This thread makes my head spin! Not sure what to make of it except different circumstances create different perspectives. I stay with my own experience.On my farm in La...damn I love Louisiana!!! I have had 17+ hunters spend countless hunting hours. By season end we will have taken 16 adult does, 5 yearling does, and 5-7 female fawns { that mix the subject for another thread but not accidental } We will have taken 5 or 6 bucks mostly thinning from the bottom of the adult age class though one of them was a 160" 8 pt I " traded " for a guy that brings me white perch every week...good trade! Without any exception everyone of those hunters would say every hour spent reflects the glory days of hunting being now.
I'll be leaving for the ranch tomorrow. There will be 15 in camp though the holidays ranging from 10 yrs old to 71 { thats me:) } Through the course of the season we will have around 40 to 45 hunters pass through and we will probably take 15-20 bucks. I suspect if questioned every single person that hunts the ranch will say that it is the greatest hunting experience they have without close second. To them the glory days of hunting are now!.
What impact does this have on each community?
In Louisiana we have taken worn out poor land only fit for growing pine trees or possibly cattle and created high quality whitetail habitat. The effect is that land values where that template has been followed have increased from about $2500 to $3000/acre to $8000-$10,000 acre. My children are pretty jazzed about that. The entirety of the local economy has benefited. More quality hunting for more hunters is now present because there is more quality hunting land available. The local feed mill could not be more excited supporting the hunting community
Mexico is a far more dramatic impact. I started buying land at $65 acre from folks that were going bankrupt trying to grow cattle.Once the template was perfected for Americans to buy property the values immediately increased where now good hunting property goes for $300-$500/acre. tell any Mexican that was able to sell that thats a bad thing and you will get the evil eye. Even more profound my ranch manager inherited 12,000 acres. Could barely make a living on it working cattle. Also worked for me and leased his property to hunters . He adjoins my ranch . By us building a reputation for having the finest whitetail ranches in Northern Mexico he recently sold 10,000 of his acres for $1000/ acre. He's going lion hunting in Africa this Summer!!!!!!! Convince him the glory days of hunting aren't now.
Beyond that the local economy has flourished in ways never before possible without today being the glory days of hunting. The local mill sells thousands of tons of protein pellets every year. American have bought many hundreds of miles of pvc to distribute water for wildlife. Better fencing, better roads, lake construction...an endless list. Many local Mexicans have quality jobs managing and working the ranches taking care of the wildlife primarily deer. Jobs that replaced substance living providing them with better housing vehicles and quality of life. The trickle effects on the economy are profound and transformational. And as a result of converting from cattle to deer countless more people are enjoying the glory days of hunting right now.
Happy to elaborate as there is so much more but that is my hands on personal experience
I'll be leaving for the ranch tomorrow. There will be 15 in camp though the holidays ranging from 10 yrs old to 71 { thats me:) } Through the course of the season we will have around 40 to 45 hunters pass through and we will probably take 15-20 bucks. I suspect if questioned every single person that hunts the ranch will say that it is the greatest hunting experience they have without close second. To them the glory days of hunting are now!.
What impact does this have on each community?
In Louisiana we have taken worn out poor land only fit for growing pine trees or possibly cattle and created high quality whitetail habitat. The effect is that land values where that template has been followed have increased from about $2500 to $3000/acre to $8000-$10,000 acre. My children are pretty jazzed about that. The entirety of the local economy has benefited. More quality hunting for more hunters is now present because there is more quality hunting land available. The local feed mill could not be more excited supporting the hunting community
Mexico is a far more dramatic impact. I started buying land at $65 acre from folks that were going bankrupt trying to grow cattle.Once the template was perfected for Americans to buy property the values immediately increased where now good hunting property goes for $300-$500/acre. tell any Mexican that was able to sell that thats a bad thing and you will get the evil eye. Even more profound my ranch manager inherited 12,000 acres. Could barely make a living on it working cattle. Also worked for me and leased his property to hunters . He adjoins my ranch . By us building a reputation for having the finest whitetail ranches in Northern Mexico he recently sold 10,000 of his acres for $1000/ acre. He's going lion hunting in Africa this Summer!!!!!!! Convince him the glory days of hunting aren't now.
Beyond that the local economy has flourished in ways never before possible without today being the glory days of hunting. The local mill sells thousands of tons of protein pellets every year. American have bought many hundreds of miles of pvc to distribute water for wildlife. Better fencing, better roads, lake construction...an endless list. Many local Mexicans have quality jobs managing and working the ranches taking care of the wildlife primarily deer. Jobs that replaced substance living providing them with better housing vehicles and quality of life. The trickle effects on the economy are profound and transformational. And as a result of converting from cattle to deer countless more people are enjoying the glory days of hunting right now.
Happy to elaborate as there is so much more but that is my hands on personal experience
