The loss of public access to hunting ground is a serious concern to Montana hunters, especially bird hunters. Our state has a long tradition of allowing bird hunters access to farm and ranch lands. But most of those farmers and ranchers are making a marginal living at best, and when someone (almost always from out of state) waves an obscene bunch of money under their nose, it can be difficult to resist. Property changing hands is not the problem. The problem is when a large piece of land whose owner has allowed public hunting access passes to an owner who either locks it up and shuts out the public, or chops it up into pieces - 10 acre ranchettes or the like - that simultaneously destroy wildlife habitat and end public access. To suggest that a disgruntled Montana hunter should be grateful to buy a 10-acre ranchette where there was once a large intact piece of wildlife habitat is to show a lack of understanding of the situation. This is not about our oh-so-sacred property rights. It is about keeping land intact, about finding ways to keep farmers and ranchers on their land and rural communities intact, and about preserving the tradition of public access to private land that is Montana's heritage, and that used to be common elsewhere. Montana is special because it is NOT (yet), chopped up entirely into ranchettes and subdivisions, and it is special because all the hunting opportunities are not (so far) restricted to pricey shooting preserves that exclude the average hunter who wants to spend a morning watching his or her dog work, and mabye shooting a couple of huns. The point is not that 'this ain't Cuba.' The point is that Montanans don't want our state to become Texas. (And I mean no offense to Texans. I am only speaking of the loss of public, non-paying hunting opportunities in that state, or many others for that matter.)
No, Cabela's is not the only guilty party in this issue. But they are guilty of helping to accelerate the loss of public hunting in our state. And none of my hunting friends here who are concerned with Montana's hunting heritage will give them our business.
