Hunter recruitment is why are WY resident draw odds getting worse for antelope

[shb]

If you got rid of the outdoor marketing machine, outdoor channels, hunttalk, rookslide, etc things would simmer down.

The great outdoors is finite, the lust to monetize it isnt. You can only slice a pie so many times.



The outdoor whoores will be the death of the outdoors.

 

[thusby]

We are living in one of the greatest times in human history. Everyone has enough money and time to apply/hunt the entire west. Hell, I can't even get a haircut because my barber is blasting a caribou in the arctic circle.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Pretty interesting article on meat eater from the good brother Matt. Hunter recruitment is a hoax, numbers are high and we are being played by people trying to make money off of the resource in disguise of conservation. Western hunting is booming. They are just as bad as outfitters that we all hate.

 

[DouglasR]

Also I think western hunting is more popular right now via social media, maybe folks who hunted growing up are getting back into it.

I feel like onX and satellite imagery don’t get enough credit for the increase in hunters.

I know I prob never would’ve gone western hunting without them.
They totally revolutionized the sport and made it so much more accessible to anyone anywhere that it’s almost like they invented a new sport.

When I heard I could save maps to the phone that I already owned and essentially become the dot on the screen in grand theft auto or halo i was like “wtf no way!
I could do that”

Years ago a flat lander like me would see a guy like
Camerati on tv and think
“Man that’s badass, but I’d get lost”
With satellite messengers and satellite imagery gps that fear that used to hold so many people back just doesn’t exist anymore.

And yeah, just the internet in general has to have played such a huge role in increasing numbers.
How TF would someone from Illinois like me have any damn clue what state to go to little own what unit to pick.
You’d have to call the Forrest service or cpw or dnr or whatever.
Sign up for a mailing list/brochure to get harvest stats.
Drive out there and go on a real scouting mission!!!

Now you can pull up google earth anytime of the day and basically be a helicopter flying through any mountain range in the world.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

I feel like onX and satellite imagery don’t get enough credit for the increase in hunters.

I know I prob never would’ve gone western hunting without them.
They totally revolutionized the sport and made it so much more accessible to anyone anywhere that it’s almost like they invented a new sport.

When I heard I could save maps to the phone that I already owned and essentially become the dot on the screen in grand theft auto or halo i was like “wtf no way!
I could do that”

Years ago a flat lander like me would see a guy like
Camerati on tv and think
“Man that’s badass, but I’d get lost”
With satellite messengers and satellite imagery gps that fear that used to hold so many people back just doesn’t exist anymore.

And yeah, just the internet in general has to have played such a huge role in increasing numbers.
How TF would someone from Illinois like me have any damn clue what state to go to little own what unit to pick.
You’d have to call the Forrest service or cpw or dnr or whatever.
Sign up for a mailing list/brochure to get harvest stats.
Drive out there and go on a real scouting mission!!!

Now you can pull up google earth anytime of the day and basically be a helicopter flying through any mountain range in the world.

Sure, but the trend in non-consumptive users is just as high, those folks aren't using onX they are just going to Moab because they hear it's awesome.

CO Elk
2005- 246,521 Hunters
2010- 214,536 Hunters
2015- 221,274 Hunters
2019- 219,295 Hunters
2020- 212,667 Hunters

Colorado has OTC tags so it has nothing to do with dropping quotas.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

“All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again.” ​

 

[Bob-WY]

Wife and I moved here 2 years ago, biggest factor by far was the outdoor activities, hunting, fishing, hiking and mountains

 

[wyoelkfan15]

I would say a majority of the people I've met moving to Wyoming move for the access to public lands and outdoor recreational opportunities. Maybe it's just my social circle but one of the top priorities is always hunting. They aren't moving here for the jobs/entertainment scenes offered in big cities...I'm sure the trend will continue

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

I would say a majority of the people I've met moving to Wyoming move for the access to public lands and outdoor recreational opportunities. Maybe it's just my social circle but one of the top priorities is always hunting. They aren't moving here for the jobs/entertainment scenes offered in big cities...I'm sure the trend will continue

Hey, Laramie's entertainment scene is nothing to scoff at. Anyone see that giant creepy head they errected along Snowy Range Rd recently?

 

[wyoelkfan15]

Hey, Laramie's entertainment scene is nothing to scoff at. Anyone see that giant creepy head they errected along Snowy Range Rd recently?

My bad, Laradise is the hidden gem of social ingenuity and Gatsby-ish gatherings. Also, Cowboys gameday, nothing says Social Elite like lines of kegstands in the War Memorial lot...

 

[thebestusernamesaretaken]

This age structure may have something to do with it.

 

[thebestusernamesaretaken]

0Sure.

I think it's probably a bunch of 2-5% increases in the same direction.

People move to WY to hunt/fish/ and be outside, so any new residents are likely to hunt at a much higher rate. If hunting participation for the average American (and I'm making this up 100%) is 1 in 10 and the average in Wyoming is 1 in 8, I think it's reasonable to assume the average rate for someone moving to WY is 1 in 2 for (adults). Point being not that those ratios are correct but the fact that the kind of person that wants to move to WY is more much more likely to be a hunt than the average American. (AK same thing)

Also yes more pressure on the leftover side means more folks in on the draw.

