I read this when it was first posted on 6/2, and have come back to at lest 8 or 9 times.
To start with it is not my intention to start any arguments or start a flaming war!
I have been hunting for about 45 years. One of my earliest memories is following my dad and uncles around when I was 4 or 5 when they were rabbit hunting. I have been lucky enough to hunt from Aniake Alaska to Brownsville Texas and almost all states in between. If you were to add up license fees, gas , food, plane tickets and everything else each year it would be a lot cheaper to buy a side of beef. Then you have to add up the money the wife and I give to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, Turkey Federation, Quail Unlimited, Mule-deer Foundation, Operation Game thief.
When I was younger it was all about harvesting any animal that I had a license for. Now it is more about getting away, meeting old friends, getting the next generation interested in hunting and if I harvest an animal it is just gravy ( no pun intended ).We are very careful coming home to make sure all meat is in ice-chests, heads and hides are covered so that we don't give the impression of an in your face attitude to the non-hunters. We are not ashamed of what we do, we are just trying to respect everyone and expect everyone to respect us. We eat what we harvest and enjoy it very much.