That dichotomy we should be worrying about isn't trophy vs. subsistence per se. It's not a very clean split anyways. Most everyday hunters are a little bit of both, swinging one way or the other depending on the circumstances.
The real dichotomy we should be concerned about is the common everyday hunter vs. the hunters who want to buy their way into being a good hunter, which they measure by killing a few big animals without putting in too much work. People like that are used to being able to buy whatever they want and rarely have to put in the sweat equity for anything. There's a big difference between 1) someone who trophy hunts under limited circumstances when it's best for the resource or who trophy hunts for the challenge and experience without crowding others out and 2) someone who trophy hunts for their ego fulfillment, product sales, and to crowd others out so they can control it all for themselves and thus make it easier on themselves to shoot a big animal. Group 2 wants to do the majority of their hunting with their wallet and go around bragging about what a great white hunter they are without actually putting in the work or learning.
That last group of people are a very real problem in terms of recruiting new people into the sport. Look at where the massive declines in hunter participation are happening. It's not places like Wyoming where we have ample opportunity to hunt on public lands. It's your more private land states that are driving the decline, simply because it's easier for a few people who want to buy their way into being a good hunter to lock damn near everything up in places like that.
The remedy to the problem is that common hunters need to stop worshipping these wannabes and especially stop buying their crap and supporting their platforms when they have them.They're like a lot of politicians. You share some of their values and so they want you to think they're just like you and working for you. They talk a good talk. But they're not helping you and they don't care about you, they're in it for themselves, often at your expense. That's the reason I only watch shows like Fresh Tracks, OYOA, Meat Eater etc. I've had enough of these wannabes that are ruining hunting for everyone else. I've watched them gobble up nearly all the good hunting on private, push everyone else onto public, and I've seen way too many hunters whose names are all over the record books who would be worthless if it wasn't being handed to them. Again, those are the people and the dichotomy that are furthering the demise of hunting, along with other factors such as disease, population growth, habitat loss etc.
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