Economic pressures should not keep hunters out of the field...it just shouldn't, though I know it does.

Personally, I am thankful for Missouri. While hunting private land will always be better than public land, every county in Missouri has several "Conservation Areas" where deer can be hunted, and some of them have good deer. At the same time, I think Missouri my have some of the least expensive deer tags (Resident), in the country.

I know, that doesn't help everyone else. Just remember...your vote counts, and a lot of us need to pay more attention to what is happening in our state governments.

Until then, you're welcome to move to Missouri!

Unfortunately, hunting has become a rich man's sport. By rich man, I don't mean millionaires, but people making maybe $100k per year, etc. I and my wife work full time, but I have never been able to afford ATVs, hunting club memberships, and $1,000 guns. My newest vehicle is a 10 year old truck. I think most Field & Stream readers are maybe like me. If it were not for public lands, I simply could not hunt at all.

Hey Steward, I think I will check out MO's out of state license.

Turns out the occupy protesters and hunters have something in common. We need to show up at these protests wearing blaze orange jackets and carrying signs that say :"These gun owning outdoor families say: tax the rich and fund good conservation jobs in America".

All I can say I'm happy to live in MN, where there is lots of public land, connections between rural and urban people (that gives us free access to private land), and by today's standards, powerful unions. A progressive and pro-hunting and angling state.

I'm feeling the pinch myself, my wife's unemployment benefits have run out, and we have two kids. But in part due to my paying for guns, clothes, and other gear (portable stands and a few other minimalist gadgets) long ago and MN's land access, deer hunting was an economic BENEFIT to us as a family this year.

I'd hate to live in Alabama, where hunting is a strong part of the culture (as it is in MN), but from what I can tell, the timber companies own the state and labor standards low. Regular people will continue to be pushed out of hunting there.

It is a sad state of affairs that people are forced to join hunting clubs in order to have a chance to hunt on private lands. The game belongs to the public, not to the individual land owner. Here in Wisconsin I have yet to have to pay for tresspass privaleges but I know that day is coming rapidly. In my lifetime I have seen private lands go from open to hunting just for the asking, to posted no trespassing, to the advent of selling hunting leases. Ultimately, if this trend continues, all but the rich will be priced out of hunting and that is just plain wrong...