the decline of hunting is changing the natural order of predator and prey.

This is kinda long but worth the read.I thought some of you might be interested.
How the decline of hunting is changing the natural order - 11.24.08 - SI Vault
I stopped hunting about 12 years ago because of my children. I had put a stand on the side of my cow pasture. I had watched deer grazing in the field and eating fallen pears along the fence line.. I killed a 4 point and took him up to the house..My kids went crazy..They were crying and screaming that I murdered Bambi.. I haven't hunted since that day.. It got to me how they acted and looked at me so I just quit. Kinda stupid as I look back. I have never lost the love for hunting deer or coon huntin. I had planned to start again when my kids got older but I spend my spare time chasing crappie. Plus I couldn't drag a deer out of the woods now...lol anyway I never taught my kids to hunt. I taught them to fish:D

hope you enjoy the read and please let me know what ya think..

Yes I quit also some years back,due to the costs of hunting these days and disgusted at how people make a mockery out land leases and clubs,people double,tripple leasing land and seems like people are trying to make a living off of hunting clubs anymore.Use to be all about the love of hunting,now just seems too commercial.

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Originally Posted by Outlaw1&2

Yes I quit also some years back,due to the costs of hunting these days and disgusted at how people make a mockery out land leases and clubs,people double,tripple leasing land and seems like people are trying to make a living off of hunting clubs anymore.Use to be all about the love of hunting,now just seems too commercial.

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I am with you on this one Outlaw. I lost a lease in Macon County because of "Commercialization". That is one reason I chose not to hunt this year. I have 2 deer stands behind my house on my land and I have not sat in either one of them since last year but I let my neighbors grandson hunt them. I just get a thrill when he kills one. But like Smitty, I probably would have a hard time trying to drag a deer and my knee isn't in any shape to do so. But I have really taken a liking to fishing so much that I have not even missed deer season at all.

I quit hunting deer while living in Maine. I had to send the kids out to throw rocks at them to keep them out of the garden. Finally had to put in an electric fence.

We lived on a small 6 acre place in Bowdinham and on practically any day I wanted I could open a window and take a nice deer without even having to put on a coat.

There was no "hunting" involved. Sort of lost the appeal.

Tom

have slowed down but can not give it up we like the meat to much for that.

Its funny that i have never been hunting in my life but me and my wife both have had a big game license for the last 5yrs... we eat deer that our friends take down and we were told it wasn't legal to posess it without a permit....Even if you are getting it from a proccessor... Better safe than sorry...Thats why we posted for the freezer...got a lot of meat off a 215 lb shot in Eastman.... costed us $85 plus $100 for the freezer... Got about 6 months worth of cubed and ground...Great deal and no 4-wheeler,land or weapons to purchase :D:D:D

Yep- too expensive to hunt nowadays- especially here in the East. Back west the situation is better, but still... when hunting gets to be a hassell, why bother? Got so it was more fun to hunt with the camera and fish. You'd think the state game agencies which rely on revenue from tags and liscenses would figure it out- there are so many deer here in Miss that they are a nusance, but if you want to hunt on the national forest, there is a booklet of regs for them, then a different one for the WMA, then a different one for state land, one for Army Corps of Eng. land... How to keep track of it all? Hell, it is sometimes hard to figure out who's land you're on in hte first place.

With gas sky high, fishing has become more costly than hunting. I enjoy one just as much as the other. Teaching the young'en is what drives me.

All the above is correct. I have a solution for your problem. teach your kids that it is a good thing. They would not be here if it werent for our forefathers hunting trapping and fishing. You dont have to drag a deer anymore. Use enough gun to get the job done, shoot him close to the road , back up to the bank and drag him into the back of your mobile stand. Works for me and dont cost $185.00. A little time with a good Gerber knife and some freezer paper and it is a done deal.

I had to talk my dad into hunting when I was 12 because it was something my friends did and he hadn't done it since he was a kid himself. We learned a lot and he killed his first deer when I was 12. The memories are stacked up in my mind like cord wood. I just ate some cube steak that was awesome from the doe I shot opening weekend. I GOT TO GET BACK IN THE WOODS!!!! I can't eat fish every day. I like to shoot them close to the road too, but after watching my sons get interested in hunting I am sure we will be packing it in the back woods before long. Just makes me mad at what it cost to hunt if you have to get into a club. I have managed to find a couple small tracts of land that I can hunt from time to time. Thats the only reason I can afford to still hunt. I got that doe processed for 1.77 per lbs. Cube and ground. You can't do that at the grocery store, and I know there ain't a bunch of steriods and junk in the meat I am feeding my kids. Now, if I can just get a few small hogs I will have some sausage and chops for the grill too!!!!!

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Originally Posted by foul hook

All the above is correct. I have a solution for your problem. teach your kids that it is a good thing. They would not be here if it werent for our forefathers hunting trapping and fishing. You dont have to drag a deer anymore. Use enough gun to get the job done, shoot him close to the road , back up to the bank and drag him into the back of your mobile stand. Works for me and dont cost $185.00. A little time with a good Gerber knife and some freezer paper and it is a done deal.

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My brother goes to Ft. Stewart and gets hogs every now and then. Not sure what it costs, but from what I understand they are overpopulated there.