Also I think western hunting is more popular right now via social media, maybe folks who hunted growing up are getting back into it.

Sure there are probably a number of new adult onset hunters. I'd be curious to hear from a WY hunter's safety teacher or see data that shows how many people over the age of 20 are taking the course in WY each year.

When I took my course in CO I was 24 and was the only adult in the class. Similarly a couple of friends of mine did it in MT and were the only adults.

Would also be interesting to see age demos of hunting licenses, are lots of people taking their kids hunting these days, more so then a decade ago?

I think we like to blame it all on one thing, but I'd guess in reality it's a bit of everything.

I think that you may be on to something here.

I came from a hunting family but it wasn't really for sport or fun; it was for food. Food because they couldn't afford to go to the grocery store food. Wild game meat wasn't a delicacy - it was necessary. It was mostly fish, crabs, waterfowl small game and even turtle. When times got better, we didn't really hunt anymore. Not because we didn't like to hunt but rather because there was a bit of a stigma attached that you wanted to shake off. Everyone seemed to still fish though. Somewhere along the way people had to have a lot of money to buy a hunting license and people didn't eat venison anymore.

I eventually moved to and got a factory job in PA, a State where everyone hunted. The employees of this company even voted to forego a national holiday to take off on Buck Day instead (opening day of Rifle season). Because the culture of hunting was so strong, I was invited to join and wanted to see what it was all about. Deer Camp in PA was very different than what I had been used to in the past and it was a strong tradition of family and friends bonding together at deer camp. I became a late onset or reactivated hunter. I suspect that the culture is just as strong in WY and folks who are coming to the State are joining in because you folks love it so much. They want to be part of it i think not because of social media but rather because they want to be like you.

 

[Highfastflyer]

The increases are due to several major factors at work. Antelope licenses used to be more plentiful so part of it is just a decreasing resource due to winter kill, drought and over hunting. The deer hunting got worse so many people who before just relied upon deer meat must now try and get pronghorn licenses. The explosion in social media like Facebook, outdoors channel, Instagram, hunt forums etc. have created a social stigma that you’re missing out unless you go pronghorn hunting. More and more new residents who are coming for the outdoors and longer term n Wyoming whereas in the past the jobs were migratory and boom and bust like oil field etc. Some of the older citizens find hunting pronghorn in the sage brush hills is far easier than climbing to the top of the Wilderness areas they used to hunt for deer and elk. The good news is it’s all a limited quota system so the Game and Fish adjusts the licenses as required unlike much of the mule deer areas where hunting has really gone downhill. It’s still decent pronghorn hunting in Wyoming just not as good as it has been. If we can get a few mild winters, some decent spring rains and everyone keeps hitting the coyotes hard it will return again.

 

[come2elmo]

I just find it refreshing to see a thread about them bast*rd resident hunters at the trailhead for once.

 

[wytex]

Hey, Laramie's entertainment scene is nothing to scoff at. Anyone see that giant creepy head they errected along Snowy Range Rd recently?

Good Lord what a pile of *#@*! All that new art around town and I don't think one is from a Wyoming artist.
We got rid of Peggy now if Janine would just follow her out the door !

 

[Mule3006Elk]

You are also drawing the conclusion that more antelope applications means effective hunter recruitment. I don't think you can necessarily conclude that. I think you may have a person who, years ago, applied for elk only. Nowadays, that person is applying for elk, deer, and antelope. Three times as many applications, but no more hunters. It makes it seem like there are more hunters, but that may not necessarily be the case. What we need is the number of individual people that applied for any hunting license in WY throughout those years. Then do your analysis on that data set.

Interesting. Describes me perfectly. Hunting about 10 years now. Started with deer, then deer and elk, and the past 5 years I added antelope. Not in WY. Antelope weren't even on my radar. I decided to try it one year. My family and I really enjoyed the meat so I kept applying.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

Good Lord what a pile of *#@*! All that new art around town and I don't think one is from a Wyoming artist.
We got rid of Peggy now if Janine would just follow her out the door !

Right!? Why not get a local artist to make something that represents WY. A bronze sculpture of a running pronghorn would look a hundred times better. Every time I drive by that head I can't help but wonder what it would look like ablaze.

 

[rwc101]

Right!? Why not get a local artist to make something that represents WY. A bronze sculpture of a running pronghorn would look a hundred times better. Every time I drive by that head I can't help but wonder what it would look like ablaze.

The metal one at the base of the bridge perfectly represents the wreckage left behind by truckers who ignore I-80 wind closures.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

The metal one at the base of the bridge perfectly represents the wreckage left behind by truckers who ignore I-80 wind closures.

I could appreciate actual wreckage material on display way more than whatever that thing is.

 

[TheGrayRider]

We are extremely overdue for a major stock market and national and international economic correction. Should wash out quite a few of the unserious tag applicants and weekend outdoor warriors. Hunting and fishing is usually part of a discretionary budget and one of the first categories on the chopping block.