I think one way to increase the odds of hunting success and potentially bring down costs would be to offer tax credits to private land owners that allow hunting. Other states do that in the form of a managed forest law. It's forestry related, but significant tax discount and you have to allow public on your land if you own more than a certain amount of acres.
The elk disappear onto private land immediately after opening morning gun shots. I've watched them do it, and I'm sure others have too. With more huntable land, pressure on public land would go down and animals would congregate less on private safe havens if they were being hunted there too.
