king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Hunting Illustrated - October/November 2007 - Index

you own the land on which that game
lives and can manage it for maximum
trophy size and "trespass? fees. It's
a bad idea when an anti-hunter buys
the big ranch and closes it to all
hunting. Either way, it's a bad trend
for average hunters and the future
of hunting in general. Reasonable
access to land and wildlife is essential
to maintaining equitable distribution
of hunting privileges to all citizens.
Without this, real hunting for real,
wild game will soon die out.
PRO
By Scott Grange
I have
always disliked using the
word "never.? It's one of those
universal qualifiers we all use,
especially when we want to stress
a point. However, every now and
then an issue arises that demands the
use of this awful adjective. So,
here goes. The good old days of
the general public hunting vast
parcels of private land along with
unlimited tracks of public acreage
for trophy big game, for the mere
cost of a license, will never be
experienced again. Never!
The mentality that all
game animals belong to the public
and that we should all have free
access to whatever ground they
inhabit is as antiquated as black and
white television. Anyone possessing
such an attitude is dangerous. Why?
Because such an individual has their
head buried so deep in the sand
that they have to be oblivious to
everything around them, not just big
game issues.
Thirty five years ago, I
killed my first bull elk. It was a
beautiful five-point and the best thing
about it was that I took him on public
ground. I'll never forget the words of
my older brother Steve.
"You'd better cherish this
moment because you may never,?
there's that adjective again, "kill
another bull like this as long as you
live.?
For those of you who entered
this world after 1971, I wouldn't expect
you to understand such foolish sounding
words. But, back then, killing a bull elk
of any kind in my home state of Utah was
a big deal. And, to be lucky enough to
harvest a mature bull put me on a pedestal
among my teenage peers almost equal to
that of Sandy Koufax. Okay, maybe not
Koufax, but it was huge.
Thirty-six years and more big
bulls than I care to admit later, I would
no more shoot a bull like the one in 1971
than fly to the moon. My son just got
his bull back from the taxidermist. He
took it two years ago on public land and
it scored 372! Last year he took a 325
bull on private property.
So, what happened in that
twenty-five year period? Did a space
ship come down and dump a boat load
of wapiti in our mountains? I don't think
5DUELING5
so. Did the animal rights freaks belly
up to the bar and give wildlife a much
needed hand? That will be the day.
Or, did this phenomenon just happen,
kind of like the big bang theory? This
is where you need to remove your
head from the sand.
With a few exceptions,
hunters of today want to harvest
trophy class animals, whether they're
hunting whitetail or wapiti, This type
of hunting takes proper management,
habitat improvements and a ton of
money to produce such specimens.
Add to that the fact that more and
more folks are being forced to sell
their ranches to greedy developers as
they can no longer afford to pay the
taxes, let alone make a living off the
land.
Enter the necessary evil of
private ranches, high-priced tags,
and the privatization of wildlife.
Do you think the two or three
hundred dollars Bubba spends
annually on hunting big game
supports wildlife? It doesn't
support squat. It's the millions
of dollars that are shelled out by
dedicated sportsmen and women
along with organizations like
FNAWS, RMEF, SFW, MDF
and other conservation groups,
coupled with wildlife agencies
who can see the big picture, that
make all this happen.
The tradition of the
aristocracy going hunting while
the peasants go hungry may
have vanished with the creation
of the democratic republic of the
United States. However, with
that democratic republic came
taxes, free trade and greed. Like
it or not, our society is changing.
The good old days that our
fathers and grandfathers enjoyed
are gone forever. But hey,
neither my dad nor his dad ever
killed a 350-class bull elk or 160-
class whitetail. So, what will it be,
a handful of inferior bucks on over-
hunted public ground for free? Or,
trophy class animals on public and
private ground for a fee? You can't
have your cake and eat it too.
October/November 19
ILLUSTRATION: COURTNEY BJORNN