Hi Haymaker
I want to thank you for your reply, and I truly mean that. A bit of background, I am 60 years old, grew up in W St Paul MN when it was rural, its now and old inner ring suburb. I started hunting pheasants near Farmington MN, back then in Empire Twp I had to get written permission to hunt, I drove across a plowed field in my 69 Chevelle to talk to the farmer as he worked the field, he gave me permission to hunt fencelines and river bottom. It wasn't too long and fences were coming down, pivots put in etc. NOW Farmington is a suburb. Started hunting pheasants seriously again in 89, had my first dog and told my brothers that with CRP this could be the "good old days" for us. We hunted public land exclusively.
In 1992 we took our first SDak trip, we chose an area with lots of public and walk-in areas. WOW WOW WOW So began an annual pilgrammage. We got to know and obtained permission from several landowners, we never had "exclusive" rights meaning it wasn't saved for us the week we were there but could hunt it. And started building relationships with these guys. In 2003 we had a bad experience, and that experience was we had finally obtained permission to hunt a sweet spot we'd been asking for years. What happened? A guide pulled in while we started to hunt and took a van full of clients out and completely cut us off. What a sour experience that was, and the next 6 years we hunted SW MN public land. 2010 we returned to SDak and driving from Aberdeen to Selby the changes were obvious, the new elevators and ag services ethanol plants etc. Wheat and sunflowers were getting scarcer and corn and beans taking over.
Last year we had a pretty good hunt, we had to pay to hunt an area that previously did not get charged for, and by SD standards it was cheap,the other landowner has 320 acres of CRP that was hayed to standards and it comes out this fall, and it will then be rented out and cropped. BOOM goes the breeding area. I've seen the Sand Lake wetland mgmt district take upland cover with brome and bluegrass (former cropland area, not native prairie) and plant round-up ready corn and beans, a 5 year plan before reseeding to grasses and forbs
Whats my point-I am supposed to have one, right? I've watched destruction of wild lands my whole life, and in the USA our mentality seems to be well just move on to somewhere else. We all know that those places that haven't seen as much development pressure will soon. The slice of pie is pretty damned small and getting smaller.
If I am going to pay to hunt, I will just go to a game farm in MN. I'd rather save my money and take a fishing trip to the far north or go back to hunting sharptails and huns on the canadian prairie or hunted ruffed grouse in Ontario. Why? because I value wild places and wild birds and the experience. Its not about instant gratification.
Dan
I want to thank you for your reply, and I truly mean that. A bit of background, I am 60 years old, grew up in W St Paul MN when it was rural, its now and old inner ring suburb. I started hunting pheasants near Farmington MN, back then in Empire Twp I had to get written permission to hunt, I drove across a plowed field in my 69 Chevelle to talk to the farmer as he worked the field, he gave me permission to hunt fencelines and river bottom. It wasn't too long and fences were coming down, pivots put in etc. NOW Farmington is a suburb. Started hunting pheasants seriously again in 89, had my first dog and told my brothers that with CRP this could be the "good old days" for us. We hunted public land exclusively.
In 1992 we took our first SDak trip, we chose an area with lots of public and walk-in areas. WOW WOW WOW So began an annual pilgrammage. We got to know and obtained permission from several landowners, we never had "exclusive" rights meaning it wasn't saved for us the week we were there but could hunt it. And started building relationships with these guys. In 2003 we had a bad experience, and that experience was we had finally obtained permission to hunt a sweet spot we'd been asking for years. What happened? A guide pulled in while we started to hunt and took a van full of clients out and completely cut us off. What a sour experience that was, and the next 6 years we hunted SW MN public land. 2010 we returned to SDak and driving from Aberdeen to Selby the changes were obvious, the new elevators and ag services ethanol plants etc. Wheat and sunflowers were getting scarcer and corn and beans taking over.
Last year we had a pretty good hunt, we had to pay to hunt an area that previously did not get charged for, and by SD standards it was cheap,the other landowner has 320 acres of CRP that was hayed to standards and it comes out this fall, and it will then be rented out and cropped. BOOM goes the breeding area. I've seen the Sand Lake wetland mgmt district take upland cover with brome and bluegrass (former cropland area, not native prairie) and plant round-up ready corn and beans, a 5 year plan before reseeding to grasses and forbs
Whats my point-I am supposed to have one, right? I've watched destruction of wild lands my whole life, and in the USA our mentality seems to be well just move on to somewhere else. We all know that those places that haven't seen as much development pressure will soon. The slice of pie is pretty damned small and getting smaller.
If I am going to pay to hunt, I will just go to a game farm in MN. I'd rather save my money and take a fishing trip to the far north or go back to hunting sharptails and huns on the canadian prairie or hunted ruffed grouse in Ontario. Why? because I value wild places and wild birds and the experience. Its not about instant gratification.
Dan