If I want to hunt but cannot afford the price of a deer lease, it means that I did not choose an adequately remunerative career. I had the freedom of choice, but made a wrong decision.
So.........you're saying hunting should only be for the rich and privileged? Not being able to justify $2500 a year for a lease makes one stupid and/or foolish? IMHO, That mindset is asking for the total loss of all hunting as we know it.
As I said in my first post in this thread, Lack of access to decent hunting areas is the #1 reason hunters numbers are declining. I don't know how things work in Texas, but here in Wisconsin the decline in hunters means a decline in license sales. Decline in license sales means a decline in monies available for habitat and it's improvement, stocking and enforcement of game law. This is not only on public lands, but private also. Old farts with money to burn for a blind someone else set up over a bait station is not going to allow regular hunting to survive. When hunting costs become prohibitive to young hunters just starting out, what happens when they move on to something else(and they do) and those old farts with money to burn die off? What happens to deer populations when money is too short for enforcement and poachers have the upper hand? We already have many areas in the state where deer numbers are way above the desirable levels. Lack of access and lack of hunters makes so those numbers keep growing and crop damage and deer/vehicle collisions become more prevalent. Yep, hunting will only get better for those folks with deep pockets, but how long will they go as costs to hunt escalate, before even they say enough is enough.
I have been fortunate in my life. I have around 300,000 acres of public land in three directions, within 25 miles of me. Go a tad north and there is even more. I also have had the privilege of hunting a multitude of private land parcels over the years, and still do. Not everyone has that luck. Especially young hunters and hunters new to an area. Some states don't have good land available for public hunting or it's very limited. Sometimes that choice in careers makes the choice of where we live for us. Sometimes young parents think that $2500 a year is better spent on their kids than on dad's hunting. 18 years down the road, Dad doesn't have the desire to hunt anymore and those kids never got the chance to try. Does that make the Dad stupid or foolish? No....makes him a parent. How about that young hunter trying to save that 20% down payment on a house or trying to pay off their student loan? Odds are they are making good money....just have different priorities. Stupid and foolish? One of the biggest problem I see in America today is the "I got mine!" attitude. Ain't always a case of being smarter or better, but many times just luck of the draw, who you know or being in the right place at the right time. I got a lot of friends that lost half of their 401Ks thanks to Bush. They figured on having a lot more disposable income, but thru no fault of their own, now have to watch their pennies. Stupid and foolish?
We all know how the principles of supply and demand work. Basic Freshmen Civics. It's just unfortunate for many that it affects them so severely when it comes to having a decent place to hunt. Especially when the choice is between that and a decent place to live, braces for the daughter of a safe vehicle for the wife and kids to drive. Yeah, I got mine, but it don't mean I look down my nose at those that don't and belittle them. Doing so, says a lot about ones ego.
