[prairie hunter]

Fetch sit down and take a big breath. OK.

I found this one on a net search today. These Illinois Bast&#@s want $10,000 per person (12 members) to join their ND hunt club.

While we can argue how effective a 160 acre parcel will be all season in ND, this is really going the wrong way. They plan to place an aerator on the slough.

Is this their idea ? Is there a ND realtor pushing this idea ?

The Link:
http://www.rockhollowhuntclub.com/duck.asp

 

[GooseBuster3]

That is the most outrageous thing I have ever heard of!!! They are also planning on releasing pheasants and more MALLARDS to!! Why do that we have more than enough ducks!!!!!!!!

 

[Fetch]

Yep !!! thats what is coming. That is how it is in Texas - Arkansas - Lousianna - & Mississippi. That plus 100 times as many guides & outfitters. Commercialized hunting for the wealthy. The days of hunting a big portion of the state & going where the birds are, will be over, for the average person. Even if the State starts a major crash program of public land projects - it will not be anything like we have known. Imagine all the average to lower income folks - fighting for the public stuff ??? & most that can change things, want to be fair & compromise :sad: - What will be compromised is the last state, that has not been ruined, by selling our unique resources & laws & way of life.

As the waterfowl & wildlife gets so hammered (depleted). These guys will release their own & call it hunting :roll: when residents hardly hunt anymore. It won't take but a generation, for most young folks, to not really care about hunting. (& the quality of life for residents will improve right ???)

This sure is a example, of why this next year, will be remembered, as the time ND either sells out, or made a stand to remain unique & special for it's residents.

I'd much rather see ND attract real Waterfowlers / Hunters to come & live here - to participate in what we have. Absentee owners of hunting lands, will never be the answer to ND's problems. It should be fought & discouraged at any /all levels, or ways possible. Even then it will most likely happen. Because No One wanted to take the Heat to stop it. :sad:

I will predict even you NR's will someday see the benefit, of some of the ideas, you read here. While not popular to you now - they are the best chance, of keeping some reasonable limits on where this is heading. :sad:

[ This Message was edited by: Fetch on 2002-05-03 20:13 ]

 

[Decoyer]

You know, a lot of you probably won't believe me, but this is exactly what was happening before the 14 day restriction. There were a lot of really rich guys from the southern duck clubs coming up here and living/hunting here of the entire month of October and tying up a lot of land in the process. Just like Saskatchewan, you wouldn't believe the number of guys that spend a month or more hunting up there every year, only Alberta and Saskatchewan have a rule against leasing or renting land for the purpose of hunting, maybe ND should consider something like that.

 

[Dr. Bob]

I have always seen the benefit Fetch! My main point all along has been to end the commercialization of waterfowling in ND.

Dr. Bob

 

[KEN W]

My God...this is what it is going to come to???

 

[bioman]

I was just reading the latest issue of DU magazine, so I was curious to see if any No.Dak. lodges or guides were advertising for waterfowl hunts. Low and behold, one from Devils Lake offering the usual gamut of species and another located in Goodrich were advertising hunting opps on 50,000 acres of land. Their respective websites are http://www.take-em.com and http://www.svlodge.com. Go and take a look at their prices and available dates left for hunts. If you don't think NRs are a problem in the state, then somebody please tell me what resident is paying over $500 a day to shoot (at SVLodge), not hunt birds.

As a former resident, I am absolutely sickened and disheartened at the trend of exclusive hunting that is unfolding in the state. I live in California, and this State is the best example of how hunting is exclusively for the rich. My neighbor's best friend is one of the top realtor's in the Sacramento region. His buddy joined a waterfowl club three years ago that costs $1,000,000 as an initiation fee (I am not making this up), the yearly dues are a paltry $500,000. They have a 10 bedroom lodge, four full-time staff and one chef during the hunting season, and a full-time waterfowl/hydrologist consultant they use to improve habitat on their property. That is only an example of a few rich people buying land, there are countless examples of commercial operations in the State.

If you are like me, a person of average salary, you have two options to hunt in California. You can join a club that starts at about $1,500 for purely marginal opportunities (on one parcel of land) and goes all the way up to $1,000,000 for superior props, or you can hunt the state and federal refuges with the riff raff. Let me tell you that hunting the public land is the most awful hunting experience I have ever encountered in my life. The hunting is so pathetic, that the usual question people is ask "how many shots did you get off?" rather than "how many birds did you get?"

I have always wondered how DFG has allowed commercial hunting to exist in the State. Since there is a no corporate farming law in the State, why can't this be added to cross over to commercial hunting. I would suggest a petition and proposed ballot measure to eliminate commercial hunting. If provinces in Canada have been successful, why not model legislation that has already been enacted elsewhere.
I am afraid, that Fetch is right, for residents, this is the last stand. Let's hope it is not reminiscient of Custer's!!!!!!!!

[ This Message was edited by: bioman on 2002-05-04 14:56 ]

[ This Message was edited by: bioman on 2002-05-04 22:25 ]

 

[MRN]

Decoyer,

I'm right there with you. My moral/ethical attitudes regarding hunting, land use, and respect for the land and the resource were developed in Alberta and Sask.

Respect was the commodity, not money.

M.

 

[Decoyer]

Here is the response I got from an e-mail from the Rock Hollow Duck Club, What a bunch of BS!!!

"I don't quite understand how you think we are closing the doors to this state. We are a group of sportsmen who own property in ND, pay property taxes, and who grow crops/habitat to leave for the wildlife. We buy our own property to give us a place to hunt/fish/camp, rather than just relying on government property that is open to the public. We would like to buy more property to keep it from getting developed."

PS: They still won't tell me where the "club" is located.

 

[Matt Jones]

"We plan to release additional Pheasants and Mallards to help the conservation effort increase harvest."

How in the hell does that help conservation? I can't believe they are selling this absurd concept as a way of "conservation". This crap is absurd and is truly getting out of hand.

 

[Eric Hustad]

I can't even begin to say how pathetic this is. If something doesn't change soon this how our state will be. Go to the May meetings and be heard. This could be our last chance to make a difference.

 

[Perry Thorvig]

The Rock Hollow concept is very scary. I am not trying to make excuses for those arrogant and ignorant guys at Rock Hollow who do not realize what they are doing to the North Dakota hunting legacy. But, lets keep in mind that this is a club. They only have 160 acres of land and ten or 12 hunters. Yes, this kind of thing can get out of hand too.

What is much, much more scary is Kyle Blanchfield's operation around Devils Lake that Bioman makes reference to. Northern Flight (Blanchfield's hunting arm) touts "thousands of handpicked acres". When you talk about locals losing access, why not go after Blanchfield rather Rock Hollow which is 700 miles away in Illinois. Do you guys ever go after him personally? How do you treat him when you see him at the local hardware store or local supper club? Is he a pariah in his own community? Do you make him feel a little guilty about what he is doing to you?

 

[muzzy]

[No message]

 

[muzzy]

Rock Hollow Hunt Club has their little piece of paradise around Gackle ND.