Hunter Landowner Relations

[Pierre]

Eric, The difference between you folks and me is that I allow as many public hunters as I can to share the resources of my place, for free. I take responsibility for my actions and for the problems I may contribute to. I don't blame others.
Private property rights don't include the wildlife. Are you taking care of all the "management" or are you trying to legislate entitlements? Are you hunting public lands encapsulated in your leases for basically nothing? The essay was geared to showing that producers do receive public funds for help and that we are all part of a communtiy. It can't all be about money.
Thanks for engaging.
Joe

 

[Eric Albus]

straight,
I may have many things on my shoulder(I will not detail, suffice it to say I've been calving), but a chip is not one of them, either toward the public or small tract owner. I may be a bit condescending and bombastic at times, but I really am without a chip.

As to the ranch, we(brother and I) had a decent start, but have added a lot to it, along with a sizeable debt load...keeps me motivated

Joe,
That is great that you allow as many folks as you can to enjoy your place for free. I have also allowed a lot of "free access" on my own ranch. I have allowed complete strangers access at times, that to me is the true meaning of allowing access, not just letting close friends/family have access.


To the best of my knowledge, I have not attempted to legislate any entitlements...

I am not hunting fee entitlement lands for" basically nothing either"....my annual payments to the BLM for the privilege of hunting their administered lands is rather costly compared to some of the private leases I have. (it is not as cheap to run a hunter as it is a cow on BLM) .

 

[Straight Arrow]

...my annual payments to the BLM for the privilege of hunting their administered lands is rather costly...

...it is not as cheap to run a hunter as it is a cow on BLM...

From those statements it is somewhat confusing as to what you are saying about BLM land you are leasing. I was not aware that there is an annual payment for hunting privileges on BLM land. If so, is that in addition to your grazing lease payment? That is an interesting new perspective on outfitting on BLM leased lands.

 

[Nunyacreek]

BLM requires a percentage of gross (4% I think but I'm not sure) paid for commercial use. And it's certainly true that you could end up paying more for commercial access than you might for grazing. Last, I've known and considered Eric a friend for a long time, whether or not I agree with him. You could call him lots of things, but entitled ain't one of them.

 

[Eric Albus]

thanks nunya


straight, outfitters pay a use fee, and nunya is correct, 4% of gross receipts for clients taken on BLM lands....

 

[cowboy]

straight, outfitters pay a use fee, and nunya is correct, 4% of gross receipts for clients taken on BLM lands....

Teach me something: How does this work? Is the reporting/payment pretty much on the honor system - if you take a client on BLM for say only one day is it 4 % of a day rate - just curious. This looks to me to have the potential of being a government paper nightmare trying to keep track of things to remain in compliance.

 

[Jrz210]

Great post thanks for sharing

 

[Eric Albus]

It is not really that tough to keep track of, for either the BLM or the outfitter. First we must annually submit a rate sheet along w/ all the other info they require. Then, there are multipliers in their equation to keep things fair and equitable. It depends on each outfitters operation plan and how much they use the BLM. Here in Reg. 6 I go by the highest rate, 60% est. time on BLM and then pay 4% of gross receipts for those days I utilize BLM.
The toughest thing for us to keep track of is those hunters that do not go on the BLM and keep everything separate....it becomes and accounting nightmare and paperwork headache on the outfitters end.

 

[bwcatripper]

Great writing, very thought invoking.