$$$ has severely changed the activity of hunting in my part of the world and not for the better is my only point. And I seriously doubt anyone that truly loves hunting and has lived through the changes I've seen would disagree with me. If that's whining than so be it but that's just my opinion based off my experience. Is it easier to harvest a big deer today in my area than it was 30 years ago? Yes if u can get on ground to hunt but so much of all the other experiences of hunting are lost because of the Dollar and what it brings to hunting.
Same here, to a certain extent. But, there are many, many more deer here than in the 80s and 90s. Back when there wasn't as many deer, landowners would let you hunt just by asking.
Money has changed it. Short of a catastrophic deer die-off, we aint never going back to the way it was.
But, what hasn't changed (for me) is my love for deer hunting. No matter what it costs, Im gonna hunt a mature buck. As costs increase, it may only be one buck a year somewhere I can afford, but Im not going to complain about it. I cant change it.
Over the years, by leasing, I have found a way to keep it going the way I like it. Ive told my sons to NEVER voluntarily give up the hunting lease...NEVER! EVER! Once you do...its gone!
BTW....my lease is treated just like its my land. Other than the timber and timber management, I make all the land management decisions based on what the New Holland and I can do.