once in their lives.
Most guys I know that hunt on public land or small leases with to many hunters are happy when they just see an occasional buck. Furthermore the time between true trophy sightings are measured with a calendar instead of hours, days or months. Being BRUTALLY honest, there aren't alot of guys who stay in the sport for life under such circumstances. How much fun is it to sit on a stand for 20 years and see 1 buck per season or even get excited about simply seeing a deer ever now and then? New hunter recruitment and retainment under such situations is nil at best. And you certainly won't learn much about animals with such limited exposure. How can you predict seasonal patterns and shifts when you "might" see all of 20 deer per season (and then most of those are high-tailing it thru the woods on the escape) vs someone who has spent decades watching and studying THOUSANDS of animals in that same period of time?
I guess some of you are jealous of those of us who go too places like southern CA, TX or FLA for bass? Like I said the first rule of trophy ANYTHING is being where those trophies are. I don't care WHERE you fish above the Mason-Dixon line, you will NOT break the worlds record for bass (smallmouth or large for that matter). And likewise for whitetails. The next #1 isn't coming from the public woods of PA or some over crowded lease in southern MS.
With all that being said, DON'T get me wrong I am NOT saying anything bad about your trophies. CONGRATULATIONS and I am happy for you. Just don't get pissy and call others names because they had the abilities to get something much larger than what you can realistically hope to take on "typically average" hunting range.
Just don't knock what you might not fully understand!
RA