Free: Contests & Raffles.
I agree and disagree with your points/his views. Our WDFW has created the special hunts with limited draw. As stated in a previous thread, some of the antler restrictions and limited hunts were supposed to revert back after the herd stabiized but as you know, that never happened. The WDFW just got greedier and created more special hunts, multi season hunts, quality hunts, buck hunts, bull hunts, ewe hunts, ram hunts, antlerless hunts, cow hunts, any buck hunts, any whitetail hunts etc, etc. All for the love of money. Many sportsmen are always going to strive for a trophy(in their eyes)and pulling the trigger will always be up to them but the WDFW has created this monster that we're all living with now. If you really dislike any of it, write the WDFW and express your feelilngs to them. They've taken what used to be a general season family/friend affair and broken it up into a million different entities separating all of us either by weapon choice, east or west side or by special app points.
Did you realize that your license dollars are also being used to buy free access onto private property for hunters?
Quote from: bearpaw on May 19, 2014, 12:41:23 AMDid you realize that your license dollars are also being used to buy free access onto private property for hunters?Yes I do. I've seen my license money go to a land owner here in 121, the game Dept. posted it, patrolled it and gave the land owner permission slips to give out for people to hunt. I also have seen that same land owner give the slips only to their friends and buddies.
Had a interesting conversation with a retired game warden (over 30 years in another state) which started based upon the post having to do with APR's. He had some interesting thoughts concerning deer hunting (since the APR post was on deer, that was the emphasis of the conversation). He is very saddened by the new emphasis on trophy hunting and thinks that in the future it will become a real problem for hunters. Not saying I agree with him, but here are some of his thoughts:1) It has created a snob mentality that belittles anyone who would shoot a small buck or, God forbid, an antlerless deer. This has discouraged many young hunters who don't have the skill or a mentor to teach them skills from getting involved involved in the sport. 2) The demand for quality (trophy) hunts has led to much property either being set aside by states for limited draw hunts or outright leased by private individuals to increase their odds of getting a trophy grade animal. Many traditional family hunting areas have become off limits and many have given up hunting when they lost their traditional areas. 3) Herd management has become very difficult when hunters want the herds managed for trophy animals. With many hunters now only targeting the biggest and best animals many herds are made up of much weaker stock and are subject to higher disease and winter kill rates. 4) Enforcement in some states has become a nightmare with a checker board of ARP units, special draw units, antlerless permit units, general permit units, and plain closed units. Checking stations have to take the hunters word that an animal was in fact killed in the proper unit and funding for actual field checks has declined during a period when it's needed most. 5) Trophy hunting has provided anti hunters with more propaganda as they claim hunters are not hunting for meat or proper game management, all we want to do is shoot the animal to take its head and hang it on the wall. 6) Trophy hunting has driven the cost up. States and private individuals have taken note that many hunters are willing to pay much more for the opportunity to take a trophy and have taken prices up to meet the demand. Additionally with hunter numbers dropping yearly, states have increased license costs to offset the volume loss. Again, I'm not saying that I agree with these points, but it is food for thought.
Yes I do. I've seen my license money go to a land owner here in 121, the game Dept. posted it, patrolled it and gave the land owner permission slips to give out for people to hunt. I also have seen that same land owner give the slips only to their friends and buddies.