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Originally Posted by Shine Runner

I had to talk my dad into hunting when I was 12 because it was something my friends did and he hadn't done it since he was a kid himself. We learned a lot and he killed his first deer when I was 12. The memories are stacked up in my mind like cord wood. I just ate some cube steak that was awesome from the doe I shot opening weekend. I GOT TO GET BACK IN THE WOODS!!!! I can't eat fish every day. I like to shoot them close to the road too, but after watching my sons get interested in hunting I am sure we will be packing it in the back woods before long. Just makes me mad at what it cost to hunt if you have to get into a club. I have managed to find a couple small tracts of land that I can hunt from time to time. Thats the only reason I can afford to still hunt. I got that doe processed for 1.77 per lbs. Cube and ground. You can't do that at the grocery store, and I know there ain't a bunch of steriods and junk in the meat I am feeding my kids. Now, if I can just get a few small hogs I will have some sausage and chops for the grill too!!!!!

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hunting has gone to the rich. land leases are through the roof, gas is high, deer processing seems to go up every year and ammo prices won't stop climbing. in the media hunters are portrayed as rednecks that shoot everything that moves and i think a lot of the younger people are embarassed about hunting which is sad. i grew up hunting with my dad and uncles and cousins and have great memories from that time. i learned how to kill, drag, and skin what we killed and to be an ethical sportsman. life lessons some of the younger generation could use today for sure.

Just came across this trend and had to respond.

My Dad died in 1988. Before that, our family and others lease land in Randolph County (around 1980) to hunt. Our lease for all members was $250 a year. It was a family thing and all of us have great memories of those days. Deer was everywhere! We were taught that you limit the deer you killed and learn to just enjoy being outdoors. I can remember the year when the decline started. In 1990, the boys from Florida with their big money came-up. The leases increased and they shot everything they seen. One time, one of them came in with about four deer in the back of their truck after a morning hunt. One of the deer still had fawn spots on them. We had a little scruffy at the camp on that day because of what we seen was a decline in ethics and deer population of hunting. This was in 1993 and I was in the Air Force at this time. This event changed my mind on hunting and I gave it up.

I started back this year and when I sit in my tree stand, I reflect on those good times with my Father and the ethics he taught me about hunting and fishing. I’ve tried to pass them on to my on son and feel that it has work since he does pass-up deer and releases fish. I keep hearing about how the deer population has exploded. Well, I haven’t seen it and can only reflect back to those years ago when I seen deer almost every time I sat in a stand. Does anyone feel the same?

By the way, Crappie fishing is still my passion. My Father loved those days in Ft. Gaines!

Yep Dog pretty much have the same found memories from years ago, I still have a small fire in my heart for hunting and every year for a long time now,right around opening day I start to thinking about. I have been inspired to get back in it somehow next year,from what I have read here it is stoking my fire again.

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Originally Posted by Outlaw1&2

Yep Dog pretty much have the same found memories from years ago, I still have a small fire in my heart for hunting and every year for a long time now,right around opening day I start to thinking about. I have been inspired to get back in it somehow next year,from what I have read here it is stoking my fire again.

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Outlaw,

Do it!!!!! I started back thanksgiving day with with my brother-in-law who I hunted with during the days my Dad was alive. Went this morning for the third time. It was cold and my feet were feerzing. But like I said above, I forgot on much I just enjoy sitting in the woods. No deer but watched wildducks land all morning in the old swamp I was next too. "O" one thing I forgot---since it was "FULL MOON" last night, in the days that when I considered myself a good hunter, I would have just stayed home in bed! Just like crappie fishing, I never fish in the afternoons for them on a fullmoon. My Dad was a expert on this theory too and for the most part he is right. I never catch crappie in the evening on a fullmoon. Maybe in the morning, but very few times in the evening.

Maybe next year I'll get the urge to hunt, but I still have not even picked up my rifle this year. I have not missed an opening day or Thanksgiving weekend since 1976. The love for hunting is still there and the opportunity is only about 50 yards from my back door, but Crappie fishing has taken over and thats all I seem to want to do....Maybe next year.............................................. ............

If it werent for free land to hunt on and a couple of good hunting companions I would give it up. Hunting clubs costs way too much money nowadays. And for me, it's not just the prices of hunting clubs but rather finding the "right" club that you'll fit into and find yourself feeling really "welcome" when you go. I tried a few clubs for a few years lately and it's hard trying to fit in with strangers that are already an established group that have hunted together for years and years and just picking up a member or two to help pay dues. (Dont get me wrong, they treat you OK and all, it's just different than being able to hunt with your life-long friends.) They already have their built stands in the easy-to-reach places and everywhere you want to hunt you wind up walking in or out within sight of those guys sitting on stands which will make you feel you have to hunt the "hours they like hunting" so as not to mess anyone up. Been in clubs where they might shoot bambi's in one, and argue over the smaller size someone killed in the other, people "cutting each other off" when it comes to stand placement, just anything to cause conflicts. Nowadays, you hear of some kind of squabble always going on in clubs. And that's just something I dont enjoy nor do I want to be around. In my younger years I have been in two clubs I'd consider as priceless. The land those clubs were on is privatized today with homes sitting on them.

Now there's just one of my friends left living that still likes to hunt. Other than he, there's my son and on occasion, my daughter. No more deer than we're going to shoot, we just cannot see paying $500-$1000 yearly dues each for that. For us, it's not about the deer, but rather the fellowship we have together and being able to hunt like we want, when we want, shooting what we want. I guess when the free land is gone, I'll be through hunting. What really hurts is thinking what our kids will have to do in order to hunt in another 10-20 years.:(