Ep. 560: Foundations - The End of Hunting?

wants to acknowledge what we are facing as hunters. But the end is coming. It's not soon enough to cause too much alarm, but it is the reality that I believe we need to face. Do I think we can stop it? I don't know. Probably not, but I think we can slow it down. And that's what this podcast is all about. Yeah, doom and gloom, negativity. We are inundated with bad news all day, every day, and it is no fun. It has divided us. It's left us at our most tribal points since well we all kind

of lived in tribes. That's crazy, but we are stuck in this brave new world. In the grand scheme of it all. It seems crazy to even be concerned with something like hunting. The big picture issues that dominate the twenty four hour news cycle, and they're curated propaganda that goes along with it. They seem so much more important.

But to you and I, hunting is important. The existence of white tails in the woods and the chance to go hunt them, it's some mooe important and it might feel like it's not really threatened, like those opportunities aren't threatened, But they are. They really are. So where am I going with this? Let me bring up a couple examples to drive home the overall point of this episode before I really get into it. The first one is happening

out there in Wyoming. If you've been playing the points game there, the preference point game, I should say, in the Cowboys state, you've maybe heard about some of the task Force recommendations out there, and basically, and I'm really just summon this up quickly here, they're looking at a ninety split for the truly keynote species in Wyoming. This means that if you have your heart set on drawing a sheep tag or maybe a shiris moose bowl tag, but you're not in the top three point pools. You

are super duper ship out of luck. All that money you dumped into points is basically charity, not it isn't official yet, So maybe I'm way off base here, but that's what they're looking at it. It seems like non residents are in for a real treat with Wyoming. Probably in a few years you'll see this situation creep into the elk Antal Open Meal Deer point pools too. When that happens, it's going to suck for a lot of people who will pull out of the points game altogether.

Wyoming knows this, so one of the things they'll probably do is raise those nonresident license prices more to make up the difference. And the world keeps spinning head on south from Wyoming to the Great State of Arizona, and you'll see that they too, are taking a shot at nonresidents. The days of the over of the counter cous deer melder tags are dying on the old vine. So what you think, I'm a white tail hunter and I don't

need to worry about those Western states. Well, maybe you haven't heard yet about the state of Nebraska and how they're tightening things up this year for nonresidents as well with a cap on nonresident white tail tags. Now you might be thinking, good, we need to cater to those residents of whatever state first. After all, they pay the taxes, they deserve to reap the rewards. And anyway, if someone really wants to hunt my state, they should just up

and move here. Now, if you think that, or if you say that, go on over and ask some Montana and Idaho residents how they feel about people moving into their state. It's not working out so well for them. And on the tax thing, the tax argument, let's be real honest here. If you're traveling to hunt, you're paying your share of taxes. And those pesky federal taxes end up going to every state in various forms, not the least of which is to manage the federal land on

which all of us should be able to hunt. But then you've got the wildlife being held in a state trust for all the citizens, which muddies the water and gives hunters a great excuse to screw other hunters, which is what we are doing these days. And it's not gonna end well now. Listen, I don't care what your reason is for advocating to take away hunting opportunities from other hunters. If the state deems it's a resource issue and there's a good biological motive, I totally get that.

We've got a man and she's animals. If it's a social issue and you'd rather just have the animals in the ground of yourself, then there's somewhat of a problem there. And listen, I know, I know everyone does this. This is perhaps the most maddening thing about hunters in today's world. We say we are all in this together, but the moment there is a chance to try to get easier hunting for ourselves at the behest of our fellow hunters,

we take it. Now. That's a short term game, though, and I don't think it bodes well for our future. I think we need to think about this. The truth is, we are losing hunting opportunities without having to actively lobby to take them away from our fellow hunters. There are quite a few of us out there, and the places we have left to hunt are mostly shrinking. That's a big problem. We also have a ton of promotion around hunting, which I'm absolutely guilty of. I can't help it. I

want people to hunt. I think we need people to hunt, and I think one of the ways we kick this old can down the road is by getting more people involved in our passion it. Now, I realized that leaves us at odds with overcrowded woods. But here's the thing about that doesn't mean anything. You're overcrowded might be vastly different from my overcrowded and probably is. A common and widely unchallenged example of overcrowding involves Colorado elk on public land.

Having gone out there for elk a handful of times, listen, I get it, the crowding can be intense, but the weird thing is the elk are out there somewhere. I've never not encountered elk, and I'm a bad elk hunter. I do hunt with some good elk hunters, which certainly helps. But I've also run into elk on my own out there in a couple of different crowded units, and it feels like the same rules applying the white tail woods.

