doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Economics and hunting

At this point in my life, it isn’t anything like it was when I was young. Everything was about economics the cost of ammunition, the gun that I used the price of gas to get me where I would go hunting. All these things entered into making the decision of where and when I would go hunting.

I dreamed of being able to be in the position I am now, that the cost of fuel doesn’t matter, if there’s a gun I see that I like I can buy it, ammunition is of no consequence, but the hunger in the pit of my stomach for what I used to do as a young man isn’t the same. Having all that I do now is great, but I miss those days when I was younger and how much it meant to be able to get everything put together to go on even the simplest hunt…

Tip of the hat to my retired (and, divorced) friend Curtis, for this observation.

“The very best fisherman are in the very worst marriages”.

Best,
Ted

Poverty certainly can keep the young out of the outdoors.
Shooting Skeet is $15.00 a line now.
There are no more trappers at my club.
No more young people.
Nobody brings their kids with any regularity.

As I look back on my sporting life, starting in the middle 1970s, I can say that fuel costs were by and largely the greatest influence on how frequently I enjoy the outdoors.

Judging from what I see around me today, things really haven’t changed much.

I used to coach young people about getting a prepaid credit card, and make regular sporting life deposits to it during the fat part of the year when they had extra money coming in. That way when the fall came, fuel and license costs weren’t an issue.

I don’t do that anymore.
It’s more fun to listen to people whine about how expensive everything is. And it is, to the unprepared.

I have a friend whose son has shot many a whitetail deer and many a pheasant while hunting with his dad. All the deer were shot from the same tree stand his dad put up for him as a kid, and the pheasants were all shot in front of his dad's shorthair. The dad quit due to health issues, and the son did quit too. The economics seem to be that the dad took care of all the game once it was on the ground, and the son's ex-wife doesn't want "her son" hunting.

I did Steve, and it's on me, nothing more than an accidental send, before I intended. If there was something concerning to you, please post it, or steer me to it, and I will put it back up.

You have a good neighbor. I presume by your previous comment that you play in they clouds, with your mindset on high end, right skpolis. I presume you refuse to look at the illegal use of sportsman's funds on urban waste, fraud and abuse 'outdoor' programs. Good on you marlon, got your priorities spot on.

By the way, I take special interest in how youlie about the cost and difficulty of hunting, you're ahypocrit, right? marlon gets all the bird and big game hunting he wants, and as the stories go, public lands are hundreds upon hundreds of miles away out on the fruited plains.

Read my second post on you being judgmental about how others chose to enjoy the outdoors Sunshine. Maybe step down from your soapbox and realize that you are just another nimrod, no different from the rest of us and in no position to pass judgement upon others.

My goodness you are a clueless tool Craig. I can be in good bird hunting a couple of hours from my mountain home out on the plains, I own a 2nd house in the middle of splendid bird country on those fruited plains and I hunt big game in both places. I have quite decent hunting in my back yard, I'm surrounded by public ground and live within the Forest Service boundary, all by choice. The hypocrisy is all on your side Sunshine.

I'm not sure how you ended up with such a high regard for your own opinion that you feel that you have the right to judge how often, where or how others hunt. I have tried to think of something that I care less about than your opinion on the subject and just can't do it.

I live to hunt and make it a priority, it is costly, that is not a lie.

Why are you such an a$$hole? Just natural or do you work at it like Karen?

Since you are on a roll being wrong, I thought I might share some public land birds and bucks taken walking distance from my house. Tags are cheap locally, out of state not so much. Gas, dogs, guns, a house dedicated to hunting....it adds up, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

My Post originally submitted on Friday June 5... let's try again!



Sorry to disagree Lloyd, but you are "all wet here", and I''ll tell you why.

I think the urge to hunt is a genetic or inherited trait that comes from the earliest humans, especially those who were successful enough to survive. They learned that simply foraging for seeds, berries, roots, and the occasional dead fish or rotting critter carcass wasn't always enough. The most successful humans learned to pursue protein, and also learned to trap and use primitive weapons. We don't see any cave paintings of people gathering seeds. They are throwing spears at bison or mastodons. Learning to make fires and to cook that meat protein jump started their intelligence, and made them even more efficient. The best hunters were the leaders, and also the best warriors. Also most likely to pass along their genetics. But like all genetics, not all traits are distributed equally among the population. That might explain families with multiple offspring where some have a strong desire to hunt and shoot, while other siblings show little or no interest, regardless of economic status, or whether hunting is a traditional family interest.

For many centuries, even before the invention of firearms, hunting was considered to be a Sport of Kings and Nobility. They had the wealth and the time. They controlled the land and owned the game in many places.

We see the evidence that hunting and shooting encompasses all economic spectrums. There are the so-called "Best Guns"... very expensive and embellished, that only the very wealthy can afford. And there are the low grade guns and everything in between. Literally something for everyone, no matter how rich or how poor. The famous African Ivory hunters and Indian tiger hunters were well heeled men. When we read their books, we see they use Hollands, and Rigby's, and Purdeys, while their trackers and porters might have cheap crude muzzleloaders.

Then we see people who likely never experienced economic hardship, yet become avid hunters and shooters. Think about Teddy Roosevelt. A more recent example would be Eric and Donald Trump Jr. They were raised in New York City, a Liberal hellhole where guns and hunting have been demonized for decades. Their wealthy father, our pro-2nd Amendment President, was never a hunter or shooter, but two of his sons love guns and hunting after a very limited exposure while visiting their Grandfather in Czechoslovakia.

Among my own family, and among the families of my hunting and shooting friends, I see some members who have an almost insatiable urge to hunt and shoot, while others raised in the same households show lukewarm interest, or none at all. Over half of my male cousins do not hunt, and I'd guess that some may have never fired a gun.

Your "City Mouse" vs. "Country Mouse" theory certainly enters into it, mostly because there are millions of kids, especially in recent decades, that simply don't know what they don't know. Many of them would likely love hunting and shooting if they had not been raised or indoctrinated to oppose it. You and I were raised in places where hunting season is practically a National Holiday, and where a .22 rifle was a cherished gift from Santa. Meanwhile many city kids are taught that guns and hunting are evil.

It wasn't alway that way though. There used to be more hunting and shooting shows on TV back when you were lucky to get 5 or 6 channels. Large cities were once full of hunters and shooters, and they were home to some of the finest gunmakers and sporting goods concerns. We see those paintings of big city train stations filled with hunters heading north to go grouse hunting. As those urban centers became bastions of the Liberal Left, things went south in a hurry. It simply isn't enough for Liberals and anti-gun Democrats to hate guns and hunting, and to avoid it themselves. They feel they have the right and duty to impose those feelings on everyone everywhere.

So like it or not, it becomes political. And the sooner we recognize it, the better chance we have to keep it... in spite of the insurgents within who are here to help destroy it.

That's my point marlon, for you, hunting is neither difficult or costly, you can't help but trip over birds, and you have the pictures to prove it. Call me any names that you would like to, I treat you, as you treat me. The topic was, where are the kids in the outdoors. I know, it is the marlon's of this world, that by a large margin, are the reason that their futures have turned to entitlements and dependencies. Take care marlon, sunshine.