# My perspective from 3 sides.



## DuaneinND (Jan 22, 2005)

I have a the pleasure of being on 3 of the 4 sides of the access/Nr business/hunting issue.
First I am a Sporsman/Hunter and I cherish the priviledge. 
Second I am a landowner/conservationist- and I am very frustrated with the lack of respect that many resident hunters exhibit. I have had "hunters" point their firearms at me, lie about where they were shooting from or why they where on MY property or shooting into My property without permission. In 21 years I have only had 2 times where a NR "hunter" was on My property without prior permission. One was caught by the Game Warden in the act and the other was told by a local outfitter they could hunt there. He was really angry when I told them they didn't have to pay for the morning goose hunt because I do not believe in charging for access. I am a firm beliver in creat the habitat and they will come.
Third I am a business owner (Gun Shop) and I enjoy business from ANYBODY who has the cash. Can I survive without the walkin business from the NR hunters- You bet- do I like their money-sure. I do know for a fact that the income from the hunters( notice I didn't say NR hunters, but everybody) in the fall does impact the local motels/gas stations/bars/hardware store and every other business in Kidder County significantly and everyone of these business need every single $ they can get to stay open.
As hunters We need to cooperate with the landowners- get to know them, come into their yard with humility- remember you are asking them a favor- respect their answer- and DON"T roadhunt their property when they say no. I and the other 4 members of my family all hunt and we would like the first chance on the game on the property- is that asking too much. There are days when we have 15-20 vehicles in the yard asking permission, because word gets out that I allow people to hunt, but you can only harvest so much of the game.
I don't like - zones / limited days etc. My fear is that G&F might decide it works so well with NR's that they should do the same with Residents. I do feel residents should have some "perks" for living here (early openers etc.).
I would like to see a percentage of all hunting licenses returned to landowners for the purpose of improving habitat and the more hunters allowed to hunt would result in a higher payment.
One important thing to remember as sportsman is that We need the landowners on our side.


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## Ron Gilmore (Jan 7, 2003)

Guys do not post or respond to this thread please. G/O like this one use and twist our words and meanings by saying we do not care about the landowner. Remember that the Trespass bill is still out there!


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## ND4LIFE (Sep 3, 2004)

excellent, very well said, now if you had any old doubles on your site I might me a regular custumer. :lol:


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## ND4LIFE (Sep 3, 2004)

Ron????? why are you saying he is a guide or outfitter????


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## Ron Gilmore (Jan 7, 2003)

> I would like to see a percentage of all hunting licenses returned to landowners for the purpose of improving habitat and the more hunters allowed to hunt would result in a higher payment.


This is what the G/O are pushing for. One only needs to look to the West River area in SD to see what is happening. He may not be a G/O himself but is promoting their agenda.


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## Old Hunter (Mar 8, 2002)

Hi Duane We have met a couple of times .Once in the field and once when I had some work done in your shop. This was quite a few years ago. I used to hunt your area several times a year. I had several good places to hunt and made good friends with some of your neighbors. When Christmas rolled arround I would buy 20 lb hams,bushels of fruit, and decorate big boxes; fill them . About 4 days before Christmas I would leave Fargo at 4;00 in the morning and spend the day delivering these presents to the landowners that let me hunt. These gifts went from Streeter to Steele. It was a part of my Christmas season. Duane I'm a blue collar worker like yourself. This was a huge expendeture for me but it was worth it . Things change thats all gone now. Your area is in the center of Sheldon Schlecht's hunting leases. I can believe that you get 20 groups of hunters in your yard asking for permission you have about the only land in the area that is not leased by Schlecht. Schlecht 's hunters are housed,feed and transported by him. The money goes into his pockets( OR TEXAS) not the local merchants. As far as ethics concerning nonresidents vs. residents I wont go there. It wont help things. Access in your area is terrible. That is why you get so much pressure at your farm. So in the end a big group of us quit hunting your area. No longer using the restauraunts, gas stations and motels. Your local economy traded a resident dollar for a nonresident dollar there is no gain there. Duane in the future I will be showing you and every one else on this site how a town can prosper from the resourse and not sell to the highest bidder. Stay Tuned good luck


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## ND4LIFE (Sep 3, 2004)

Ron the way I read that, is percentage of money from license sales, not a percentage of actual licenses. I could be wrong but in the first part of his paragraph he stated he doesn't believe in charging for accessing his land.

I do beleive that money from license sales should go to habitat, and I beleive the USFW is now allowing ND G&F to use 75% of money from license sales for land aquistion. land acquistion or habitat improvement either way are good things for ducks, and thats whats most important.


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## lake 17 (Sep 25, 2004)

DuaneinND:

That is one of the most thoughtful, truthful, and well written articles I've seen on this website. Being a landowner I can certainly agree with you on your comments about lack of respect by the resident hunter and it seems to be getting worse each year. I didn't post the land for 40 years but in the last 2-3 years I had enough and started posting during the waterfowl season.


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## leadshot (Aug 2, 2004)

A prime example from lake 17.. A few bad apples can ruin it for everyone.


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## DuaneinND (Jan 22, 2005)

Ron- I am not for or against G/O's. I do NOT like access fees. I DO NOT ALLOW a G/O to be on my property with my knowledge. What I am saying is that when someone is allowed to hunt on my property for FREE that G&F should allow a % of the license fees be returned to the landowner for creating more habitat on that property. Just maybe more landowners would allow hunting if they could see some benifit after all the only reason for most landowners to allow someone to hunt is from the goodness of their heart and then when you let the WRONG person on and they ignore everything you told them NOT to do, peolpe just say NO. The only complaint that I have about G/O's is that they hunt the land to death. I will not hunt the same place 2 days in a row unless the weather is moving in and the geese are moving out anyway. I feel that if you give the birds rest for a couple of days they will remain in the area for a longer time and the quality of the hunt will be better. One of the biggest reason some of the local landownwers lease their land is that then they no longer have to police the property. Until you have experienced firsthand someone shooting at a pheasant that is only 35 yards from your house- in the direction of your house and then having the balls to argue about that "They have a Right " to hunt because they bought a license- don't criticize the landowner. Attitude and arrogance will not gain access to anyones property. 
Fortunately Sheldon Schlecht is no longer in business and the new owners do not lease the entire area as was done in the past.
I think the main point that you missed Ron is that as far as a landowner in any rural part of the state is concerned is that if he doesn't know you or you are not hunting with a local person- you are a non resident- the license plate on your truck doesn't mean a thing. 
I hope that you can see some sense in this, but I am not very good at writing what I would like to say- too many scattered thoughts. I would be more than happy to sit down face to face and discuss any of the issues you have questions about.
Old Hunter- people like you are always welcome in most anybody's yard - farmers remember the thank you gifts and for the majority that is more than enough "payment". Come by next fall and if the birds cooperate-- maybe we can have some fun.


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## goosehtr4life (Dec 16, 2002)

Dueane, unfortunatley some hunters/res or non are just Asshol## no matter what. I do believe that 90 percent are good. It's just the %10 that cause the problems for everyone. I don't have a problem with money coming back for habitat, the only way that would work is with a program like PLOTS. Because if it was not open to everyone how would access work. That would be my only question to you...Thanks for your input and I hope you continue to contribute in this forum.

PS- Ron, not everyone is a BIG bad G/O...Just because they might have opinions that might be different than yours..


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