Is there a high fence elk in your future?

[Pa Ridge Runner]

All this " Chicken Little" talk about the sky falling in on elk hunting because of the 9th Circut Court's recent ruling in Az has got me to thinking where we are headed with hunting in the next 25 years. Actually I've been thinking about this since the Guns Of Autum film back in the 70's, this just renewed my thoughts.
IMHO I truely feel hunting will never die out. It will become a sport of the better off finacially but not limited to the wealthy like some seem to think. Why? Mainly because this country unlike those in Europe had the forthsight to designate open range public land in every state. Couple that with the pre and post market money generated by the sport . And I feel it shall survive well into the the late 2000's and longer.How much longer I cannot hazard a guess, but surely longer than the next 2 generations.
Will the market for canned hunts bloosom? Yes I feel as though they will. Possibly because of limited resources and tag quotas. You may have a mid westerner that covets a bull elk. Yet can't get drawn for a tag no matter how long he /she applies. With each year the desire increases.
Now I ask is this really hope we wish hunting to progress? Not I for one. Cause without the actual hunting of the bull there is little trophy. But then again I have hunted the Rockies for elk knowing the differences in the two.

 

[tmoniz]

I think some of us will be priced out of hunting certain states. Nonresident tag prices are increasing. So some of us, like me, have decided to stop applying in Wyoming and Colorado and focus more on precious premium tags here at home.
The cost of a tag out of state can cover many trips to the Sierras.

As far as canned hunts or high fence ones, those will never go away because someone with a sharp business sense knows there are those out there that are willing to pay anything to one up their well-to-do hunting buddies.

I "had" a friend like that who told me several years ago I would not be able to get a decent bull elk with a guide that only charges 2500.00 for 10 days. Well I found one. It was a rough hunt, but very rewarding. Everytime I see this friend I make it a point to mention that my bull is bigger than his. His one room is filled with big game trophies from all over. Most of which were from canned hunts.

 

[Norcalihunter]

If a canned hunt is all there is around then yes i will go start going on them.

 

[Pa Ridge Runner]

In no way do I mean to pass judgement of the pros or cons of canned hunting anything. That is a choice for each person to make on their own. If it is legal than it's legal . If it floats your boat then go sail it.
The time is here when we all need to suport eachother, not bicker amongst ourselves.
To the point made about high NR tag fees. I must say I have curtailed my hunting trips out of state as well because of the prices some states are charging, ie. MT was up to $800 for a NR rifle deer tag sponsored by the outfitter last time I went. Cripes I can remember not too long ago when the entire trip out there didn't cost much more door to door. I have 2 mulies over 27" on my wall. So now I take that tag money and hunt a state that ajoins Pa each fall. Montana didn't loose out though as I see they are still selling at or near 100% of the landowner/outfitter sponsored tags to others that still covet their first mulie.
Ten years ago my neighbor at the time was one of those types that had to have the biggest best of everything..pkup, snowmobile,lawn tractor, etc. He was a self imposed hunting guru of the area ( at the age of 30). I killed a small 4x5 raghorn bull on a do it yourself archery elk hunt in Co. When he saw the rack he scoffed about it's size. Then booked a high fence hunt on a preserve where he "hunted" inside a 50 acre pen and killed a 300" 6x6 pd around $4000 for the 1 daY "TRIP OF A LIFETIME" came home and showed it off all around town then got a shoulder mount of it. Seems to me like he missed a big part of the hunt......the part where you actually hunt, or sit by the campfire with your buddies, or bust your ass hauling a 1/4 out on your pack frame. But that was his choice.
I guess I'll never get drawn in a preimum area in AZ for elk, anytime soon. And I refuse on principal to pay the huge NR tag fees of many states for thier elk. So for me anyway I'll need to contend myself with looking at old photos of a little raghorn and beg a piece of elk steak off one of the guys that goes on a high fence "trophy HUNT"

 

[COHunter]

At my current age of 33 its easy for me to look down on High Fence hunts, BUT I might have a different opinion about them when I'm older or if I become disabled. For me it would also depend on how many acre's the animals had to roam and what type of cover was available to them.

As of now they are not for me.

Hey PA Ridge Runner
I know we have our difference's on Western Elk/Deer Tags, but if you see a grey F150 with CO plate's in PA the week after Thanksgiving, don't shoot me LOL. I'm just visiting (and Deer Huntin') with my Inlaws up in Tioga county.

And gettin' a Philly Cheese Steak samich at Sheetz

 

[Pa Ridge Runner]

and what's that NR lisc. costing you? ($110 no quota over the counter) What's the matter don't you have enough whitetails in Co to chase?
BTW I live in NE Potter Co. about 2 miles from the Tioga / Potter line in Ulysses.

 

[COHunter]

Well yeah.......you've got 5,000 deer per sq. inch back there. I'm scared to drive over 10 mph at night.

Wife grew up in Blossberg, but her family live's in Columbia Crossroads now. They own lots of Land !!!!!

 

[Pa Ridge Runner]

Blossburg is about 1 hr 15 min from me

 

[Monsterbull]

The question is an interesting one. I suppose I am more on the "Chiken Little" side of things. I see that, as a long range result of the ruling, should the sport become the purview of the rich, then it makes it that much more vulnerable to legal banishment, no matter the amount of open range public land. The greenies have already caused significant economic decline in the timber industry for example by severely restricting or stopping timber sales on federal (public) land. They even litigate private holdings based on Endangered Species Act arguments. So what is to prevent similar things occurring to hunting, particularly if the average person can't hunt anymore? Take away the ability of the average person from hunting, then support for hunting will inevitably decline as well.

As for canned "hunts", on a personal level I can't even begin to think how this would be a viable alternative as it relates to real hunting. Will they increase in prevalence? Maybe, unfortunately. But it's like the difference between a log ride at Splash Mountain in Disneyland and riding the rapids down the Snake River; one's real and one isn't.

 

[Pa Ridge Runner]

yes but both make you wet!
When I was not long off the teat my grandfather used to talk about how he and his pals would ride the train, switch to a narrow gauge RR,then meet a horse drawn wagon at the last town in upstate Pa. Get hauled another 20 miles back into the woods set a tent in the snow and hunt for 2 1/2 weeks. The trip took a day and a half.Occasionally somebody got a deer. Today I drive to that very same spot in a $40,000 4x4 in about 3 hrs from that very same house after work Friday night. More often than not see several deer. Hunt a day and zip home on Sunday morning so I can watch the Eagles play at 1. Guess you could say that is how the hunt has evolved here in Pa and in most of the USA.
Nothing stays the same as it once was NOTHING not even hunting.

 

[Pa Ridge Runner]

Also wanted to say that here in Pa the velvet industry has taken a nose dive lately. Most of the guys that raised huge bulls for that market are now dumping they at "shooting preserves" at pennies on the dollar of their worth so they do not have to feed them. One such place is advertising 350-400" bulls 6-9 yrs old for a "hunt" fee of $2200. They have about 750 acres under high fence. That's bigger than a sq. mile.
I can see where somebody might be tired of not getting drawn for a NR tag or looks at a $4000 guided elk hunt + air,rental car, etc. with no real chance at a bull much bigger than a raghorn or possibly 250 " . And says yes I'll do that.
Heck many many a day I have not covered a sq. mile while hunting myself. But if THEY go I sure hope THEY offer me a few pcs. of backstrap.