Rich Man's Sport

[Cowbell]

It's definitely expensive, and I fear for future generations in many ways.

If your concerns are truly for sustenance, hunt invasive species. Hogs are everywhere; Nilgai in Texas are becoming a problem; farmers want them gone; you could be the solution.

Hogs and Nilgai in Texas are both big business. I would love to take a Nilgai - that's the best wild game there is. But I can't find anywhere with reasonable access lol

 

[Gobbler36]

I'll openly admit I engage in plenty of bitching about IDFG, but but in my defense, the survey they did in collaboration with U of I was very telling that Idahoans want opportunity to hunt every year anywhere. Both things are what I gripe about the most. (liberal resident tags, liberal seasons, overcrowding etc)

Also, few to none of the regulation or rule changes are accomplished by attending banquets or meetings. If you want people to attend the meetings, make the changes discussed in these meetings expeditiously. Make it matter. It took us 20 years to get illuminated nocks... I did 20 years of bitching hahaha

I’ll be going and ill be bitching about liberal nr tags and liberal resident tags in certain areas

2nd this people don’t show up because they have no faith their voice matters

 

[RyanT26]

Well if you thought it was turning into a rich man’s sport a couple days ago, you are in a bad way today. Between the increase in Colorado cow tags and Wyoming’s HB200 moving on it’s not looking good.
Start saving your pennies.

 

[Rob5589]

I’ll be going and ill be bitching about liberal nr tags and liberal resident tags in certain areas

2nd this people don’t show up because they have no faith their voice matters

I'd bet money that many of those people have literally 0 participation in the process. Easier to bitch and moan than to become involved. Good on you for getting involved.

 

[Nick992]

Hogs and Nilgai in Texas are both big business. I would love to take a Nilgai - that's the best wild game there is. But I can't find anywhere with reasonable access lol

I'm in NC, so take this with a grain of salt as to whether it'd work in Texas, but I was reading that some Nilgai get out of the expensive hunting ranches and are becoming a problem for some farmers. They are good at busting fences and reproducing.

As previous people laughed at my suggestion, you aren't going to get access to these farmers as a random person off the street. Start asking around your church, kids sports league, any other extra curricular/hobby group. You're looking for both farmers and for people with service jobs that interact with many new people on a daily basis.

I had a very interesting conversation with my termite guy. He's had wonderful success getting private hunting leases on land owned by non hunters, all because he asked the question while talking to the owners during their termite inspection, think about septic and well tech, HVAC, plumber, maybe even gardners, tax preparer, lawyer, etc. Find these people and build a relationship.

No, it's not easy, and it'll take many failed efforts. But it's not expensive.

 

[MuleyFever]

You can’t compare whitetails equally to muleys/elk simply because you can hunt whitetails in pretty much every state but there are plenty of states that don’t have muleys and even less that have elk.

I think elk and mule deer are in every state west of the Mississippi. Not all have NR Elk hunts though I guess.

 

[CorbLand]

I think elk and mule deer are in every state west of the Mississippi. Not all have NR Elk hunts though I guess.

Quick google search shows that there is 33 states that either don’t have elk or a population of less than 1000. That’s 2 to 1 for states that don’t have or I wouldn’t say is a viable population density.

I couldn’t find a good breakdown of whitetails versus Muley but Rhode Island has the lowest deer population at 18000. The lowest deer population in the inter mountain west is Nevada at 90,000. Break that down based on size, Rhode Island has 14.8 deer per square mile. Nevada has 1.2 per square mile.

It’s not apple to apple to compare them straight across.

 

[Phaseolus]

We shot the crap out of quail and jack rabbits as kids. That’s where we learned to get setup on animals quick and get the shot off. Todays kids learn off the shooting bench.

And Prairie dogs! The town below my Parents house learned to go underground when the big yellow bus came by.

 

[Cowbell]

I'm in NC, so take this with a grain of salt as to whether it'd work in Texas, but I was reading that some Nilgai get out of the expensive hunting ranches and are becoming a problem for some farmers. They are good at busting fences and reproducing.

As previous people laughed at my suggestion, you aren't going to get access to these farmers as a random person off the street. Start asking around your church, kids sports league, any other extra curricular/hobby group. You're looking for both farmers and for people with service jobs that interact with many new people on a daily basis.

