I've hunted FHL for 5 years, but no longer hunt there. The following, as long and as boring as it is, IS my experience hunting at FHL.
It is beautiful country, but the hunting is over-rated. MOST EXCELLENT habitat, but WAY too many hunters...
The NUMBER ONE reason I don't go there anymore, is the hassle of having to check-in.... check-out....register.... I have also had my share of bad experiences with other apparently anti-hunting FHL personel, and mistreatments by them. Can't enter an area (to start walking/hiking) earlier than an hour before sunrise, can't leave an area later than an hour after sunset (a REAL problem if you have gotten game at the last light....). Also, I don't care for the long lines, crowds, area assignments, and the hassle of changing them, etc.... Lets face it.... I go hunting to have fun, and get away from the everyday hussle.... At FHL, I find more of the same!
Now, the success rates..... If you get drawn for Elk, it is pretty much a sure bet. Quail and rabbits can be found in decent abundance as well. But, as far as deer and hogs go, IMO you are MUCH better off somewhere else. I know that someone might jump out and say "BUT YOU ALWAYS SEE A COUPLE OF HOGS TAKEN EVERY WEEKEND!". True.... you also have to consider the number of people who hunted there in an attempt to take a hog. The weekends that I've been there, LOTS of hunters, and a couple of hogs.... making the probability very close to public land elsewhere. I assure you, if 100 guys went in all directions on a nearby forest land, a couple of them WOULD score hogs. As for deer, at least in my experience, the same thing.... The openning day (which I only went ONCE!) is like a frik'n ZOO!!! HUNDREDS of hunters in line before the morning.... from my understanding, some go there couple of days early to stand in line (or so I was told).... Looks like the bread line in a communist country!!!! By midday of that openning morning, I believe there were 7 or 8 bucks taken.... NONE impressive, and all barely legal!!! In my opinion, one can do A LOT better on public land!!!
There are more reasons that I don't hunt there anymore. I can get rabbits and quail with sufficient abundance locally. I havn't hunted deer in a while, but see them (bucks and does) regularly on public lands, to where if I decided to start hunting them, I'd feel that I'd have a fairly decent chance at legal bucks. In general, I hunt a lot of upland and small game relatively locally. Sometimes I get them, sometimes I don't. It's always fun, with little driving, and NO CHECK-IN/OUT hassle, no vouchers needed, no annual pass needed, etc.
My biggest passion is Hog hunting.... I, too, have hiked probably hundreds of miles, and many many weekends all over public lands, and have put in my time. If you have a public land hot spot, more power to you. All my successful public land hog hunts (and there weren't many!) was a result of being at the right place, at the right time..... Lucky for me, VERY unlucky for the pig. However, in ALL cases, they were 'transients'.
The main reason that I started hunting FHL was because of it's suppozed 'good hog hunting'. That is just about the only reason that I started hunting there, as I could get everything else, everywhere else, without the hassles or attitudes. But that is WAY over-rated, and simply NOT ture. I hunt all my other game on public land, away from the crowds, etc, and of course, I take slugs or a rifle or whatever, IN-CASE I accidentaly run into a hog...
However, when I WANT to go hog hunting, I go with a guided hunt.... sure.... $400 sounds like quite a bit, BUT, it's not. After all, why pay $400 when there is GOOD hog hunting at FHL? Well....
Lets look at the economy of my hunting FHL for hogs for 4 or 5 years.... I believe MOST will attest to similar success rates (at least 3 other I know are in the same boat).
The first year, I went about 5 times... did not have an annual....the price was about $29 with the add-on fees, per weekend. So, it was $145 for the first year. Then, for the next 4 years, I had annual permits... $70 per year, so that's $280.... So far, we have $280+145=$425 JUST for permits.... I went there an average of 7 or 8 times per year. So, I went there about 38 (sounds about right) times or so.....It's about 450 miles, round trip (including the driving around at FHL) from my place. My truck gives me about 16 mpg, so it's 28 gallons used each time. That is more than 1100 gallons that I've used up going there. I would often meet up with buddies up there, but rarely share a ride with them, so 99% of the time, I pay 100% of the gas money. I would estimate that the average fuel cost over the last few years is about $1.35 per gallon (I'm being conservative), so that's about $1485 for fuel to FHL over the years, bringing the grand total to $1900+ for fuel and permits ONLY. Now, I could go on and on about food/overnight accomodations, etc, etc.... but I won't because I did not have to stay at the Hacienda as often as I did, and I did not have to EAT as much as I did.... on average, the food/accomodation bill was about $70-150 per weekend, depending on where we stayed, what we ate, etc, and that runs into the thousands over they years, but we will leave that out.... So.... $1920 for 5 years, and no hogs.... That is FIVE quality private ranch guided pig hunts, and FIVE pigs that COULD have been in my freezer, just in permits and fuel.... So I did pay for a hog per year.... but got none..... Don't get me wrong. I still enjoy hunting for pigs (while hunting for other things) on public lands, I enjoy the experience, the hike, the scenary (and none of the hassles of FHL).... but I NO LONGER fool myself into thinking that it is less costly to hunt for pigs on public land.... ESPECIALLY FHL.
