Eliminating Walk In Access Stamp

chadsbritt

chadsbritt

New member
Check out this article from the post. http://www.denverpost.com/huntfish/ci_13811465


Starting next season, you won't be required to purchase a walk in stamp. The article says they want to get more kids involved, and eliminating the walk in access fees will do that.

I don't like the idea. They say they're going to pay for the walk in access through the farm bill. Why don't they keep the stamp to raise additional "bonus" funding? Then they could lease additional land, or try to lease up more premium habitat. If they are doing it for the kids, just give the kids a stamp for free. I actually wouldn't even mind an increase in the stamp if it meant better hunting opportunities.

What are everyone else's thoughts? I think I'm going to write the DOW and ask them to reconsider this idea. Maybe with enough support, they'll re-think this.
 
I agree with you!:mad:
 
I wish we had a mandatory WIHA or habitat stamp in KS, so the state could lease more land. There are a lot of people taking advantage of the WIHA access. More $ = more acres!

I don't wish to be charged additional fees for many things, but I sure wouldn't mind seeing another million acres of WIHA added to the map next year!
 
Stupid idea to get rid of the cost of the stamp. I have 2 boys that hunt with me and I pay $0 for theirs already. $20 is plenty reasonable, could justify more for more land, and the kids don't pay already. Not sure what their motive is...:confused:
 
I am fortunate enough to hunt all private but I would agree with you guys 100 percent. It could be used for habitat projects or use the money for extra acres.
 
I don't like the idea. I don't think it is going to generate the kind of interest the DOW is hoping for either.

If they want to generate more interest they should make it easier to get a hunter's safety card. I wanted to start hunting 10 years earlier then I did but that class that takes 2 or 3 days discouraged me from doing it.
 
I read recently in the Denver Post about thousands of CRP acres expiring in Colorado due to the state budget crisis. However, the article stating WIA stamps will be free while more acres fall out of the CRP program just does not add up. If they can not afford to pay landowners for enrolling their land then shouldn't the fee's be increased? I look forward to reading more about this topic. I did read on Progressive Farmer that more and more landowners are producing corn on what used to be CRP land to meet the increased demand for ethenol. We need to make sure our voices are heard on this one, but Pheasants Forever and several other groups are fighting for us. Might be a good time to join Pheasants Forever or a similar group if you have not done so.
 
This is really a bad idea. I am not rich by any means, in fact I am currently unemployed and while there are certain things that I have a hard time justifying spending money on, license fees (including WIA) are not one of them. I actually feel good when I spend money at CDOW! It makes no sense why they would consider dropping a good thing. If it's the younger people they want to involve, just waive the fee for anyone under 18....I too will contact the CDOW.
 
x10, my buddy told me about this change yesterday while we were pheasant hunting and I was pissed. I too would be willing to spend MORE on the license rather than nothing at all. And I believe it's already free for people under a certain age.....so there goes that argument.
 
I will most likely write the DOW and ask that they reconsider. I encourage you all to do the same. I think I will contact pheasants forever as well and voice my concern. Perhaps a large organization that carries some clout will be able to step in and encourage the DOW to change their minds.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels this way!
 
The $20 is not much for the opportubity to hunt the land. I would be willing to pay more for an increase in land to hunt. It helps those of us who don't know anyone with land
 
I sure do hope & pray that it is not because so much CRP land is currently being lost/expiring, that the CDOW already knows that very soon there will not be enough quality land to hunt & hunters would actually be far more pissed off about continuing to pay $20 for a bunch of pheasantless c-r-a-p land instead of quality CRP habitat??? Farmers have been willing to enroll in the walk-in program as an additional "peanuts" subsidy up to now because they were already getting paid much more handsomely for CRP enrollment...if that ceases to be as now threatens, all of pheasant country is in deep trouble & pheasant hunting as we know it could even cease to be! :(

I for one would be willing to help pay more for anything that would offset some of the losses & continue providing some quality habitat to hunt, but I'm afraid all of this is mere spittin-in-the-wind unless a huge, united storm tide of protest rises up against the feds totally dropping the CRP program (which will also cause waterfowl & many other kinds of wildlife to suffer too). :mad: Can't say I totally blame the farmers (what would you do in their shoes) - yeah life always comes down to the money, but they have to scrap out a living for their families any way they can just like the rest of us! It is totally selfish & foolish of hunters and wildlife departments or anyone else to expect a free-ride gravy-train for not much of anything thing in return!

The flip-side of this (especially under the current economic conditions) - is that if not carefully weighed in the equation, the common working-man soon finds himself priced out of the market and simply cannot afford to hunt! Quite the endless conundrum, this hunting thing...definitely a precious privilege to be treasured & thankful for, not a right to be demanded!!! :eek:
 
$20 dollars is cheap. Even shells cost more.