I had a very interesting conversation with my termite guy. He's had wonderful success getting private hunting leases on land owned by non hunters, all because he asked the question while talking to the owners during their termite inspection, think about septic and well tech, HVAC, plumber, maybe even gardners, tax preparer, lawyer, etc. Find these people and build a relationship.

No, it's not easy, and it'll take many failed efforts. But it's not expensive.

It does work in most areas, but not here in Texas. Texas is king of private land leasing markets. And nilgai are highly sought after. They aren't really in game fences - they just habitate the southernmost region of the state. Trust me - we ranch/know ranchers/etc. I can drive to Colorado or Nebraska and get permission to hunt ground but it ain't happening here unless I know someone well.

 

[yfarm]

Its economics in Texas, A&M did a survey a number of years ago and hunting lease revenue exceeded cattle revenue on the average ranch. The most productive hunting land generally has the lowest ag revenue. If you dont have oil and gas revenue you pay your expenses on many ranches from hunting leases. Mineral rights usually dont transfer when land is sold or if do are a minority interest.
TPWD have limited entry draw hunts on many WMAs and refuges.
The Nilgai and many other exotics are the result of stocking of high fence ranches with subsequent escape. Nilgai are extensive south of a line from Kingsville to Laredo.
Hill Country exotics were severely reduced in the Feb 2021 freeze/ storm.
Saw a road killed 6x6 bull elk in the median of I 10 between Van Horn and Ft Stockton, never know what you see in this state.

 

[diamond10x]

Saw a road killed 6x6 bull elk in the median of I 10 between Van Horn and Ft Stockton, never know what you see in this state.

And more than likely it was a free ranging wild Rocky. If you said you saw a dead 6x6 between junction and sheffield then yes it would have been one that got out from behind somebody's high fence.

 

[Rich M]

I'd bet money that many of those people have literally 0 participation in the process. Easier to bitch and moan than to become involved. Good on you for getting involved.

Part of the thing with getting involved is you are the target of the non-hunters and the hunters who don't agree w you. I do stuff like that in my home state and would rather deal with nonhunters than hunters much of the time. There is no unity among hunters.

 

[CorbLand]

Part of the thing with getting involved is you are the target of the non-hunters and the hunters who don't agree w you. I do stuff like that in my home state and would rather deal with nonhunters than hunters much of the time. There is no unity among hunters.

I hear people say that there is no unity among hunters but I am curious as to what makes people think that we aren’t united?

 

[sneaky]

I hear people say that there is no unity among hunters but I am curious as to what makes people think that we aren’t united?

Archery guys and rifle guys don't get along. Bird hunters and trappers are always at odds. Hound guys get grief from every angle. Spin fishermen and fly fishermen...oh man, where to start. Sportsmen are a fractured group, have been for a long time

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[dirtytough]

I hear people say that there is no unity among hunters but I am curious as to what makes people think that we aren’t united?

Res/Non res......

 

[Fatcamp]

I think elk and mule deer are in every state west of the Mississippi. Not all have NR Elk hunts though I guess.

No they are not.

 

[Lawnboi]

I wonder if “held in trust” meant that one day they could just pimp the crap out of the wildlife to make millions off of opportunity alone.

 

[MuleyFever]

No they are not.

What states dont have them?

 

[Fatcamp]

What states dont have them?

Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana. A whole pile that don't have huntable populations of elk and Texas, which has game that's unavailable to most people.

Now those states might have a tiny population tucked away in some corner, but that doesn't really count for anything. Along with states I know have them but tags are almost impossible to get and are impossible for non-residents. No NR elk tags in SD, does NE, KS, or OK have nonresident elk tags? ND?

There are really only eight states that have populations of huntable elk. I get there are elk elsewhere and with lottery ticket odds you might get a tag, but there are really 8 serious destinations for elk hunters.

 

[MuleyFever]

Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana. A whole pile that don't have huntable populations of elk and Texas, which has game that's unavailable to most people.

Now those states might have a tiny population tucked away in some corner, but that doesn't really count for anything. Along with states I know have them but tags are almost impossible to get and are impossible for non-residents. No NR elk tags in SD, does NE, KS, or OK have nonresident elk tags? ND?

There are really only eight states that have populations of huntable elk. I get there are elk elsewhere and with lottery ticket odds you might get a tag, but there are really 8 serious destinations for elk hunters.

Nevermind. I completely misworded my previous post. In my head I was thinking states west of the Mississippi River states but typed west of the Mississippi.