Horizontal Hunter

I agree The "pay-to-play" mentality is one of the greatst threats.

Bob

Phil from Maine

Up here the answer would be no. That is not an issue in my part of the woods. What would be the driving factor is taxes on the land keeps going up so why not charge for it. This is what we see coming in the not to far of a future. Also fees keep rising with issues like the gas prices or the cost of new vehicles ect.. They will make up for it some how and we are the ones they keep looking at.

Talondale

You also have to look at the generational aspect of it. Say farmer Jack has 1,400 acres. He has 3 kids. They grow up and move to x so they can persue their own careers and do well and have 2 kids each of thier own. Farmer Jack lives a long and good life and dies, leaving the farm to his 3 kids. Child 1, and 2, although sentimental about the farm have a suburban lifestyle and no real use for the farm and they can't afford to pay taxes on a house and land that isn't being used. Besides they could use some cash to pay off their debts, send the kids to college, etc. Child 3 loves hunting and would love to keep the farm but he couldn't make a living on the farm and can't afford to buy out the two siblings because the farm's now worth $3.5 million because it's nice undeveloped land within driving distance of a nearby city. Even if he does keep a portion of the farm his kids will have to divide that portion and their kids and their kids.... It's a finite resource, unless suburban expansion is reversed (and I'm not volunteering to move to an inner city) it will be harder to hold and expand. Another Great Depression or fuel crisis could force people back to population centers but that is a worse scenario than dwindling hunting land, in my opinion, if your one of the ones forced to live in an apartment downtown.

sportsman22

So you wouldn't mind going out to the woods hearing that every morning and night? I don't hunt just for the deer, I also hunt to relax and enjoy nature. So when I don't see a deer or other critters I can appreciate what might not be there in the future.

Cougar Mag

Yes mostly because of the decreasing amount of available land to hunt, but much of that is attributable to more landowners not allowing hunting, outfitters and greed among hunters themselves. For example I know a few hunters who have exclusive permission to hunt thousands of acres and wouldn't dare think to let a few other hunters share just a little bit of it. I can't imagine how it must be for resident hunters in Pike County[:-].