Hunting is dying out... apparently

[bowieknife50]

Hunting is ‘slowly dying off,’ and that has created a crisis for the nation’s many endangered species

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[Bubblehide]

And us hunters have been footing the bill alone for how long.

 

[mlob1one]

I read the same article. Makes me wonder why it still takes so long to draw the tags I want. Never hunted in the midwest or east, and that's where they got their stats.

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[Sccritterkiller]

I thought the NM stat was interesting...a increase in licenses sales in state without PP. R3 campain really? More like point creep everywhere else.

 

[Crowmangler]

When I saw it was from the Washington (com)Post I didn't even bother reading it.
Keep in mind that this outfit hates us and everything we believe in & stand for.

 

[Montana Slim]

Although I don't think the article was well written, the trends are real.
Not being able to draw "good tags" has nothing to do with the number of total hunters, but has everything to do with the number of hunters trying to hunt all over the west and the limited numbers of tags (more limited all the time...). The reality is that there are just not enough trophy opportunities to satiate the number if hardcores out there - and that is only going to get worse, and I think that lack of opportunity will potentially turn off new hunters... Compound this with habitat loss, climate change, disease, etc...
The decrease in hunters will continue to shrink the available funds to address the management of these increasingly detrimental factors for wildlife.

Anyway...
That is what I read in the article, and although clearly written by someone not familiar with hunting, addresses things we ought to be thinking about.

 

[Wrench]

I'm glad this came up. I was on a F&G advisory board and retention and recruitment was the topic. Our state raises prices when kids turn 16 which is also the year they drive, play football and go work.....all of which are time and $$.

I have kids am the youngest on the board, but these guys ABSOLUTELY will not entertain the idea that money and time have anything to do with the retention or recruitment.

I suggested making a exception for ANY full time student regardless of age and allow the youth fee for them. The reduction of income by the .0001% of 40 year old people would be offset by the numbers of people who would be able to afford a tag.

They laughed at me.

 

[tdhanses]

I'm glad this came up. I was on a F&G advisory board and retention and recruitment was the topic. Our state raises prices when kids turn 16 which is also the year they drive, play football and go work.....all of which are time and $$.

I have kids am the youngest on the board, but these guys ABSOLUTELY will not entertain the idea that money and time have anything to do with the retention or recruitment.

I suggested making a exception for ANY full time student regardless of age and allow the youth fee for them. The reduction of income by the .0001% of 40 year old people would be offset by the numbers of people who would be able to afford a tag.

They laughed at me.

The simple views of the old guard always hold back growth, but what do we know. I’ve seen this same mentality in RMEF as well, it’ll get better but will it be too late? I also think some want hunting to become an exclusive club ideal nationwide that only wealthy individuals are involved in.

I’m also experiencing this same mentality in a LOA I’m a member of.

Truthfully it‘s like politics, once the lifers die off things will change, but we’ll be the old guard by then. Also not enough people in their 20’s and 30’s volunteer their time to make enough of a ripple to make changes.

 

[Crghss]

It’s true believe me. The main problem is access to land. There is no where to hunt. At least in the east.

Kids & adults are glued to phones and video games. This gives them the attention span of a millisecond and you think people will sit in a blind for hours waiting for an animal?

Don’t get me started on the fat out of shape kids. I’m not talking overweight but morbidly obese. They’re going to hike in to woods and drag a carcass out? Yeah, right!

 

[Montana Slim]

I also think some want hunting to become an exclusive club ideal nationwide that only wealthy individuals are involved in.

^^this is where I'm concerned we are heading... I feel like the writing is on the wall and am saddened by it. We have something unique, and we need to pay attention to keep it.

 

[tdhanses]

^^this is where I'm concerned we are heading... I feel like the writing is on the wall and am saddened by it. We have something unique, and we need to pay attention to keep it.

Yup I see it all the time in RMEF, guys want to charge $150 and offer a primo dinner vs $35 meal and try to get attendees to join. It’s sad really.

 

[hutty]

The article is dead on, regardless of where it is published. License sales numbers don't lie. Look at reports from Responsive Management https://responsivemanagement.com/ , USFWS or your state.

The issue for non-residents hunting out west has nothing to do with overall hunter numbers, but those that are still hunting are passionate and want to hunt new areas and new species. Add in the cap on non-residents and you have the current point creep/log jam.

