Governor's Tags/Auction Tags

In light of the MONSTER bull elk taken from my home state of Washington, I thought I would start this thread so that folks could voice thier opinions on same. This way we can keep the other posts clean.

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(My opinion based on the bull mentioned above. I am not an expert on other Governor's tags from other states or other specific hunts regarding same so I will not comment on those)

I know some folks have issues regarding this but IMO, if I had the money I'd take a crack at it. It was still a fair chase hunt, no high fences, free ranging bull, etc (The most important aspect here as far as I am concerned). And, his money goes back to the state's conservation efforts which is always a bonus. Trust me, I've been in that area many times and there are a lot of MONSTER bulls in there. If some rich guy wants to "donate" his money to our state's conservation efforts and it only costs us one bull elk then I am all for it (provided it IS fair chase).

In fact, our (WA) raffle elk tag winner can/could have hunted the same bull for nothing more than the price of a raffle ticket. (Yes, I did buy one)

Heck, if I had the financial freedom and ability to take long periods away from work I would be hunting all over the country. I can't rightfully fault a man who has that luxury provided he does it the right way and keeps the "spirit" of hunting intact.
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killerbee
i think there great. if i won the lottery i would buy one in every state. the part i dont like is these guys uaually just pay someone to camp out on a bull for as long as they need to and the hunter just flys in and shoots him. so they aren't really keeping the spirit of the hunt IMO. but to each his own. i would love to be in that position. but they do put a ton of money in to the managment program that goes to a great cause. i really believe the people who have to biggest problems with them are usually just jealous. if givin the extra cash , i think most anyone would buy one.
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AGCHAWK
Killer, well said my friend.

Heck, I'm man enough to admit it....I'm jealous too!
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Default Avatar
I have to agree. So long as it is Fair Chase good on them! Seems to me we all win in the end. It's a large amount of money that ordinarily wouldn't be available. If someone works hard or smart and has financial freedom because of it why shouldn't he have a chance to enjoy his money any way he sees fit. They are still hunting on public land. So the opportunity for anyone to hunt a bull like that is still there. He bought a tag not an animal.
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