Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire The truth, like it or not

That pretty much says it all.

The Chinese aren't going to sell our land back to us.

Who's taken the burden off the Feds?

That's almost like welfare.

...or some of the unions.

So, we have one guy saying it depresses local economies, and another saying it's a handout. Truth must be in there somewhere.

I'm not going to defend federal land management, but it's not all bad. I've hunted federal land most of my life and I'm not going to apologize for it. Steelhead, I seem to recall hunting pictures of yours from AK, was that public land? Was it welfare? As a matter of fact many of the photos posted here come from public land. It's the only place a lot of people have access to for hunting, especially in the west.

The number one reason people give for not hunting or quitting is "nowhere to hunt." Take away public land and that gets multiplied 10X. Think about what that would do to the numbers of not only hunters but gun owners.

If public land was abolished and hunting was all on private land, the most successful hunters would be the ones who could afford to pay to hunt the best private land. As it is now, the most successful hunters on public land are the best hunters and the ones with the wherewithal to get back into the spots where the animals live to a ripe old age. Everyone has the same opportunity. There's something very democratic (in the true sense of the word) about that, and it'd be a shame to lose it to the almighty dollar.

Yep, doncha wish the gooberment would sell, I mean give away, all the land in the entire country just like Texas did.
Bloody genius it was.

Stop the envious whining


Land grants obtained by virtue of the State Colonization Law were not free, although the price and terms offered by Coahuila and Texas were extremely advantageous when compared with the price for public land in the United States. At a time when the U.S. federal government was selling its land for $1.25 per acre and requiring immediate cash payment, government dues on land in Coahuila and Texas could be had for less than 1 � cents an acre with a term of six years in which to complete payment. In addition to the purchase price, there were charges for surveying the land and fees payable to the commissioner, the empresario, and the clerk who prepared the documents, but even then for a total of about $150 (something like three cents an acre), a head of household could obtain title to 4,428 acres of land.

Why don't the Feds sieze land in the east, just to be fair?
How would you like to have your property "requisitioned" by .gov?
Can I come hunt your property at a cut rate?
Would you subsidize my purchase of a piece of property you'd like to buy?

DITTOS!

Good for Colorado. I guess it pays to be a Blue State. Doesn't work that way in Montana.

Good for Colorado. I guess it pays to be a Blue State.

It must be good to be a Blue State and vote Democrat.

Now here in Montana things are not so good. During big game season access is denied to all but the most robust of the young with a physique of a Navy SEAL or Army Ranger. In some places horses are allowed but not in all places. Forget about using motorized transportation in most areas.

Of course, I'm talking about federal land.

If you need motorized transportation as most of us oldsters do forget about hunting especially on federal land. It's been this way for sometime now. The goal in Montana is to turn all federal land into wilderness areas to deny access to the common man.

In Montana at least I'm in favor of giving the federal land to the state.

LOL, go read Saddlesore's post on the elk hunting forum, the dude is 70. What you need to hunt public land is just a standard set of balls.

Huh? In Arizona, 70% of the Coconino Forest is with in half mile of an open road. (non-wilderness)

Hard to imagine MT is too different, at least in the NF.

Sycamore

this

I don't understand your post, Mark.

Sycamore

It'll take a lot more than that. I'm 67 with back and leg issues. I can walk and get around pretty good in town but not out in the woods not any more.

BTW: Montana is the fourth largest land mass in the US and I think the 10th largest country in the world if we were a country. This is big country to walk around in. To give you an idea of how big either one of Spain, France, or Germany would fit into about half of Montana.

It's quite a bit different. Just today I read in the paper that the Forest Service is going to close off more logging roads and rehabilitate the forest to eliminate the roads. We keep getting less and less access every year. There is a real move on to close off all public lands to the public except those with horses (even some of those areas are being closed off to horses) and walk in only especially during hunting season.

If you can't walk any where from 5 to 50 miles to hunt or pack out an animal you are persona non grata on Federal lands. My days of doing that are long over.

I don't care what others do in their state but in this state I'd like to see the Federal land turned over to the State. Don't worry it'll never happen.

Pardon my ignorance. The Elijah Craig has been good to me, tonight.....grin. This is off the top of my head and I truly haven't given it more than a seconds worth of thought.

Would anyone like to touch upon why people from another state have to pay "out of state" prices for hunting licenses on FEDERAL land? Yet those "in state" pay less to hunt on said FEDERAL land?

Am I wrong in this assumption? I kinda checked it out once, but never actually researched it.

Enlighten me. For I truly haven't a clue, but am interested in hearing the answer......

The hunting licenses are state licenses NOT federal licenses. If you hunt on Montana state land you pay another $10.00 to do so. The feds have thought about doing the same thing but I don't think they figured out a way to do it yet.

The answer is.....

you don't pay any thing different than the state residents for the hunting (walking, riding, driving) or using the land.

The permit is a STATE permit, and the Game is owned "by the people of the State". So the PERMIT and the HUNTING LICENSE from the state are what costs different.

Sycamore