AZHUNTER Report post Posted August 9, 2013 It's becoming a rich mans sport! Just wait more and more ranchers will follow suite and pretty soon there won't be much left to hunt without stepping on others toes! Very sad to see! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
uofahughes2 Report post Posted August 9, 2013 It's becoming a rich mans sport! Just wait more and more ranchers will follow suite and pretty soon there won't be much left to hunt without stepping on others toes! Very sad to see! This isn't an issue with "Ranchers" Most of the Big Bo is a privately owned and privately operated ranch. We've been lucky to have access to it thus far. Most Ranchers operate off of leases from the BLM and Forrest Service, and couldn't shut down access if they wanted to. Unless it was through a block of privately owned property and then it would be access only. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
43F Report post Posted August 9, 2013 It's becoming a rich mans sport! Just wait more and more ranchers will follow suite and pretty soon there won't be much left to hunt without stepping on others toes! Very sad to see! Come on! I've just returned to hunting the past couple of seasons. I took the first part of this decade off due to military obligations and a greater interest in hitting the bars and chasing women. Now that i have returned, to me, the hunting landscape has changed tremendously. To be fair most of the hunting I have done in my life was on private property back in Illinois and hunting here is quite different. So maybe that has a little to do with my perception of the landscape changing. But hunting these days seems to revolve more around resources ($) available to hunters than anything else. My point is, the $60 fee to hunt Bouqillas Ranch is a drop in the bucket when one takes into consideration the amount of money already being spent by hunters every fall. I see a large number of hunters out there using UTVs and ATVs, which are not cheap. They also must be trailered to the hunting areas, which more often than not is in a large toy hauler, again not cheap. What does one need to pull one of these toy haulers? Generally a full-size pick-up truck, which again do not come cheap. Nor is the gas they use to get to and from the hunts or scouting. More on scouting later. Now, once they get to the hunt the hunters I have seen seem to outfit themselves with the more or most expensive hunting gear. Not only outfit themselves with the gear they wear, but also gear like backpacks. I'm always amazed to see the cost associated with Elberstock backpacks for sale on this site. I use a large alice pack I got from EBAY for $30. Scouting, how much do these same hunters spend on trail cams? And again, have the time and resources to not only put them out, but also check them several times before the season starts. I could go on and on about cost of binos, rangefinders, spotting scopes, optics, etc. I think you guys should get my point now. I'm not faulting those who are using any of the products I just mentioned. I'm just trying to give a little perspective to the now that Boquillas Ranch is charging $60 to hunt that its becoming a rich mans sport. Nor AZHUNTER am I picking on you as this sentiment has been shared by others. Personally, I could care less what they do with the money generated. If people don't like it then those same people should take action through the legislative process. Limit the way that state trust land can be use by ranchers. I love the idea of paying $60 because I don't have all those things I mentioned above. I don't have an atv, toy hauler/camper, full-size pick-up, expensive gear, or a great deal of time and resources. I feel that this fee not only shifts hunting back toward a time when hunters were not so reliant on tech and also serves to act as an equalizer between those with countless resources and those without. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
