Are hunting outfitters making hunting a sport for the rich?
Question by IlliniDK: Are hunting outfitters making hunting a sport for the rich?
Where I live here in Eastern Illinois I just don't see a need for it. About 20 years ago when I started hunting myself it was no big deal to get permission on private property which was basically the only way one could hunt unless you owned your own land.
I moved away for a few years and now suddenly there are like 8 or 9 outfitters here in my county. The problem I have with this is that these so-called outfitters try and lease up all the land they possibly can. This has made a huge impact around here with hunting because so many people have quit hunting because they have no where to hunt now and can't afford to pay for an outfitter because they're marketing to the wealthy which is a total crock anyway because these guys usually don't know crap about hunting so they go to outfitters who know exactly when and where a buck will come in. Good for them(outfitters) in knowing that, but that is not HUNTING.
Hunting has become a game of target practice for these damn outfitters and their clients, and that is not hunting. Hunting should always be fair chase, and available to the tax payers of the state. If the state of Illinois is going to be giving out outfitters licenses, then they need to do something for the people who have grown up with hunting as a tradition and way of life. Make more public land available or restrict how much land the outfitters can lease up, because that is the biggest problem I see. Shoot just last year I lost permission on some land that I've hunted for almost 17 years because some jerk came and offered him a lease to use for outfitting. This makes me sick because that is where I killed my first deer, my sister killed her first deer and I had hopes of my kids taking their first deer there. What the owner didn't know is that he was signing away his say-so on who can hunt there including himself, and that happens all the time. These outfitters come up with this fine detailed print that would take hours to read and then just tell the landowner something completely different to get them to sign on the dotted line. It's rediculous and around here with as many natives to the area that enjoy hunting like I do outfitting is just not needed.
Best answer:
Answer by Ray
Yep, they have just about made it where us regular folks can't afford it any longer, which is a shame.
What do you think? Answer below!
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May 13th, 2010 - 04:57
I guess they all liked the movies of the rich counts or dukes of Europe riding with their 20 hounds out to a hunt on their land before returning home to their inherited castle. Ahh, a return to medieval times. We can all look forward to the next revolution, eh Jacques?
May 13th, 2010 - 05:38
this is a capitolist nation, he with the money rules!
May 13th, 2010 - 06:29
Of course, nothing like watching that archer stalking the parking lot!!
May 13th, 2010 - 06:34
I agree and I disagree.
The knife truly cuts both way.
I mostly hunt on public lands. There really are not that many people that hunt the public hunting lands. I am convinced that most folks go out and buy all the hunting equipment, and then just stay home and dream about hunting.
However, I have seen plenty of proverbial clowns hunting both public and private lands. Maybe some folks need a “guide” to hold their hand and teach them now not to be a danger to fellow hunters. (I’ve seen more dangerous gun handling in the past 2 years than I had in the previous 20 years.)
May 13th, 2010 - 06:35
Does seem to be getting the norm rather than not. We are lucky we bought 40 acres of timber in Pike county about 20 years ago. It was $250.00 an acre then. Now, the low end price is close to $4000.00 per acre.
The cost of these hunts are very high, around 3k or more for bow. I have noticed not too many have gun hunts but if the land is leased exclusively, there it goes. Our land is surrounded by outfitters. I have met some of them and they seem nice but it is a big business. Usually Doctors and lawyers are the clients and many just want the head mount and to be called ” Great White Hunter”. To be fair there are actually some clients that do know how to hunt.
I think the landowners are faced with financial difficulty in turning down the money for the lease especially if the farmer need the cash for farming. Logging off the land is also becoming popular. To thin it is one thing but taking all the good wood will change the landscape in short order.
I think the State knows there is an over-abundance of deer and they feel the outfitters help control the population more evenly. I wish I had an answer for you but other than buying some ground that you want to keep in the family, or a group buying some ground, thee is little that can be done unless they change things in Springfield to cut down the number of new outfitters,
May 13th, 2010 - 07:30
Many years ago I to lived in Illinois. I can go back 25 years and remember the Doctors and Lawyers leasing the farm land from the farmers for their own private hunting areas. Soon 95% of the land I use to hunt I couldn’t go on anymore. It was a shame because these rich doctors and lawyers would only come down from the city a couple times a year to hunt. The rest of the time the land just sat. And you know the Farm claimed on his taxes the money paid to him to lease the land. We have become a nation of the rich by the rich and for the rich. The working man doesn’t have a chance