Do you pay for hunting access?

[adkmountainken]

the free ride will never end becouse i have free will, good health and i would not live an an area that requires leasing.

[Biggie Hoffman]

leasing = the man that has the $$ makes the rules, HORSE CRAP!!!!
 

That's not true, it's the man that makes his hunting a priority in his life that will do what it takes to aquire undisturbed land to hunt.

If you're happy sharing land with anyone who wants to "hunt" there. That's great. November measn too much to me to take the chance that some guy in a jogging suit is gonna come by at 8am

[Swamp Pygmy]

well lets keep it cool here guys we are on the same team.

You both have good points. It certainly is a shame that hunting is becoming an elite sport that alienates more people than it attracts these days. Part of that problem is not necessarily leasing in every instance. But if nothing else the image that you need a lease to get animals and hunt anything worth hunting as Texas is apparently headed. Does make us look like a group of Cheney's. Shooting birds with clipped wings on farms. And makes younger generations of hunters unaware even of public land because they never thought to look at public possibilities. Or understand the allure of chasing animals in real wilderness either. Everything we see is over food plots.

But on the other hand leases allow people obsessed with hunting not to have the problems associated with small overcrowded public lands. Bad hunters, hikers, poachers, etc. These people may or may not have extensive time to hunt and they want undisturbed quality land. And that is okay. There is absolutely nothing wrong with land being set aside for wilderness instead of subdivisions whether or not its public land.

[leatherneck]

Unfortunately we all don't have the luxury,or the funds, to live only where there is public hunting. I live where the work is and hunting is second. I agree it says alot for a persons up bringing. I for one put my family first and hunting second. So i need to lease cause the work is here in OHIO. If work took me to N.Y. where there is endless public hunting, then so be it. But for now I will lease and have a place for my kids to hunt safely.

Really folks, is this worth an argument? I'm just as guilty and Swampy said it best. We are all brothers and sisters here who enjoy the same thing, hunting traditional. Does it really matter what type of land we hunt? I feel fortunate that we all have a place to enjoy our passion, leased or public. I'm gone from this one. Later all.

Mike

[adkmountainken]

Biggie,
    if you see a guy go by in a jogging suit that is your cue you need to jog up the mountain a little farther where most are to lazy to jog to. i would shake the mans hand that jogs to where i hunt, brave soul!

[longbowman]

I agree with ADK.  I've never paid to hunt and when it gets to the point I have to or not hunt then I guess it's over.  I have a friend who leases land and has for 20 yrs. and would quit hunting if he had to ask permission.  It's whatever trips your trigger I guess.

[MI_Bowhunter]

A lot of good points here from both sides.  At the moment I am fortunate to live in a state that has a lot of state owned public hunting land. If it come down to lease or quit hunting I guess I would try to move or find the means to lease.  I hope it never reaches that point.

I've been on a guided hunt with a group from this site.  Maybe that makes me hypocritical.    I just feel that it should not come to a point where leasing is the only viable option for hunters (Which appears to be the case already in TX).  It's at that point that it really starts to exclude those that don't have the financial means.

[-Achilles-]

"Thanks to all the sorry, inconsiderate, worthless poachers, trespassers, and all others that desecrate the proud sport of hunting, that ability is now almost completely gone".........NOT TRUE...bad people have always existed...(that actually kinda sounds like attitude the whites had when it came to the indians)....bad people have always existed...What has changed is landowners and people in general  have become greedy..."do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is out the window....Heres a question I heard someone else ask for those who support leasing...simple yes or no answer...what if 1 man became so rich that he owned all the land in america and wouldnt let anyone hunt and wouldnt lease to anyone...Would you obey the law and not hunt?...I would hunt illegally and I dont care what you think because I dont feel I would be doing anything wrong...So if some guy comes along and buys all the land around me for hundreds of miles and says I cant hunt it...Well I dont have the money to move and I've lived here since I was a baby and I'm not leaving now...Guess what I'm gonna do?....leasing is bad for hunting period...You cant get more people,children into hunting if theres no where to hunt

[Problem Child]

Mississippi has about 50 WMA's. You can purchase a "WMA Permit" for $15 and pretty much hunt all of the WMA's.Also there is plenty of National Forest land available for free.The WMA that I hunt has miles of creeks with absolutely beautiful hardwood bottoms. You don't see many clubs or leases with that and if you did you would have to be Donald Trump's son to have a membership. I'm just afraid that with the price of leases going up each year the Public land will be very crowded in the future.

[Biggie Hoffman]

Aw c'mon Ken, can you see me jogging up the mountain????

 

[adkmountainken]

if ya do please wear more then yer underpants!    don't think they would know what to make of ya round here!  

[allanburden]

Now there's something I'd pay to see...biggie vs ken in the mountain joggin marathon.  But I have to agree with ken, more than underpants please, we don't wanna scar the kiddies.  :rolleyes:        :D    

[George D. Stout]

Biggie you couldn't jog down the mountain if it was paved.          

