In an interesting attempt at being
unbiased, Outdoor Life's e-edition magazine has selected Kentucky as
the best place for a non-resident hunter to score a record-book buck.
Ohio didn't do too badly, coming in at
Number Nine with a leveraged score of 3.0 but compared to Kentucky's
total adjusted score of 4.5.
Not everyone agreed with the on-line
magazine's use of four criteria, or “metrics:” Trophy Production
as based on the number of Boone & Crockett entries over the past
three years; Hunter Density (and this is here where Ohio scored very
badly, given the state's size and the number of deer hunters); Cost
of Outfitted Hunts: and lastly, Hunter Friendliness, or how a state's
deer-hunting laws are basically user friendly.
Outdoor Life pans Illinois, a state
which restricts deer hunters to possessing shotguns capable of
holding no more than three rounds. That rule also applies to Ohio.
Having successfully hunted deer in
Kentucky on several occasions I can attest to Kentucky's high
standing, though I'm not sure it deserves the Number One position.
Truth is, as careful as Outdoor Life is
in trying to eliminate bias the fact remains objectivity will always
remain an elusive target. No less so, in fact, than in trying to
actually “bag one for the books.”
After all, while two plus two will
always equal four, so will three plus one and four plus zero.
Consequently and unintentionally, any
effort to eradicate bias by per-selecting criteria/matrix is itself a
bias.
Simply put, a prospective hunter will
go to great lengths to find where best to shoot a trophy deer.
Besides the four criteria Outdoor Life
uses such other factors as types of firearms and archery tackle
permitted, cost of travel, ease of finding accommodations, if the
state has advisories on CWD, are all important considerations.
Maybe even carrying equal weight with
the ones chosen by Outdoor Life.
And one of the criteria Outdoor Life
picked – Cost of Outfitted Hunts – is itself of dubious value.
The on-line magazine employed averaging
the cost that three in-state outfitters charge for an all-inclusive
deer hunt.
A problem with employing this strategy
is assessing the number of potential outfitters in any state.
Thus while Texas was judged the state
with the highest average outfitted deer hunt ($4,065) it also has a
seemingly unlimited number of such operations a hunter can choose
from when making a selection.
Such is not the case for Ohio where
Outdoor Life says the average outfitted cost for a deer hunt is
$2,783.
Still, Outdoor Life must itself get a
B-plus score for trying to help hunters in making a decision on where
best to kill a book-class buck at as affordable a price the
individual believes his finances (and spouse) will allow.
For a look at Outdoor Life's efforts,
visit its site at www.outdoorlife.com/blogs
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
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