CoalTrain49
Member
Not sure what your point is. Most of the people I know hunt for sport, not for subsistence. If you don't hunt for subsistence, you're hunting for sport. I'll say trophy hunting, guided or otherwise is the same as sport hunting. The cost to hunt is out of reach for many people these days. License fees, accesses fees, gear, ammo, travel, lodging, etc. all adds up to way more than the cost of 100 lbs. of meat. Many people don't know how to process the meat anyway. They take it to a meat packer and pay them to do it.Are you conflating paid or guided hunts with trophy hunting or sport hunting?
The cost of a deer tag on public land is the same if you shoot a smaller young buck or an ancient bruiser.
I know plenty of people who pay a guide or a fee to hunt does or cows on private land too.
Here’s a PSA, if you paid for a hunting license and you hunted by definition you are sport hunting. You can call it whatever you want but you have participated in the sport of hunting. Whether you are purely hunting for meat or are being selective and trying to put a head on the wall.
If “sport” hunting does die off and license fees and taxes from the Pittman act go away you’ll very soon find that wildlife will disappear.
I find it strange that anybody would want to support the destruction of wildlife.
There is a lot of sport fishing where I live. I know people who have purchased a 25K boat to catch a dozen salmon every year. They crab also so we have to throw that in. I smoke a lot of salmon every year, 30 lbs last year, but I don't own a boat and I don't pay the state to license one. Just doesn't make a lot of sense to troll in the same water that native gill netter just past through when I can buy salmon for $10/lb.
This state isn't helping sport hunting or fishing either. They've banned lead shot from release sites and now want to ban it statewide for upland. They've made it impossible to understand the regulations. Every unit has it's own regulations regarding modern firearm, archery, or black powder and dates for each one. Same for sport fishing. This state is killing sport hunting and fishing with their ever increasing demand for revenue. It would be one thing if there were more opportunities for hunters and anglers, but there isn't.