Just my opinion......
It is beautiful country, but the hunting is over-rated. MOST EXCELLENT habitat, but WAY too many hunters...
The NUMBER ONE reason I don't go there anymore, is the hassle of having to check-in.... check-out....register.... I have also had my share of bad experiences with other apparently anti-hunting FHL personel, and mistreatments by them. Can't enter an area (to start walking/hiking) earlier than an hour before sunrise, can't leave an area later than an hour after sunset (a REAL problem if you have gotten game at the last light....). Also, I don't care for the long lines, crowds, area assignments, and the hassle of changing them, etc.... Lets face it.... I go hunting to have fun, and get away from the everyday hussle.... At FHL, I find more of the same!
Now, the success rates..... If you get drawn for Elk, it is pretty much a sure bet. Quail and rabbits can be found in decent abundance as well. But, as far as deer and hogs go, IMO you are MUCH better off somewhere else. I know that someone might jump out and say "BUT YOU ALWAYS SEE A COUPLE OF HOGS TAKEN EVERY WEEKEND!". True.... you also have to consider the number of people who hunted there in an attempt to take a hog. The weekends that I've been there, LOTS of hunters, and a couple of hogs.... making the probability very close to public land elsewhere. I assure you, if 100 guys went in all directions on a nearby forest land, a couple of them WOULD score hogs. As for deer, at least in my experience, the same thing.... The openning day (which I only went ONCE!) is like a frik'n ZOO!!! HUNDREDS of hunters in line before the morning.... from my understanding, some go there couple of days early to stand in line (or so I was told).... Looks like the bread line in a communist country!!!! By midday of that openning morning, I believe there were 7 or 8 bucks taken.... NONE impressive, and all barely legal!!! In my opinion, one can do A LOT better on public land!!!
There are more reasons that I don't hunt there anymore. I can get rabbits and quail with sufficient abundance locally. I havn't hunted deer in a while, but see them (bucks and does) regularly on public lands, to where if I decided to start hunting them, I'd feel that I'd have a fairly decent chance at legal bucks. In general, I hunt a lot of upland and small game relatively locally. Sometimes I get them, sometimes I don't. It's always fun, with little driving, and NO CHECK-IN/OUT hassle, no vouchers needed, no annual pass needed, etc.
My biggest passion is Hog hunting.... I, too, have hiked probably hundreds of miles, and many many weekends all over public lands, and have put in my time. If you have a public land hot spot, more power to you. All my successful public land hog hunts (and there weren't many!) was a result of being at the right place, at the right time..... Lucky for me, VERY unlucky for the pig. However, in ALL cases, they were 'transients'.
The main reason that I started hunting FHL was because of it's suppozed 'good hog hunting'. That is just about the only reason that I started hunting there, as I could get everything else, everywhere else, without the hassles or attitudes. But that is WAY over-rated, and simply NOT ture. I hunt all my other game on public land, away from the crowds, etc, and of course, I take slugs or a rifle or whatever, IN-CASE I accidentaly run into a hog...
However, when I WANT to go hog hunting, I go with a guided hunt.... sure.... $400 sounds like quite a bit, BUT, it's not. After all, why pay $400 when there is GOOD hog hunting at FHL? Well....
Lets look at the economy of my hunting FHL for hogs for 4 or 5 years.... I believe MOST will attest to similar success rates (at least 3 other I know are in the same boat).
The first year, I went about 5 times... did not have an annual....the price was about $29 with the add-on fees, per weekend. So, it was $145 for the first year. Then, for the next 4 years, I had annual permits... $70 per year, so that's $280.... So far, we have $280+145=$425 JUST for permits.... I went there an average of 7 or 8 times per year. So, I went there about 38 (sounds about right) times or so.....It's about 450 miles, round trip (including the driving around at FHL) from my place. My truck gives me about 16 mpg, so it's 28 gallons used each time. That is more than 1100 gallons that I've used up going there. I would often meet up with buddies up there, but rarely share a ride with them, so 99% of the time, I pay 100% of the gas money. I would estimate that the average fuel cost over the last few years is about $1.35 per gallon (I'm being conservative), so that's about $1485 for fuel to FHL over the years, bringing the grand total to $1900+ for fuel and permits ONLY. Now, I could go on and on about food/overnight accomodations, etc, etc.... but I won't because I did not have to stay at the Hacienda as often as I did, and I did not have to EAT as much as I did.... on average, the food/accomodation bill was about $70-150 per weekend, depending on where we stayed, what we ate, etc, and that runs into the thousands over they years, but we will leave that out.... So.... $1920 for 5 years, and no hogs.... That is FIVE quality private ranch guided pig hunts, and FIVE pigs that COULD have been in my freezer, just in permits and fuel.... So I did pay for a hog per year.... but got none..... Don't get me wrong. I still enjoy hunting for pigs (while hunting for other things) on public lands, I enjoy the experience, the hike, the scenary (and none of the hassles of FHL).... but I NO LONGER fool myself into thinking that it is less costly to hunt for pigs on public land.... ESPECIALLY FHL.
Just my opinion......