Decline In Hunters Threatens How U.S. Pays For Conservation (NPR)

BWALKER77 said:

Brent, not sure where you live but thats not true for most of the country. When I was going to school very few in the Earth Sciences department hunted and I attended college in Upper MI.

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I can tell you it's extremely true in both OR and WA. And we have more then the rest of you midwesterner's combined. It may not be quite as accurate when those hipsters are 19, but wait until life grinds on them a bit, by 30, they're all ears.

Increasing urbanization is a big problem for hunting. I can't tell you how much different it is when you live in major metro area and the closest realistic hunting opportunities are 2 hours drive away. Instantly the effort required to hunt from an urban area rules out casual hunting. I've lived in a town of a few thousand people and in downtown Chicago and I can't emphasize how much difference that makes even for an experienced hunter. For new hunters in Urban/suburban areas you often don't know anyone that hunts or owns land you might get permission to hunt. The network that propagates hunting in rural areas collapses in more urban areas. There are a lot of people in urban and suburban areas that want to learn to hunt, but can't get past the barriers to entry or handle the dedication it takes to be successful. It is way different when you can scout before work or shoot your bow in your backyard versus driving over an hour to shoot or multiple hours to scout.

Youth hunting programs have been failing for quite a few decades to recruit new hunters that actually stick around. Hopefully some of the shift towards new adult hunting programs will improve R3 to some degree or at least create avenues for people that are motivated to hunt, but don't know how to get started.

Leasing is a big problem in the East as it has pushed a lot of casual hunters out of their one spot and they weren't motivated enough to find somewhere else new. Also the number of people buying hunting specific land has doubled in the last 3 decades. The more dedicated hunters have gotten more serious and made it harder to get out for casual hunters in some ways.

wllm1313 said:

I know 5 guys from my class that have hunted caribou on Adak, I'm sure that when they go back for our reunion most people have no idea they even hunt. My point is just because people don't talk about hunting or display the trappings of hunters doesn't mean they don't hunt and more importantly it doesn't mean that they aren't interested in it but just don't have someone who is willing to take them under their wing.

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Spot on! You have to draw them out a little. Anyone that walks into my office, or just past the door, figures something is up. Eland, Oryx, whitetail, pronghorn, moose, warthog, bison, bear, you name it are hanging from the wall or littering the cabinets. That does start a few conversations.

There is a glimmer of hope in some places. As a high school wood shop teacher in North Central Pennsylvania I see a pretty good number of students who are interested in hunting, fishing and outdoor related things. These kids are making gun cabinets, gun racks, turkey calls, fishing nets, grunt calls, walking sticks, taxidermy plaques, and a number of other things related to the outdoors. Some have even tried their hands at videoing hunts. Our Ag instructor teaches many conservation units centered around woods and water. They also do butchering and skull boiling. It's pretty cool when a kid can bring his buck to school to process it, boil and clean the skull, then make his own plaques. It is also pretty cool when a kid finishes and takes a turkey call home on Friday and returns Monday with a beard and story to go with the call he made. I am always impressed at the interest these kids have. They are doing it both on their own and with family, pretty cool. These electives are enjoying the highest enrollments in our high school.

Everybody keeps saying a decline in hunters but why are there more applicants every year for all the tags I want to draw? Takes 20 years to draw a tag. Seems to me there is plenty of hunters

Dieseldog said:

Everybody keeps saying a decline in hunters but why are there more applicants every year for all the tags I want to draw? Takes 20 years to draw a tag. Seems to me there is plenty of hunters

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Poor comparison, big game draws are a fraction of the hunting ecosystem.

jryoung said:

Poor comparison, big game draws are a fraction of the hunting ecosystem.

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That's a good point. What seems to really be suffering is the entry game hunting. Small game specifically.

Indiana has at least 11 different types of licenses just for whitetail deer hunting, and if you're a multi-weapon hunter you must buy several licenses whether you fill the previous one or not. They're not what I'd consider expensive by any means, but it's certainly intended to get more of that PR money.

Short term, states may get by with schemes like Indiana's to get more $$ from a stagnantly declining number of hunters, but there's no way to get around the need for additional recruitment of young hunters IMO.

LCH said:

Indiana has at least 11 different types of licenses just for whitetail deer hunting, and if you're a multi-weapon hunter you must buy several licenses whether you fill the previous one or not. They're not what I'd consider expensive by any means, but it's certainly intended to get more of that PR money.

Short term, states may get by with schemes like Indiana's to get more $$ from a stagnantly declining number of hunters, but there's no way to get around the need for additional recruitment of young hunters IMO.

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Bundles are available for both R and NR to keep from having to buy several licenses. An NR can get a buck and 2 doe tags good for all seasons and all weapons for $295. I wish I would have bought a lifetime license before the quit doing that.

1_pointer said:

Bundles are available for both R and NR to keep from having to buy several licenses. An NR can get a buck and 2 doe tags good for all seasons and all weapons for $295. I wish I would have bought a lifetime license before the quit doing that.

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Yep, but I believe that bundle counts as 3 licenses. I buy a bundle every year regardless of how many deer I plan to take.

They stopped selling the lifetime licenses back when I was a kid. It sure would have been nice to get in on that.

LCH said:

Indiana has at least 11 different types of licenses just for whitetail deer hunting, and if you're a multi-weapon hunter you must buy several licenses whether you fill the previous one or not. They're not what I'd consider expensive by any means, but it's certainly intended to get more of that PR money.

Short term, states may get by with schemes like Indiana's to get more $$ from a stagnantly declining number of hunters, but there's no way to get around the need for additional recruitment of young hunters IMO.

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It's state schemes like this one that makes me think we are in worst shape than we think. A lot of these studies are pulled from these type stats and because of these type things going on numbers I feel are off. I mean I personally bought about 6 different licenses last year in different states it would appear that in most of these studies that's 6 guys versus it being 1 right?

LCH said:

Yep, but I believe that bundle counts as 3 licenses. I buy a bundle every year regardless of how many deer I plan to take.

They stopped selling the lifetime licenses back when I was a kid. It sure would have been nice to get in on that.

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My BIL got a Lifetime license for a HS graduation gift. He's way ahead! I'd have gotten much more use out of that than the golf clubs I got...

Another great thread...found this while searching for AOH stuff. My thought is, as one who already loved the outdoors and weapons, point them to Fresh Tracks! It worked on me and as a result me and mine are now working our way through the steps of becoming hunters. Actually, now that I think of it, Steve Rinella's Meat Eater stuff got me going in the right direction. From there I found Fresh Tracks. More of Randy and Steve's ilk would not be a bad thing at all. I've always been a camper-hiker-sports oriented kind of person. For various reasons, adventure mostly, a fixation has developed within me that I'm going to hunt wherever and whenever the opportunity arises (which means wife and son will be too as they've become interested due to my fixation), ie, more family involvement is needed, too! So, for those whom you suspect might be interested but don't know what steps to take, text them a link to this site, or a link to a specific topic on the site having to do with beginner concerns. It just might be the thing that pushes them to action. Think about it, getting to the non-hunting public is the issue and how much effort would it take and what do you see everyone doing nowadays...looking at their bleeping phones! BTW, Mr. O was the best ambassador to the gun world that ever existed.