In my opinion, outfitting on public land should be looked at hard with the ever increasing amount of people wanting to draw tags. Is it really fair that some of the population gets to profit off of the public resource that is in high demand?
Grew up in Mississippi in a dog-hunting family that quit before I was old enough to hunt. I don't remember how many tree stand hunts I had ruined because of dogs clearing out our private family acreage.
I see it more as a protection of our rights. We can be our own worst enemies at times. No different than limiting drone usage, road hunting, hunting after flying, etc. Sometimes it's good to limit ourselves before non hunters do it for us. I deal with the same issues in ranching....
I really have lost a lot of respect for Steve over this. First, He uses his podcast to talk condescending about the farmer and it really makes all us hunters look bad. I don't want to portray that I am better than anybody. This is wrong and unprofessional regardless of the argument. Secondly...
I can go on and on about this topic, but there's a few obvious reasons I am against them (I type this as I am watching a live feed of deer eat in my hog trap).
1) cameras should have never been allowed on public land. You can't even take a piss without having to double check your surroundings...
Thank you for bringing some knowledge to this thread. Not only the leases but the ranch value is increased based on the number of leased acres attached to the ranch at usually 50% or more the price of a deeded acre. I get there are selfish landowners out there that give them all a bad name...
The biggest issue that causes this is the fact that non-deeded acreages sell tied to deeded acreages and a price is paid for that non-deeded ground that is atleast 50% of the cost of the deeded ground usually. It's not just an annual lease. Our public land needs major reform.
I dealt with this issue in WY just this year. Buzz is absolutely correct. I watched a guy "corner cross" 3 to 4 times on our property and miss an elk standing on private land. He never crossed at the correct corner - he went through private each time. He then shortcut through private 2 miles...
The more I hunt public land, the more I am concerned that my 3 young boys wont get to enjoy the same hunts that I have enjoyed. I'm scared that today will be "the good ol days" in 10 years. I am a rancher who sees other ranchers abusing public land. I see outfitters who are profiting off a...