Cory Mattson....mooching?   Son you have a lot to learn about the respect that rural landowners have for their neighbors, and it is an ignorant comment to suggest it's mooching.  We own mountain land here that has always been open...never posted...and to think our neighbors are mooching for hunting it is worse than ridiculous.  Perhaps that's the mindset of people who have lost touch with rural values.  I bet you have hunted free access private land with little thought about mooching.

[hogdancer]

I can see all sides here I hunt public land, I lease some land, I hunt on some land just by a handshake and doing some work and I am a landowner. The land I own a part of is family land in S.E. Louisiana and we would love to be able to tell people to just help yourself and hunt as you please and in fact for many years that is just what we did. But became awfully tired of trash, gates left open, trees run over by people in 4x4's, and taxes going waaay up. so what are we to do just suck it up because everyone deserves it ?  Well we lease the land for just enough to pay the taxes and for someone to keep an eye on it, we would rather just let some folks just take care of it on a handshake, but guess what, most hunters are not like us. Think I am wrong, go to some of the other forums that you used to go to before Tradgang and see what is out there and who you would let on your land.

George, don't mean to be rude but before you start talking about an ignorant comment look at your comment about TX earlier, don't know your age but we are not a bunch of kids to be talked down to, you do that you know, again don't mean to be rude but you might want to look at the way you come across sometimes.
Let's just remember we are differant than most hunters here but unfortunantly the rest of the world sees those "hunters" as the majority, which they are.

[Rico]

Its easy to gain Free Access to hunt.
 
 Finding Free Access to ones own defintion of quality hunting,  may not always be free and is worth whatever one wants to pay for it.

[MikeW]

Do you pay for hunting access?

I bet poor ole myshootinstinks didn't know what a can worms he opened by asking a simple question.
   


   

[Gehrke145]

It depends on the state!  I agree %100 with biggie and cory.  I live in the west now with tons of public, so I dont need to lease here.  I do take the money I save and put it towards other hunts which most of the time are on land that someone leased or a trespass fee to get on land that is hunted less.  Knowone on here is saying you have to do it, but how can you blame people for doing it, its a buisness.  It makes unusable land worth money and keeps it from being broken up.

[swp]

I had not read any of this topic until tonight so I will put in my 2 cents now.
1) I hunt family property mostly and free acess property in north MO sometimes.
2) I don't see anything wrong with a landowner getting something for the game he is taking care of on his land.
3) Do I like to pay trespass fees? Not at all, I am as cheap as they come but I also understand that the landowner I am paying has contributed something to raising the game on his land and should be compensated if he feels he deserves it. Besides the money he is getting from me and whoever else is paying him could keep him from having to sell his farm which around here would be cobbled up into 3-5 acre plots or worse subdivisions.
In the end it is what it is and that is what each of us as individuals see it as. Some see it as good, others bad. It is all based on your values and what you want as a hunter. Some are happy to take home meat, others like a set of antlers to go with their backstraps. Some want the experience of a deep wilderness adventure while others want to ride the ATV down a logging road to within spitting distance of their stand. Different values and ideas. Just remember that if we don't stick together as hunters the other side will win by forfiet.

[Biggie Hoffman]

gehrke and swp make an excellent point. Whne farms (or any sizable tract) are sold off, they are mostly broken up into small tracts. If paying a landowner a fee helps him keep his land, that is reason enough to do it.

I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong on this issue. I do think you fellas that say you're NEVER gonna pay to hunt are cheating yourselves out of some tremendous memories. PLUS, anytime you say never, you're one day gonna have to be so stubborn that you'll have to quit hunting or go back on your word.

[George D. Stout]

Biggie....Most of us here in rural Pa. have grown up with access.  To me it seems natural and neighborly; of course, neighborly is fast becoming extinct.   Pennsylvania has seen fit (over the decades) to set land aside for public access and I don't see that ending anytime soon.
We are indeed fortunate that we are so blessed, yet we still have people bitchin' about no deer on this land...so they to will pay to hunt in Ohio or Illinois.

Granted, I don't chase whitetails in Iowa, Kansas, etc., nor do I have that drive to become an addict to the sport.  If I had, perhaps I would think differently.  Pragmatically speaking, paying a lease is probably no different than helping the neighbor build his fence, in one context...however, when we help build that fence, we do it out of respect, knowing we have the right to hunt there anyway.  To me that is different.

I am bull headed and still think that leasing will eventually create less opportunity...not more.  You see the area in which I live is poor by most urban/suburban standards.  Average income around here is probably a third of what some folks around the cities make.  Leasing would eliminate private land hunting in our environment, except of course for those with the financial wherewithal to do it.  

By the way....you can come hunt on my folks land for no entrance fee or lease...you just have to bring some good southern whiskey for my daddy-in-law.  You won't need much...he's 94..but he thinks he's still 60 8^).