LAST EDITED ON Nov-08-05 AT 08:31AM (MST)[p]Just want to add a little to this...
tgmulie, where is the cut-off for spending money for a hunt? i.e., how much does one have to spend to get the label of "buying" the deer?
What if it takes me 14 years to draw a big buck tag on the "Strip", and I decide to go at it without a guide? I've spent $1650 in licenses over the years applying, in addition to the price of the deer tag. I've got nearly $2000 into the hunt, and I haven't even left home yet. Now, I go down there and shoot a 265" non-typical buck on my own...did I buy him? I've paid the G&F for the right to hunt an area that produces big bucks. What if my neighbor puts in for the same hunt and draws his first year, and goes and shoots my 265" buck without a guide. He had less than $500 into the right to hunt that area. Did he buy the buck? You said "I guess the overall point I'm trying to make is that the only monster muleys that I think are legit are the ones that hunters take without spending thousands of dollars on."
My point is that everyone is paying to hunt, to some degree. Whether they are paying their own state for the right to hunt, whether they are applying out of state for the right to hunt that state, whether they are paying a trespass fee for the right to hunt an area, whether they are paying a guide for the right to hunt in an area that the guide has knowledge of, or whether they are paying $70,000 to shoot a tame elk out of a pen. Some people are at different stages of life and place different priorities on hobbies, which allow them the opportunity to hunt areas that you and I may not be able to hunt right now, or an area that we have no desire to ever hunt.
Making blanket statements such as "Any animal that is taken with a guide is bought" is arrogant and exposes envy. Just be happy with the animals you are able to hunt, and let the people who are hunting different areas be happy with the animals they are able to hunt. When you have to start comparing your animals or your hunts to others successes, you are missing out on the point of hunting, and hunting becomes a pressure rather than a passion. Set your sights on what you want to hunt and hunt hard to obtain that goal, but for crying out loud, be happy for someone else who is able to obtain their goals.
Corey