Case: Big bucks, bigger bucks, and the cost of high-dollar hunting

AP file photo by David Zalubowski / Elk draw hunters from the East to the West every year in the U.S., but the high cost of chasing big game sometimes goes beyond the obvious.

By Larry Case June 2, 2024 5 min read

“Money don’t get everything, it’s true, but what it don’t get, I can’t use …” — From the song “Money (That’s What I Want)” written by Barry Gordy and Janie Bradford

I like money. I don’t have any trouble admitting that, and I don’t have much trouble spending it either. Most of us do like money, of course, and all of the things that we can buy with it.

There is often a lot of talk about money, or the love of money being the root of all evil. I’m not disagreeing with that, and one of the places we run into trouble with money is in the hunting and wildlife management world.

First, let me say that like anything else, it takes money to operate a wildlife management agency. Fish and game departments are always hurting for money to cover the various projects they want to do to improve hunting and fishing in their respective states. Just paying the bills for these agencies — making payrolls, keeping vehicles running, maintaining offices, funding habitat improvements and dozens of other things — takes money, and lots of it.