Haha. I always got a kick out of that too. I am not sure what world they live in, but I have never seen so many hunters in my now 35 years of being in the woods. It's insane out there. I have watched the once incredible greater yellowstone herd (which primarily existed on public land) become a collective unicorn. Theories abound as to its demise, but I have a feeling the used car lot that the trailheads have become may have something to do with it.
I couldn't disagree more. The ranch I hunt on now used to be Block Management. I have hunted there since I was a kid. They are family friends and we have branded, fixed fence, preg tested and helped with general ranch stuff until recently, when the owners retired. It used to be the owners would pretty much let most people hunt if they felt like you were a decent person and would treat their property with respect. The Block Management Program came along and they jumped in with both feet. What took place in those 3 unfortunate years is hard to describe. It actually made me lose faith in most of the general hunting public for sure, and even in people in general. I witnessed fistfights over elk, countless wounded elk, complete annhilation of the mule deer population, flock shooting, trespassing, pretty much the worst of the worst. After the 1st year the hunting was terrible, and it only got worse from there.
After one unsavory day when nearly 20 vehicles were parked at the ranch house despite a 10 hunter per week limit they called it quits. It was too much for the family to manage and FWP was pretty much worthless in providing any help or enforcement of the rules. Ranchers are generally busy ranching and the last thing they want to do is manage a bunch of asshats who can't act like an adult. There was just too much pressure on the property and even if people would have behaved themselves the quality of the hunting experience was pretty much doomed from both a quality and quantity standpoint. The neighboring ranches sure seemed to have good hunting those years though. After a couple years of recovery the hunting has gotten back to being better, although the deer situation still is pretty rough. We mainly take our kids hunting there now and a few locals as well.
I used to knock on doors to ask for permission when I was a kid. Offer to help with a chore or two. Don't just show up during hunting season. I think we were alot better off with that system.