I don't care how crowded you say your state is or some specific property, because someone could go in there and kill a deer. Hell, someone could go in there and kill a big deer, probably somewhat consistently the opportunities for an amost are out there, even in the busiest of spots, but the opportunities are being taken away, and

when they go, they don't come back. One of my biggest hunting regrets is not drawing a Minnesota moose tag when I could have the rules before the hunt was closed down, and I think they called for a party application. Anywhere from two to four hunters had to apply together and it was a one and done deal. Once in a lifetime. I just never buddied up with anyone who I thought would want to hunt as hard as I wanted, you know, and spend the whole sixteen days or whatever

the season was. So I never applied, and then we had a series of confusing factors contribute to the decline of our population and the season was put on hold. That was like a decade ago, and it's still on hold. This lost opportunity was blamed on brainworms, global warming, and wolves, and you know what, it doesn't really matter what caused it, because it's gone now and it's probably never coming back.

And this problem doesn't just involve the big picture of hunting for certain species like moose or sheep or whatever it is. That you'll probably never get to hunt like I won't. It gets down to a more micro level as well. Urban sprawl is eating up the suburbs and with it the parcels that many of us used to hunt. You might think, well, I live in rural wherever and those cities slickers aren't coming for me. But don't get

too cocky. I know a lot of folks who have been in cities like Bozeman, Montana, for example, who never thought the average shitty little house would be selling site unseen to California transplants for three quarters of a million dollars. Either there they are. There are plenty of people growing up right now who are going to want to live and work in a remote place that that is not

going to go away. That's going to keep happening. The appeal of being able to work from anywhere, even a nice little town in the Midwest where white tells dominate, is real. The thing about this is when people is their spots to hunt, they only have a couple of options. You go find a new place, often through leasing or occasionally buying a place outright, or they quit hunting. Both aren't great for our future. Now. I'm not knocking leasing as an option because it is what it is, and

it's here to stay. It's a good move for a lot of landowners that also happens to benefit a lot of folks like you and I. But it's also the kind of thing that's designed for exclusivity, and that means you pay or you don't play. The ones who can't or don't want to pay end up hunting on public land or getting permission to hunt the dairy farms that allows anyone to hunt. This leads generally to a degraded quality of experience, which further causes the whole thing to spiral.

I know what some of you are thinking, aren't you one of those assholes who pushed everyone into hunting and encourage people to travel in New States? Aren't you making a sweet living off the outdoors and ruining it for good hunters who just want to be a left alone? Yeah? Yeah, I mentioned that earlier. And I do want people to hunt, I really do. I mean that I want a wile to go have cool adventures in the woods and disconnect from our increasingly technologically murky lives. That's why this stuff

worries me so much. I firmly believe we need people in our ranks. I think the only way to survive is through two things. Once our collective voice stays as relevant as possible, that's important, and we open up as much land to hunting as we can. The first one is just to share numbers game and it involves hunters doing something we haven't done very well in the past, which is not be apathetic. I know that's hard. Trust me, I'm as apathetic as they come. I hate being involved

in stuff. I hate joining organizations. I'm mostly an introvert at heart. But hunting is important, and hunting opportunities keep the whole thing alive and kicking. So even though you love it when people cancel plans for things you don't want to do in the first place, and you'd be just as happy to sit at home and watch Netflix with your pets, the reality is that it's a good

thing to get involved with this stuff somehow. And if that's it, I don't know, joining the Pope and Young Club or the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, so be it. If it's becoming a member of your local archer club, so be it. If it's just recruiting one person a year in our ranks through a solid introduction to hunting.

So be it. In fact, that might be the best way to do this, through grassroots efforts where we vet people through our own interests and decide if they are worth the time in the effort of an introduction, because not everyone is, but most people deserve a shot. Now, this movement doesn't work very well with the other parts that addresses access. However, without the land available to hunt, it doesn't do us much good to recruit a pile

of new hunters into our ranks. We need land that is open, and that is something I think we should all advocate for. It is so important whether you're a resident or a nonresident of whatever state, whether you have a prime spot all locked up, or are stuck hunting public land with a bunch of week end warriors who litter the woods with scent wicks and bang antlers together every five minutes. Walk in programs, and anything else that

addresses this issue pretty much win in my book. I don't think we have too many other options for preserving our chances to hunt for the masses. I really don't. I think access is it, and I know this is a weird one and it's easy to look the other way. After all, what are the odds your own state is gonna limit deer hunting opportunities to the point where it will affect you personally? Who knows. That's dependent on a ton of different factors. But the cautionary tale comes from

the West. Again. If you think that maybe in ten or fifteen years, your own state won't limit residents to white tails and white tail opportunities, think again. It's absolutely possible, and it will come from the same source that is currently working so hard to limit other hunters opportunities complaining our complainers, I guess right now, right now, the target is non residents because we have a legal loophole to screw fellow hunters who live across drawn lines on a map.