Once hunters hit 65 or older the vast majority age out and we are not replacing them in the ranks. That's why states, groups, organizations are trying the 3 R's (recruitment, retention and reactivation). I know here in Maryland we have come up with an apprentice license (discounted price that allows a mentee to hunt the season with a mentor). I have participated in a mentor hunt the last two years on a federal refuge with some 30 adult mentee hunters. Both hunters I have taken, got their full license and are now hunting. More seasoned guys on our DU committee make sure we new young members involved in hunting. Is it work..yes, It is a lot of answering questions and being patient--yes It is worth it ...yes

 

[BuckeyeRifleman]

Access to land is the big thing... Eastern states desperately need to come up with some sort of a block management program for large landowners in the east. Tax breaks for farmers that allow walk in access, etc.

I brought this up on rokslide a few months ago and pretty much got laughed at...

Bottom line access isn’t like it was 40 years ago where a knock on the door and a handshake was all that was needed to hunt. For the last several decades eastern Fish and Game agencies have operated under the premise that was still the case, and the truth is it’s not.

 

[FLAK]

All about the $$$$$$

 

[Poser]

I’m glad this topic came up on Rokslide because maybe we can have a reasonable discussion about it. The hunting FB groups I’m in tend to largely consist of people who are incapable of wrapping their heads around problems that have more than a singular culprit.

One aspect of this that I don’t see mentioned is how small Gen X is compared to Boomers. Gen X is a comparably tiny generation. Even if they (we) hunted at the same % as Boomers, there would be less people afield. On that front, this problem should have been better anticipated. The population trends was data that was there the whole time so any agency should have anticipated this problem back in 1985, attempted to correct and adjust, but now the oldest Millennials are knocking on 40 and the problem will likely compound.

Other factors: hunting is increasingly more complex and expensive, land access (in certain parts of the country), CWD, competition from other forms of outdoor recreation, increased time consumption of extracurricular activities, video games..... it all ties in together with no singular solution.

 

[LostArra]

It's more than just hunting.
Less and less people enjoy doing stuff outdoors (no WiFi)

Nearly half of Americans didn’t go outside to recreate in 2018. That has the outdoor industry worried.

For the glass-half-full crowd that makes up the outdoor industry, the results of the latest outdoor participation survey are sobering. Outdoor businesses need people to get outside, but almost half of Americans don’t venture outdoors to play. The steady decline in participation threatens not...

coloradosun.com

 

[Quin]

It’s true believe me. The main problem is access to land. There is no where to hunt. At least in the east.

I think that is a far bigger issue than people realize. There is a huge amount of property that is being lost to development - even if its not a subdivision, many farms are being sold off in 5-10 acre chunks. I think this loss of hunting area in the east is likely contributing to increasing demand for hunting in the western states.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about this lately as I'm going to lose my hunting spot in the midwest. The owners told me they are planning to sell in the next few years. I don't think I'll be in a position to buy said property and local leases have been locked down for decades in some cases and if something does open, the price is exorbitant. I bet it will cost more for me to hunt 15 miles away than 1500 miles away (assuming I'll even be able to hunt locally). I anticipate that I'll be hunting Western states almost exclusively in the not-too distant future.

And that's fine for me; however, I wonder what happens to my kids who are not hunting age yet. How likely are they to stick with - or even start - hunting if they have to drive halfway across the country or maybe only get to hunt every couple years during those crucial years when they first start??? And hunters who don't hunt out of state and are losing their spots... I find it hard to imagine hunting would even be on their kids radar.

I think kids need to have opportunities locally and that means stopping and then reversing the access loss in the East and Midwest.

 

[Molon Labe]

No matter where you live in the United States there are fishing/hunting opportunities within 2 hours.
People just make excuses and don't want to put in the work/time.

 

[hutty]

All excellent points. We do have a whole generation of people that have not grown up with hunters in the family or had exposure to hunting. I am one of them. I group up in an urban area without anyone in my family having hunted. It was something I wanted to do and was lucky enough to have friends in college who were hunters that included me. The last two people I have mentored came from non hunting families. One was a former vegan!! They just didn't know where to begin or how to start. Ever pick up a state big game regulation book? Makes the tax code look simple. We need to be proactive are recruiting and mentoring people.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

You guys saying there are no public land opportunities in the east are full of crap, that's about the easiest I can put it