ButchA

Wow, this thread is so depressing to read - but I'm afraid it is a sign of the times... [:'(]

I mean, I'm 43 years old and a "late bloomer" - been hunting only 3 years so far. It just kills me to think of the days when I was a young kid and read about or heard about people going hunting back in the day (I never went hunting as a kid).

But you want to get really sad? Talk to some of the older guys these days. Talk to someone who's in their late 60's or 70's... They don't hunt anymore. Heck, some haven't hunted in 15-20 years - not because of age creeping up on them, but because the land they had for years and years was bought out from under them and turned into a mini mall or condos. [&o]

Butch A.

1865

This is an aspect of hunting that I really haven't thought about before. I'm extremely lucky to have a bit more than 250 acres of land in Central Texas. My grandfather purchased it after returning from WWII and it has been(and will be) in our family since then. Reading ya'lls stories makes me realized how blessed I am. Thank you for that and good luck with your hunting.

cardeer

Yes ButchA, After 45 years when I think back to them days then look out the window today I get a tear in my eyes. I just had my first Grandson.what chance does he have ??? The farm I was raised on and learned to hunt on is still there. But all of it was made in to a yuppie area. The place I shot my first deer is the finish line for the 1/4 mile racetrack at maplegrove Pa. Deer shot out to a low level long ago. You wanna see a deer search the edge of the road and the splattered carcass will be there. I will never forget when the yuppies started moving in with all their money building 500,000 homes and going to the township authorites wanting to ban the country style living Of farming and hunting. I remember one idiot who hit a deer in front of my home. I went out to see if he needed help. He was cussing jumping up and down yelling at the dead deer . You destroyed my beamer. He looked at me and said what da hell are deer doing around here. They belong in Alaska or some place like that. I looked at him and said" I'm sure the deer wishes your greedy fat body could be back in the scum bag city you came from.

Who

I did not hunt this year becouse of several reasons, one of which was the cost of leases around here.
In 2003 season the man I leased from died from west nile. We were paying 750/gun X 5 on the lease. The lease had only a few Mule Deer on it. No whitetail, hogs, turkey, few quail. It was over grazed hand had little cover. In other words a poor lease but it was what we could afford and we did see a few nice bucks. Only one buck county and the season is very short. Anyway after the season was over we talked to the son about the lease for next year and we were told that this had trophy mule and whitetail deer on it and he was going to rase the lease to 2500/gun and needed 10 people on the lease.
After we stopped laughing we told him to go for it. The sad thing is he got that kind of money for the lease from a Company out of Austin. How do I know? I talked to the owner of the company one day while I was removing my camp. I showed him around and explained that he was getting screwed. He said that he wasnt really all that interested in the deer hunting but wanted a place for him and his friends to hunt quail.

hunter rich

WOW! You could be me...I also am a transplant from NY and I go back every year for deer season. Mostly because I dont have a place here to hunt. I can drive up and stay at my friends and buy a non-res license for less than most clubs want down here... If you find some place for a decent price ley me know, and I'll do the same for you.

quiksilver

Antler Restrictions in PA have had the side-effect of land-hording. Everybody is snatching and grabbing at hunting spots, and it's a real circus.

Like I said before - I remember when the mountain men were the guys taking the big racks. Now, those big deer are going to the top tax bracket and the poor guys are stuck cleaning up the scraps.

It's all greed-driven. Kind of disenchanting, really.

rem7400 2

nosfedgta,

You got to think positive my man. Remember the glass is always half full. I checked out Georgia's DNR web site and would think that you could find somewhere to hunt on a WMA. There must be 40 or more seperate WMAs. I could not find a tally of the total acreage for the WMAs but I'd bet a dollar it's 1,000,000 or more acres and you can have all of it for the cost of a sportsman's license. $60 a year.
here's the link

http://georgiawildlife.dnr.state.ga....300&txtPage=13

James B

I am lucky enough to own my hunting land. Lots of mule deer.

deerdust

In the past, I hunted friends property in Arkansaw when I lived there. Now there is very little time for me to hunt, as most of my time is spent guiding. I understand how many of you feel about losing your hunting spots. We encounter many such folks every year, as we aquire new ground. Outfitting is a huge and growing business though and there are many folks who want someone else to do the work of foodplots, scouting, hanging stands, or placing blinds in prime locations, so all they have to do is come and wait for the bucks to come through. Many of our clients have their own property, but want to hunt bigger/better bucks than they have on their own property or belong to hunt clubs. It is also a great benefit to these comunities that are outfitted, due to the revenue from the influx of out-of-state hunters in local stores, hotels, gun and bow shops, as well as the cost of their tags and/or hunting license. It is also a benefit to the farmers, in that, they can still farm their land and receive that income, as well as income for leasing the land to an outfitter or hunt club. The deer herds that are destroying their crops is also depleted to some extent, so it is a win/win situation for the farmer.

On another note, I do miss haveing more time to hunt. But I get great satisfaction when one of my hunters gets a good buck and seeing the beeming smile on his/her face.

HollidayHunter

This is happening BIG TIME all over the State of Texas. Anything within 2 1/2 hours of D/FW is leasing out for $1500 a gun. This is way more than the common man can afford and I'm afraid that hunting will become a rich mans sport. I don't blame the lanowners because times are tough and they have to make a living somehow.
Just last week I talked to a man who is losing a place that he has hunted on for almost 40 years. His dad and grandad had hunted there as well. He was so depressed and despondent about it. I felt terrible for him. That is the way things are these days. Unfortunately.