Free: Contests & Raffles.
You know, one thing everyone keeps missing is the amout of people that are hunting all areas in the state. There are way more hunters today then there were 50 years ago. The population growth and expantion in to more rural areas keeps getting deeper in to the woods. Where 50 yeays go a person would have a huning cabin in the woods, now we have community's. There are so many differnt factors that have changed the amout of wild game in this state (most all states), that you can not blame one thing, there are to many veriables that play a part in the factor of loss game.
Redmist, you bring up a good point about the internet and sites like this. As much as I enjoy visiting these sites I think that they have had about the biggest impact on hunting/hunter success. We have discussions about advancements in equipment making things too easy but I think those things pale to the web where someone can gain info that would have taken them maybe years to learn in a few minutes. There are/were some publications also that have printed some very specific locations that have had a great impact on certain areas over hte year.Not to say that I feel it has hurt the game herds as a whole but I do think it has hurt the numbers in certain areas and contributed a lot to hunter success. Info at your fingertips and something to keep the fire burning all year long is a powerful tool.