I see this from a different perspective. I learned to hunt from my father and uncles. As I am sure most of you did as well. If the DOW wants to get more kids interested in hunting, then they need to provide more and better opportunities for the average working man who has a family. It is really that simple

On a side note: Baby-Boomers still make up the greatest percentage of the hunting population, and in the next 5-10 years this age group will retire from the field & forests. Since the DOW knows a good percentage of its hunting base will be gone in the next few years, it needs to encourage youth hunting. Without a new generation of hunters the DOW will be forced to consider other measures, such as the reintroduction of wolves, increased bag limits, and higher license fees. None of these are good. So, try and think of a youngster you could bring along on your next hunting trip! I know hunting & fishing has been the most rewarding hobby/religion in my live!
 
hen said:
I sure do hope & pray that it is not because so much CRP land is currently being lost/expiring, that the CDOW already knows that very soon there will not be enough quality land to hunt & hunters would actually be far more pissed off about continuing to pay $20 for a bunch of pheasantless c-r-a-p land instead of quality CRP habitat??? Farmers have been willing to enroll in the walk-in program as an additional "peanuts" subsidy up to now because they were already getting paid much more handsomely for CRP enrollment...if that ceases to be as now threatens, all of pheasant country is in deep trouble & pheasant hunting as we know it could even cease to be! :(
:eek:
Click to expand...

I don't understand your logic here? Enlighten me please.

I guess you haven't been hunting the WIA that I do, it is far from crap. Sure there are some spots that aren't the best but in general, there is plenty of very suitable habitat.

I don't think that there is any incentive connection between the loss of federal subsidy CRP and WIA. I would wager that a very small percentage of farmers are enrolled in both CRP and WIA. Besides, CRP is not public, it is still owned by the landowner and you must gain permission to hunt it just like any other private property.
 
I could be wrong here Winchester but in my area most of the WIA are crp. What happens when those contracts expire? They will be hayed or farmed. I am already guilty of haying 9 crp quarters. Three of those were in the walk-in program. One is going to be farmed next year. Their needs to be some sort of incentive for these farmers to leave the habitat. The WIA areas really dont pay that much. No program money from the government they are looking for other ways to turn a dime. The guys that have posted on here are thinking in the right direction from my point of view. But each has their own idea.
 
Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with you. Losing the countless acres of CRP land is with out a doubt a major blow. It frustrates me to no end that our government is not renewing so many of the CRP contracts and you certainly cannot blame the landowners for using the land for other means.
I guess I just don't see a lot of CRP that is marked WIA and that is where I am confused. The majority of WIA that I hunt are perennially farmed sections that change from year to year, save a few. Either way, it sucks. I am calling the DOW next week to see if there is someone that explain their reasoning.
 
When I mentioned the possibility of paying for a lot of "crap" land I wasn't talking about right now (I currently have found many quality habitat places to hunt too), I am talking about the very near future...FORESIGHT is the name of the game & we human beings have historically shown ourselves to be pretty bad at it!!! :rolleyes: For things to have any chance to work out well for all, EVERYBODY needs to step outside of their own little box or mere personal perspective/interest & think of everybody else involved for a change...

Several years ago I hunted North Dakota during a semi-drought & quite a few farmers had hayed designated walk-in CRP land bald under special-conditions permission...This year already here in CO my very best-luck walk-in CRP grassland from last year was hayed completely bald & rendered useless - so were several other parcels that we checked on from the small-game atlas/map while putting on a lot of miles scouting (many of which still had "walk-in" signs on them)...

Minus the federal CRP incentive & with walk-in contracts only paying a maximum of $1-$5 per acre, you do the math even on a thousand acres! Could you feed your family on that??? Would YOU or I forego a much more solidly paying cash crop & suffer absolute "peanuts" in comparison, out of the sheer goodness of our hearts just so hunters would have a place to play & pursue their quarry while we worked our butts off to survive - I don't think so!

Yes, many of the prime "walk-ins" are most definitely also designated CRP...I am sure many harvested croplands will continue to be enrolled in walk-in & might actually work for those who like to hunt naked territory in large groups with plenty of blockers, but that is not by a long shot the best kind of habitat for those of us who like to hunt behind dogs where birds might even occasionally "hold"...That in a nutshell is my logic in my previous post & it is going to be a HUGE problem if we just keep on hunting with our heads in the sand & wait until after-the-fact to address the brewing storm!!! :eek::eek:
 
Thanks for the clarification. I got ya now and I agree on all fronts, especially regarding our foresight ineptness. We always just look at the sticker price.

Well, I'll keep ya posted on my efforts to learn more from CDOW. In the meantime, I'm headed to Haxtun tomorrow. Finally got the time to make it past Brush and I'm hoping some more snow comes along.

Engpointerman - would you mind giving a little snow status for me please? There is nothing that I enjoy more than tracking roosters and witnessing some the crafty tactics they pull!
 
Nice that you have it, but I would think kids for free should about cover it if they want to go. They need to put a ban on Playstation, that might help. I hope they do this in MN there is talk about it, as hunter lic. #'s have dropped.
 
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