Guest ohbrother Posted February 20, 2007 Report Share Posted February 20, 2007 Have I been asleep, and woke up in the future? I have hunted for 53 years, in several different states, and all of a sudden people not only want to charge you to hunt, they want to charge you a fee for killing the animal. Have I missed something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom2008 Posted February 20, 2007 Report Share Posted February 20, 2007 Re: trophy fees I bet this is going to get moved! I know of a few outfitters that do it and I find nothing wrong with it. They have watched that certain animal for a long time and they have worked very hard to get trophy animals on their land. They just want to make sure that all their hard work gets paid off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAstringking Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Re: trophy fees it also seems that the places that charge "trophy" fees also charge 3 grand just to hunt there.... i couldnt imagine shooting an animal and then having to wrtie another check to the outfitter based on a measuring tape. they make a killing for what they do...i know some outfitters and for most of them its not a full time job!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasDeerHunter Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Re: trophy fees I think hard working outfitters deserve compensation, but I find it difficult to pay a price based on antler size. What I can not figure out is this: In Texas the deer belong to the people of the state, no matter who's land they are on at any given time. How can people charge for a deer that does not belong to them alone? Here you can just about pay for what you wish to shoot, and I'm not talking high fence deer. There are alot of large free range ranches that have any size deer you want and the more you pay, the bigger deer you can shoot. There has got to be a fine line between all of this, I just have not found it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohiobuckhunter Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Re: trophy fees When I have to start paying to hunt land then that's when I'll quit. you allready have to pay a few hundred for your license and your tags not counting guns shells and clothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Re: trophy fees Have been to a few sites where they have graduated scales for the caliber of the trophy you harvest. Seems pretty crazy to me and is about nothing more than the money. Whoever can afford the big bucks might not be all that great a hunter, but might kill a record caliber deer for the books, seems about right, right ? I for one will never be one to pay for such, if I were to go on a guided or even a self hunt somewhere away from home, that would be one of my questions, tipping the guide and paying your normal fees should cover everything, the trophy fees in my opinion are about nothing more than GREED. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Re: trophy fees Some of this trophy fee stuff has gotten way out of hand. However, on the flip side of the greed part was an interesting place I used to hunt in Texas. The price of their hunt was less than other surrounding ranches until you added in the trophy fee. Then it was about the same. Here's why they did it. Hunters that pay a flat fee feel like they have to go home with a buck. Doesn't matter if it is a young buck with potential or not. Toward the end of the hunt the flat rate hunter's antler standards tend to drop for most hunters. Now...if that hunter is paying less for the hunt before he has to anti up a trophy fee and then has to make a decision if the buck he is about to kill is worth the $1,000 to $1,500 trophy fee, chances are he will let a small buck walk. In that case I thought it was a great idea the way they had their trophy fee structured. More young bucks were left to grow into big bucks there. As far as that pay X number of $/inch trophy fee over a certain class buck goes, I'm not in favor of that mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelk44 Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 Re: trophy fees time have definately changed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasDeerHunter Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 Re: trophy fees I agree with you Rhino, that system tends to work well. I don't think all ranches use greed as the factor in deciding trophy fee's. Here in Texas we ranch for deer like most do cattle or other livestock. Feed, food plots, water, countless hours of field research,biologist evaluations, and list goes on. I think the hard work does merrit some sort of monetary compensation , but I do feel some of the numbers are overboard and I do not agree on pricing deer by the antler inch. I love to hunt and will do so as long as God allows, even if prices go up. I might have to limit my hunting trips or time in the field, however, no amount of money is going to stop my passion. It takes money to support wildlife and the habitat they live in. Like it or not we as hunters do not ,as a whole, put enough money into helping our wildlife resource. It really bothers me to hear people complain about license cost and such, maybee you should not be hunting. IMO a true hunter understands the sacrifice needed to improve and promote wildlife and ethical harvest. We can not expect to hunt as we wish without giving back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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