Greg / MO

Very good and valid points, duke...

As someone who makes their real living in medical sales with 70% of my territory in Southern Illinois, I've seen first-hand how inept the Illinois government -- and specifically Blagojevich -- has been in withholding monies promised to hospitals for reimbursement of medicare and medicaid for what I can only guess is his more personal pet projects. It's effected a large percentage of my smaller hospitals to the point that patient care has suffered.

It's almost unthinkable to fathom how Illinois' government is bent on robbing ready resources to the point of affecting vastly different resources ranging from healthcare to sportsmen's wallets to satisfy its own greed.

dukemichaels

Don't even get me started on the state's disposition of medicare and medicaid.[:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@][:@]

MeanV2

I've talked to the local GW here and actually very little of the money goes into doing anything to improve habitat or hunting. Illinois is making some Big mistakes and they will be the ones to pay down the road. Iowa has one of the best NR permit plans going. Yeah it's hard to get a tag, but when you do you will get a quality hunt.

I payed $178 for an over the counter Deer tag in NE for 07, and $86 for a NR Turkey tag. They will be the same in 08. I'd hate to think I had to pay $400 plus for the deer tag. MO. NR Turkey tag of $175 is high enough but at least you can hunt the entire season and kill 2 turkeys.

It's like Cougar said in IL we have to draw for aspecific week and then if you get sour weather you may be screwed. That's the reason they made 5 weeks of Turkey season, they can sell tags 5 times. Sad!![:@]

Dan

Schultzy

No big deal, no one's perfect, I sure the heck ain't!! I think they've always been fairly decent priced but i could be wrong. Magicman- I like all your post through out the board, you have real good things to say! Keep it up buddy!!

spudrow

It's hardly ever about the hunters. It's almost always about revenue. This sucks. If you who are paying these absorbant prices keep paying them they'll just continue to increase. Wise up people. We are a cash cow to most states.


Spud from Misouri

Lanse couche couche

Hell, i thought that it was already legal to bow hunt during gun season. In the area where i hunt, it is all private land, so i dont really see hunting pressure increase the same way that it might on public lands. There are too damn many deer anyway, so, except for the high prices, I dont see a real downside to increasing the potential for higher harvest rates. it would be wonderful if they would take just a small portion of therevenue generated by deer permits and invest it in developing public access land.

Kid

I guess the best we can hope for is for Blagosumbitch and other greedy, corrupt politiciansto run the IDNR into the ground to the point where our deer herd crashes, so the outfitters and non-residents move on to rape and pillage some other state's deer herd and we can have control of ours back.

Lanse couche couche

I would think that this is an area where people can do something if they organize. The state government should be held accoutable for how money generated by hunting is spent, especially in terms of reinvesting money in developing and maintaining natural resources. Unfortunately, even though i own land in Illinois, I am no longer a resident (now a damn out-of-state hunter after 40 years as a resident). Otherwise, I would spend half my time on the phone or writing letters to my state legislators.

Zim

Illinois has the single highest priced whitetail tags in the United States. Number one. Just glad I moved here from Indiana 2 years so I don't have to deal with it anymore.Covered myself by picking up a lifetime license for only $210.Those are so cheap it's the first thing I signed up for when I became elligible. Definitely a system grossly weighed in favor of residents, and as a resident I don't like it. My out-of-state friends cannot hunt with me anymore. This sucks. I think everyone should be able to hunt every state reasonably. In my case I hunt primarily federal land too. My buddiesown it and are getting screwed out of hunting it.

archer125

I live in Michigan, and have hunted Illinois the last 10 seasons. I remember when the tags were $125 over the counter!
They are simply getting ridiculous. I love to hunt Illinois, but there are other states with just as good hunting and alot more reasonable prices.
I managed to get a lease in Buffalo County Wisconsin this year, the tags are only $160 over the counter. According to P&Y, and B&C Buffalo County has been one of the best counties in the country for 10 years running for book animals. I have hunted their several times, but this will be my first year with a lease. Illinois maybe on the back burner for me now.