What's A Local to Do?

Folks up here in Phillips County are complaining about a lack of places to hunt. Rich people are buying up all the land. Locals have no place to go.

I heard the same refrain when I first moved here nearly 20 years ago. All the good places had sold to out-of-staters or at least out-of-county folk. There were few places left to hunt.

I could only shake my head at my new neighbors’ plight, and offer my sympathy. Then I went hunting.

I’ve been hunting ever since.

Poor-mouthing Phillips County as a hunting destination is a part of the culture up here, and as a resident, I’m required to say it’s not as good as it once was. But complaining there’s no place to go isn’t going to fool anybody. While hunting opportunities on deeded land come and go, what’s available on public land is hardly a secret.

There are a gazillion acres of public land in this county. I moved here largely because of that.

On the other hand, everyone knows that hunting on private land is always better than what’s available on public, or so say the locals who no longer have anywhere to hunt.

Even the thousands of acres of Block Management in the county open to hunting pale in comparison to the opportunities available on private land where they won’t let you hunt. It only makes sense. Or not.

But there is one catch to hunting public land: you can’t drive off the designated roads even on your four-wheeler. You have to walk or ride horseback, and it’s been years since I saw a mounted hunter.

I suspect it’s not the hunting folks miss as much as the ease of hunting they used to enjoy. Driving out to the far pasture to look for deer is certainly quicker than walking there. Tossing a buck into the back of a pickup is sure easier than dragging him out. Riding a four-wheeler along the shelter belt to flush pheasants worked just fine.

Now the easy place is in new hands, probably sold by the local real estate outfit that advertises hunting properties nationwide.

What are the locals to do?

A lot of them simply quit hunting.

They say there’s no place to go anymore.

I sympathize with them at the same time thanking my lucky stars I’m not a local. No matter how long I’ve lived here I’ll always be from somewhere else, and I’ve got a lot of places to hunt.

Parker Heinlein is at [email protected]