Monday, June 18, 2007

The Cost of Hunting/Fishing License

Why is it that the cost of our Hunting/Fishing license keep going up and up and every year there are more license to buy for the different types of hunting you wish to do.It seems as though every time a new type of equipment is allowed to be hunted with you have to buy a different type of license to use it.I can remember when you could buy just a hunting license and hunt anything you wanted from squirrel to bear to deer, wild hogs, dove, pigeons, coyotes, skunk, beaver, bobcat, fox and the list goes on and it didn't matter what you hunted with. Now days you have to buy a different license to hunt just about every game animal and a different license for the different types weapons you use to hunt them. Stop and think about it a minute and you'll realize like I do that every license cost more and more every year and you really get less and less every year for your money. Deer hunting used to be that you could kill 4 bucks whether it was all at once or one at a time and now you have to kill your bucks one at a time and check it in before killing another one. When this idea was put into effect I told game and fish agents that that was just going to bring about more poaching cause if I got the chance to kill all 4 bucks in one morning of hunting that's what I would do, the agent told me just don't get caught. The opportunity never has happened for me to shoot 4 bucks in one morning but it could have if conditions were right. Anyway they keep creating more licenses to buy and don't give you anything else for your money, so why keep separating the license? Why not go back to the old days and let you purchase one license for everything you hunt with for one price and be done with it. Recurve bows, compound bows and crossbows should all be under one license as should rifles and muzzle loaders and pistols. Are they scared someone is going to get one over on them or not buy the right type license for the type hunting they are doing, if so then my solution would cure all the problems and still create the revenue they are looking to get for individual licenses sales. It seems to me that the only thing Game and Fish agencies are interested in is the money they can make from separating all the different types of licenses and charging more each year. They have all these wardens on the road but do you ever see any of them in the field checking the license they sell ? no and do you know why -its because they don't want to get shot. They carry guns now days because some agents have been shot in the field but the fact remains that the agents would rather have the hunters find and report the poachers for them before they do anything about it. Sure you see and hear stories about a poacher being caught but that is by pure accident and is usually someone that really does need the food for his family to eat. We have the wardens to put in the field but do you know how many of them are really in the fields and woods checking licenses ? none that I know of , their always at the checking stations drinking coffee and feeding their faces when they should be out at 4:00 a.m. watching and checking hunters going into the fields and woods before the hunt. This is how our money should be used, not raising fish that can spawn for themselves if left alone to do so. I agree there are some species that need our help but not as many as the agencies would have you think. It's all part of a plot to undermine the hunters into spending more and more money until they finally realize that hunting cost way to much as does fishing, camping and any other outdoor activity we do. Camping now days is by reservation only and on a first come first serve basis and with a limited number of campsites. Just remember the next license you purchase could be your last license and Hunting/Fishing could be gone forever. Check into your local wildlife agency and find out just what exactly your money is being used for and then ask yourself and the agency if any of the money could be used for saving wild game before it's slaughtered.The agencies are heading in the wrong direction and they need our help in guiding them down the right path t5o saving our wildlife for future generations,and higher cost to the hunters/fisher people/outdoors people is not the answer we should expect. If you have regular meetings with the wildlife agencies in your area just ask two simple questions while the meeting is being held--- "Why is it the cost of our licenses keep going up but we see no results from the money to compensate us for the rising cost and why is it poachers can't be apprehended before entering the fields and woods and slaughtering our wild game, if their poachers they have no license so they have no need to be in the woods with weapons for taking our wild game.