That's an easy one, but it's hiding our true nature. In the US versus them thing, resident versus nonresident fight, the lines are drawn out and the battles are clearly defined, the winners and losers. They're easy enough to parse out. While that's bound to keep happening, the next wave, and I hope it's a wave that doesn't happen soon will be residents taking on other residents as we get pushed onto the land that's left, there's going to be more conflict,

more demand for spots, more issues. Guess what that hunter who is screaming from the rooftops about the poacher non residents and the no ethics and no morals who shoot all the animals and litter and probably kick puppies and maybe even strangles baby seals for fun. That person will eventually be out of the conversation. But the person bitching won't, though, and there will be time to find a new target, and it might be someone who is on your side, not that long ago, when the enemy didn't have as

much power because he lives somewhere else. We eat our own so often, and listen, I get it. I like uncrowded woods, like easy hunting. Sometimes I like not having people walk through my setups and not seeing fourteen trucks at the trailhead or parking lot on my favorite w m A. But I also like hunting, just hunting, and you do too. And even though it feels like it will never go away, it's going to. It won't through one fell swoop. It will be a bunch of little swoops.

Is that right? What the hell does fell swoop mean? Anyway? Yeah, I don't sorry. This will be like death from a thousand paper cuts. C w D is going to get us there, and it's going to affect our opportunities. Urban sprawl is going to get us there. Trophy hunting and the big money to tracts that would be in the mix too. There's a lot of doom and gloom on this front, my friends, But we haven't passed the event horizon yet. On this black hole of hunting where escape

is not going to happen anymore. We're still orbiting out there, staring into its black maw and wondering if we will slip across the threshold. I don't know when that will happen, but I think it's gonna and I think we need to acknowledg and that it's a real possibility in our lifetimes, and if not, by the time this next generation gets to the point where they've got a little gray in their beard and the crushing way to middle age settled

upon their shoulders. More land, more access, that equals more opportunities. It's probably not the only thing we can do, but it's something worth fighting for. It might be the saplings we plant that will eventually become trees from which we will never pick an apple or enjoy the shade of but someone will. If we love hunting the way we say we do, I think it's a good idea that we consider getting our shovels out and trying to plant

some of those trees. That's a metaphor. Obviously, maybe it won't work, or maybe I'm just wrong about all this stuff, but I don't know. I think we can see a thousand little examples throughout the various states and the hunting that happens within our borders that portends the future as well as any glimpse into the old crystal ball would. Maybe this is my plea, after all this rambling, let's try to do something. If you'd rather eat a live cockroach,

then join an organization. Maybe take someone out who has an interest in hunting, show them this part of your world and let them decide if it's as special as you and I think it is or not. If there's a chance to get something going access wise, that's another great goal. Here in Minnesota, we have a walk in program that opens up a couple hundred thousand acres for three dollars. I buy it every year, even though I don't usually hunt any of the ground because it's worth

the three dollars. Even if I don't enjoy it, some other hunters will spreads out everybody. Everybody's a little happier. I'd pay more than that, quite a bit more, honestly. And lastly, maybe the best thing we can do is stop complaining so much. This goes for all of us because it's fun to bitch. I love it, but it's also damaging. It tends to bring other people down or rope them into our negativity, and it tends to degrade the whole experience. It's a big problem with honey, and

it's not doing us any favors. The Western hunter who bitches about too many Wisconsin license plate at the trailhead is probably never going to be happy. It will probably only serve to lesson the whole thing for every one, including him or herself, and to what end, to limit the options for other folks, to make it easier for themselves to excuse away another poor performance because bitching is

easier than scouting and hunting hard. Who knows, but I do know it's a drain on all of us, and we could all use a reminder to try to stay a little more positive. S All right, that's my rant on this topic. I'm done. I'm done with it. Next

week I'm going to talk about something totally different. I'm going to get into hunting with kids and actually two part episode on everything you need to think about from getting kids started our white tail hunting to what you really really really really need to think about when you're trying to set up for them to have a high odds shot. That's it, my friends. This has been the Wire to Hunt Foundations podcast and I'm your host, Tony Peterson.

This episode was brought to you by first Light, which now has a whole bunch of white tail garments that are designed to keep you from freezing in the wind. As always, thank you so much for listening for your support all of us here at meat Or really really appreciate it. If you want more white tail content, check out our you wire to Hunt YouTube channel and visit the metator dot com slash wired for all kinds of deer strategy, deer hunting tips, whatever you need to become

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