Its my opinion that its these land owners screwing over the local communities. Just think how many MORE people would travel to these towns, use their hotels, restaurants, gas stations, etc if there was free hunting land. Its just all around better for the local ecomony but as I see it, the owners charging this outrageous fee to hunt only reduces how many people actually come into the community to patronize these services.
how many of you here can say that they could afford to pay a lease, gas, hotel stay, food, etc? If so, great! But just think of the average joe who can't and just wants to take their kid out and introduce them to this sport we so passionately love. Chances are, most of us hunt because our own fathers took us out and its a chance to relive some of those memories growing up. Now it's our generations turn to prep the next round of future hunters for this sport. But really, I see hunting slowly becoming a rich-man's sport. Plus, this day and age, I believe there are far more average joes than a rich guy. Why are we even paying memberships, attending banquets for Pheasants Forever??? It's not just focusing on the now and buying all this land...it's helping enhance what land is already there and making the habitat even better for the future of the sport and pheasants. So Thank you all who are members of PF and volunteer their time so someone else other than your own kids can enjoy the land in the years to come.
Honestly, the owner who wants to lease 5ooo acres for $50,000 has no heart or common sense. Someone said it earlier...portion out that land and charge less...how can one man or hunting party possibly hunt 5000 acres in a season? So the owner is just screwing himself and his local economy in this greedy effort to make a quick buck targeting a pretty small niche.
Really, put yourself in the shoes of a small town business owner who probably depends solely on hunting season to keep their business going. Are you going to like having this greedy landowner as a neighbor who's looking for a rich person (who if likely can afford that lease will probably be driving through town in a pretty nice camper set up and just park that on the 5000 acres somewhere loaded up with all the food, shells, and necessities for that trip). So then the hotel owner misses out on that stay. Grocery store/Restaurants owners not selling food. Liquor store...same story. Soon it will just be a ghost town (ok, maybe a little far fetched perhaps but may also be a reality for some of these towns)
I would rather see this land owner charge a lot less (nothing preferably), split up his land for more people to enjoy so that it draws more people into the community. It's not rocket science. So everyone benefits in the end.
It's becoming more clear why these pheasant hot spots have the bird numbers they do. People can't afford to get into those areas to hunt birds. So much of the land is more of a refuge and sanctuary. I'm sure there would be many more hot spots all over if each area started charging for land access. Ultimately, it will be unhealthy to have that many pheasants in one area. They will just choke themselves out. I'm guessing that land owner also isn't doing anything to better the land to support that many more birds.
So am I the one being a little harsh? Yeah, probably. What do you think this land owners neighbors and community are saying/thinking about the $50,000 the owner is asking?
Its just sad!
