If the property owner is cutting the fence or baiting the elk onto his property he does not have a legitimate cause for involving a Conflict Specialist and wasting their time. The property can be, and should be, outside the limits of the hunt area.
These conflict specialist dollars are our dollars he is profiting off of and that affects all of us. Master Hunter or not, if you buy license and tags you have a vested interest in how those dollars are spent.
Now, I'm a Master Hunter and the Conflict Specialists I work with take their job of resolving the conflict with the least resort to lethal removal as possible seriously. The goal is to resolve the conflict with the least impact on the General Season tag holders and the least impact on long term sustainability of the herd. Love these guys, they have your interest at heart.
I will be right up front and tell you that once the General Season opens our conflict specialist will go the extra mile to make sure that all hunters, including his Master Hunters (full disclosure, Master Hunters know him and know how to contact him to get tips), have the best info available and he will work with EVERY legal tag holder to do the job with the GREATEST amount of lethal removal.
They know the property owners and will introduce you with a phone call or a personal visit if you are somewhat human, are polite and ask nicely (my cousin's criteria when allowing access to people who want to shoot a whitetail doe on his ranch that is right outside The Bob).
These are lower level positions in the Dept and don't get much respect from lots of sides, but the individuals I am acquainted with are consummate professionals who really put in long hours to prosecute the job they are tasked with in a professional manner.
They have told me that they would like us to hit them in their bedding locations (lethal and non-lethal efforts) and drive the rest of the herd completely out of the area, instead of just waiting until they are in the fields and hit them there and drive them back into their beds... then they pop back up the next evening. Some Master Hunters are capable of that and others are not and that brings out accusations of favoritism when lethal removal is on the table, against a person who is working his tail off to resolve wildlife conflict and is just selecting from the most likely volunteers to get the job done.
Yes, some Master Hunters get more callouts when lethal removal is on the table, but there is a job to do and the job is to drive the elk out of their bedding location that is close to the depredation areas. If a Master Hunter shoots an elk in the process that is a byproduct of jumping them out of their beds. Not all Master Hunters have proven themselves willing or capable and that is just the way it is. The purpose of the hunt is to resolve the conflict and some Master Hunters have a record of being able perform certain tasks where others don't have that record.
Being a Master Hunter is a voluntary service you offer and joining in on elk hazing callouts where there is no shooting is where you demonstrate to the conflict specialist that you are willing to go into the crap in order to get on the elk and then to stay on them until they are driven out of the area.
When the conflict specialist is looking to call people out who are going to go into the crap they are bedding in, and lethal removal is on the table... there will be many volunteers. Too many and he needs people who have shown that they will do what it takes to "close the deal." Make it known that you are someone who has the experience and tenacity to "close the deal" by jumping them out of their bed and your freezer just might also be filled in August or September.
Not every one has shown they are capable of that, AND this is also great practice for the General Season if you don't get that callout for a Master hunt where lethal removal is on the table. So you have lost nothing and have gained a lot of respect as a person who turns out and puts in an honest effort. There is always next year and conflict specialists want to reward those who turn out.
But I diverge, I only went off on that tangent in order that you who are concerned about having to pay that access fee will maybe not care so much next year.
If what is suspected is going on here, that is not kosher. That is working to the detriment of a program that was set up to protect this man's agricultural endeavors or his landscape from depredation. It would be easy enough to just remove that property from the limits of the hunt.
As far as access fee, is his property the limit of the hunt or does it go beyond onto others properties who allow access without charging a fee? If he is on the up and up, you have the option of not enjoying spending time on his acreage and still have a great day in the field hunting elk... Pay his fee if you are not a personal friend and want to take advantage of hunting there. What if it is pay or no opportunity available. Pay it, I don't work for free and maintaining a property that others have wonderful opportunities to spend days enjoying themselves hunting on is work.
If you can't fit it into your family budget all in one lump, see if he will allow an elk quarter instead or allow you to pay it off over five paychecks. See if you can work something out that works for both of you and does not leave him holding the bag for your time enjoying property that he has an obligation for the upkeep on.
