Number of hunters by state

[mnewcomb59]

In Texas, we have places that are 'high fence' to keep the deer & other huntable critters in.
It's all private property and the land owners get big bucks for hunting their managed herds there.
Hunting on one is like looking at a restaraunt menu. Everything has a price.
Many of them have resort type accommodations and will process your kill on sight.
Want to shoot a big trophy buck? No problem, just pull out a fat check book.

The 'low fence' places are usually cheaper and the deer can go back & forth, on & off the property.

Land owners make big money on hunting leases. But it's sort of like maintaining a 2nd herd.
They normally feed & cultivate them all year to semi-manage the herd in their area.
Feeding the deer also attracts wild hogs.
Shooting a certain number of them is often included in the price of the deer lease.

There are some farmers and ranchers that will let folks hunt all the hogs & maybe one deer for free--
you just have to make your best deal.
A lot of properties owned by older folks will trade hunting leases for labor on the place the older folks can't do anymore.
Again-- make your best deal.

Sorry to hear that. Sounds horrible! I like hunting wild deer on public so that is why I would never even try to hunt down there. Every video I see they have electric feeders and a noise maker so the animals show up within 2 minutes of the feed sprinkler. And EVERYONE hunts like that. How are you gonna hunt a wild deer when every neighbor for miles feeds deer with an electronic feeder? Then you gotta get a feeder if you ever wanna see them. All the while the hog population is growing out of control. Why don't they ban baiting for a few years? The whole state is completely mismanaged. Exterminating elk while feeding invasives and "exotics" also invasive. If you pay for permission to hunt on private land in texas you drive out to a blind on a 4 wheeler 30 minutes before the feeder goes off, shoot your tame deer, and hand over $5000.

[Winger Ed.]

If you pay for permission to hunt on private land in texas you drive out to a blind on a 4 wheeler 30 minutes before the feeder goes off, shoot your tame deer, and hand over $5000.

It is different here than other places.
When Texas joined the Union, after winning independence from Mexico, it claimed all of Mexico's
territory North of what's now Texas. It was smaller than the Louisiana Purchase- but not by much.
The deal with the United States was the federal govt. could have everything that wasn't what Texas is now---
However; the US govt. wouldn't have title to any land inside what is now Texas.

When I had the property in the Hill Country my Mom had inherited,
I'd usually go down there in Sept. or so and fill a couple of feeders.
There were so many deer, I didn't call it hunting. I'd go down there in the season and just shoot a couple every year.

Most 'low fence' places, you lease the hunting rights. It's typically 'so much' per gun, and a limit on how many.
One gun equals one hunter. And you tended it, and provided your own tent/shack, blinds, feeders, etc.
The property owner didn't do anything for the hunting except cash your check. $500. per gun was a average rate.
If it was a place rated for 4 guns- the lease would be $2,000. for ALL the hunting rights. Birds, deer, everything.
If it was a ranch, when they went out in the pastures to feed their livestock, they fed the deer also to keep them in their area.

Another option was a landowner that would allow day hunting and charge usually around $200.
to go on their place and shoot one deer. They'd manage the deer on their place by limiting the kills on it.

Then there's 'high fence' game places. Some are like staying in a hotel.
They feed ya, do your laundry, put a mint on your pillow, process your kills, etc.
A trophy buck--- they went for $5,000. In addition to the lodging (hotel) fee, 15 years ago.
You can also go out and shoot African animals, hogs, javelina, all sorts of stuff.
I've seen animals inside those fences I couldn't even identify.
They're more or less a private zoo where you can go shoot the exhibits.
Maybe not anymore- but if you could afford it, at a couple places, you could go out and shoot an African lion.
They'd get you set up, and turn it loose. If you didn't kill it, you still got charged sort of a cancelation fee.
They'd go out, hit it with a dart, and put it back in its cage till the next 'hunter' came along.

[Gobeyond]

Thanks. KaliFonIA contributes a lot of money for fish and game projects. But just keeps on getting more expensive. So much private land here. No where to hunt some species, like pheasants. My dad got two western four point black tail in the 60s and 70s. But anything on private land is poaching.

[farmbif]

in states like Tennessee and Virginia there might just be a huge difference between the number of registered hunters and the number of actual hunters. where I live everyone owns their own land and everyone I know hunts and no one I know has or needs a hunting license because they hunt on their own land. Its probably like this all over the state once you get outside of the big cities.

[trapper9260]

Virginia is high on the list, but I have a permanent hunting and fishing license. I don't know how that is counted. All I have to do is buy tags, or trout stamps.

I have the same here in Iowa , it is life time disable veterans license and just do the same as you on buy tags and trout stamp or any other permits.

[Thumbcocker]

Interesting to look at the numbers. In large states, even with a small percentage of the population hunting, it is still a lot of people sometimes more than in a smaller state with a higher percentage.