Who else is running out of hunting spots?

[aebsledder]

I replied to another thread and it got me thinking. I wonder who else out there has altogether lost their hunting areas due to them being leased out or bought, or maybe their current ones are just getting too crowded? When I was a kid my dad and I had our pick of several different farms or ranches we could hunt in central MT. By the time I had graduated high school, they were all leased out.
I took up bowhunting in high school to get away from the crowds, now it seems like there are more people than ever out there. I constantly hear that the hunting population is dwindling, yet there seems to be more people than ever out in the woods. Just curious to see what it is like in other parts of the country, especially the Rocky Mountains.

 

[Sidehiller]

It's all about the money. When I was a kid we had a farm and let a few people hunt deer. Most farmers had no problem letting locals in. That day is long gone. The ranching for wildlife program lets a few land owners make hundreds of thousands of dollars off hunting. They are able to hold the elk on their property untill the public season is over. Between elk holed up on private land, winter kill and outrageous out of state liscence fees I think the DOW is going to sell less tags and make less money every year untill they make some changes.

 

[TIM]

idaho is 66% public land. plenty of areas to hump the hills looking for bulls and bucks. and yes there are still elk and deer here.

 

[Sidehiller]

idaho is 66% public land. plenty of areas to hump the hills looking for bulls and bucks. and yes there are still elk and deer here.

There is a lot of public land in NW Colorado too. Just no elk on it.
On the other hand, in Craig city limits there are estimated to be 300 head of mule deer. They keep eating my flowers.

 

[TIM]

There is a lot of public land in NW Colorado too. Just no elk on it.
On the other hand, in Craig city limits there are estimated to be 300 head of mule deer. They keep eating my flowers.

I hear you. I see more deer in my yard than i do out hunting.

 

[Snorider]

There's a few reasons why farms and ranches going from letting people hunt pretty freely to leasing it out.

Most of them have had more than a couple aholes come and go that either destroyed land fences ect or left crap laying around.

We used to do a 100 dollar club where a hunter would gives us a 100 bucks and then come back and spray 10 gallons of spray out of a backpack sprayer, killing noxious weeds(we provided sprayer and chemicals) and they would get their 100 bucks back.

I was amazed that alone turned about 50 percent of the hunters away.

 

[PJ-Hunter]

Yep, I have lost ALOT of nice, secluded spots to the weekend warriors from Denver and the hotshots from Texas. Wilderness is getting to be the only game now. Those fat southerners don't wanna hump it in that far.

 

[aebsledder]

Wilderness

I have done the wilderness hunt a few times. It has been good and bad. Last year I did it and it snowed about 8 inches on me in September. That turned into more of a survival trip. Most of the critters seemed to have vacated the region. I did the same area the year before and it was pretty good. The wilderness I hunt in is pretty steep, and if you do it yourself if you do shoot an elk it could get really difficult. If you don't have immediate help the meat will probably go south or a bear will most likely get it. Probably just a risk I will have to take. I used to be able to hunt a couple of ranches, and could go after work in the evenings. I miss those days. That is one nice thing about sledding, I have seen 20 rigs in the parking lot and not seen anyone all day long. And even if you do other sledders rarely interfere with what I am doing.

 

[Rmk900rider]

I here what you are saying. Been hunting a public land area for years now. This year i put a trail cam on a wallow that we have hunted for years. The cam has been in there for 2 months now. Been checkin it every few weeks and had some bulls on it.Go in last saturday and some ahole had hung a tree stand right above my camera. Got pics of the guys. It even looks like they tried to steel my cam. I know its public land but what happen to respect . If i ran into the same situation i would find another place to hunt. Then they even cover up my cam. Just venting sorry.

 

[xrated]

I hear you. I see more deer in my yard than i do out hunting.

I hunt in my yard

We own 87 acres of land and all our stands are on it for deer. Good thing is that we butt up to a thousand or so acres of state land. Seeing more people out the past few seasons but I'm not worried about loosing my spots. If it gets much worse I will just call the DNR and have him find out why there are quad tracks leading up to a guys ladder stand(in MN you can't drive across wetlands)

Plus the guys showing up don't really know there way around the swamp....that's more scary the frustrating.

 

[H2SNOW]

I pretty much hunt wherever the hell I want cept nignog territory .....Moose wonders thru my yar cuz I called it in for 3 weeks doesn't mean that he gets a free pass out ...skill testing question and a lil water boarding helps out a whole bunch

 

[Burndown1]

Don't buy at Cabellas. They are good at making land into Private.

 

[coyoteman]

Don't buy at Cabellas. They are good at making land into Private.

true, so true.


we hunt wherever we pretty much want in sw. iowa. here the name of the game is kill every stinking deer you can.

 

[yammerhammer]

I touched on this subject a bit.

http://snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155869

It's not as easy as it used to be, all the animals go to private ground
and the pay hunters get a feast!

There is a place outside of Kremmling that sells a high fence elk hunt. You pay
per score. $8500 for a 300 class bull!

 

[aebsledder]

Pay to play.

I was looking at Arnaud Outfitters website the other day to see what he is charging lately. He is the "wildlife manager" on all of Ted Turners ranches in MT.
This year they are charging 14,000 dollars for an elk hunt. Isn't Ted Turner a billionaire? I realize the outfitter takes a cut out of that too, but that is ridiculous. What never ceases to amaze me is the amount of people that pay that much. If you look at their site it is full of guys who continuously pay to shoot an elk on his place. Frustrating.

 

[JuicedRMKryder]

Free Hunting

just some food for thought but I am a rancher and hear this argument from some of the hunters that I meet around the area.Then I ask them if they ever contacted any of the local ranchers in the area that they want to hunt? most say no they just expected to find a place when they got out here or just drive around until they see one.Even though we don't have fee hunting we do control how many people are roaming around on our land durring season,hence if you call and ask chances are you will have a place to hunt along with some info that might be usefull.Trespass or lie to me and I'll kick your a** off the place.Most landowners I know that are in production ag will tell you the same,so just first try opening up the lines of communication ahead of season or even application for licences with some of the land owners in that area.I know theres jerks around too,but there are still some of us that believe hunting is not just for the rich bastages.Good Luck this season!