Hunters like to complain, a lot.
If you engage a western resident right now about anything related to hunting, it’s very likely to devolve into a bitch session about being overrun by nonresidents who buy the fanciest gear but couldn’t kill a bull elk in a 10-acre enclosure with a full week to do it. Or, how the Game and Fish Department has single-handedly destroyed the hunting opportunities by issuing too many tags, releasing too many wolves, or you-name-it.
The prairie and mountain dwellers amongst us definitely don’t have a stranglehold on complaining, either. Throughout the rest of the country you’ll hear people bemoan low deer numbers, poor season structures, the death of archery hunting now that crossbows are in the mix, and on and on.
It’s fun to complain, but some folks go as far as to make up reasons to be the victim of a rigged system, and they stop hunting. Or, they don’t see the value in putting in any effort anymore. The negativity is a bad look, and mostly, unnecessary. The truth is, if you live in the States and you like to hunt, it might be best to recalibrate yourself a bit and take a look at the bright side.
Room To Roam
The biggest hurdle we face as hunters, at least in my opinion, is access to land. Without a place to hunt, it’s a lost cause. The thing about this is we almost all have access to some land we can hunt, even if it’s public. That’s not good enough for a lot of people, which is kind of crazy.
Throughout much of the developed world, public hunting land isn’t a thing. Here, it’s a core tenet of our existence. A lot of us deeply value public land, but when hunters don’t, it usually comes from one reason—the opportunity to easily kill a big animal isn’t great.
I hear this a lot, especially in the whitetail world. It’s not worth hunting for most folks if the requisite amount of effort to have an encounter is too high. For a lot of us, too high is actually a low bar. We just want an excuse to not hunt. Or, we want easy hunting.
I see this when I travel a lot. I almost exclusively hunt public land in various states, and the local opinions (no matter where I am) are pretty much cookie-cutter similar. The land is always over-pressured, the big bucks are underrepresented, and the opportunity to just hunt, well, that’s not enough of a reason to get out of bed in the morning and try.
But, it should be.
How Lucky We Are
While a lot of folks dream of hunting a well-managed, exclusive property, that’s just not in the cards for most of us. It’s also, I might add, not that rewarding for a lot of people. The hunts I’ve done on really good properties have been fun but easy only takes you so far. Hunting without some real challenge is often a hollow endeavor designed more to prop up the ego than fully enjoy the experience. This is a revelation that’s almost impossible to have without experiencing both sides of the whole thing.
The truth is, and this isn’t some Kumbaya hippie B.S., we are lucky. We have solid populations of game animals all over the country, and as of now, plenty of ways to get licenses. Now, you might think well that’s fine for you, but where I hunt the wolves have killed all of the deer, or maybe the rich ranchers have hoarded all the elk.
To that I’d say, find somewhere else to hunt, or hunt harder. Maybe scout more, or lower your standards to meet your reality. You’re not owed a great hunt anywhere, even when you pay for it. You’re not entitled to the same kind of hunting you had 20 years ago, either. Things change, and you have to change with them.
The Disease Will Spread
What worries me about seeing so many hunters being so negative is that it’s a disease that spreads. That mentality that it’ll never be good, tends to metastasize and grow. The old adage that misery loves company certainly applies to hunting camps, too.
This leads us to try to take away opportunities or shut down someone else’s way of doing things. We feel righteous in lobbying for the reduction in nonresident tags, or advocating for the removal of a hunting method or weapon or whatever, as long as it doesn’t affect us.
It’s easier to complain than it is to put in more hours of scouting. It’s easier to blame some boogeyman for your lack of success than to try to be a little more self-aware. Because the truth is, the opportunities are out there. The land is out there for you to hunt—literally millions upon millions of acres.
It might not be as easy as you want it, but that’s no reason to not try. Having the societal structure in place to allow hunting is a gift. Our public lands are, too. Our access to great gear and information is a huge benefit. Possessing the health and means to go experience the woods and fields and mountains for what they are worth is something that we are very, very lucky to have. This goes for anyone with his heart set on a 150-inch whitetail or someone who just wants a couple rabbits or squirrels to put in the crockpot.
Now is as good of a time as any to start truly appreciating this. I think we’d all be better off if we did. Even if it’s not easy or as immediately satisfying as throwing a little pity party for ourselves because things are exactly the way we want them. They are still pretty damn good, but there’s no guarantee they’ll stay that way. They could be much, much worse.
And likely will be if we don’t start appreciating what we already have.
If you want to read more articles like this, check these out: The Truth About Whitetail Hunting Experts, Stressed About Hunting Season? Stop, and How I Made Deer Hunting Fun Again.
