Reduced Hunting #'s Nationally Threaten State Conservation $.

[stealthy_bowman]

I don’t think access is the primary issue. Hunting is a lot of work and it seems to me that the newer generations are just not up for it. It’s an age of instant gratification that we are living in and hunting is about as far from that as you can get. I live in NJ and our hunter numbers have halved since the 80s. It isn’t because of lack of access. We have plenty of state, federal, county and even township lands that are open to hunting and teeming with deer, yet the young guns are simply not interested and if they are, they don’t stick with it.

 

[MNElkNut]

So I looked at the Participation report that Sytes posted. Very interesting numbers and on pages 27 and 28, there is a clear trend of hunting participation numbers going UP! Didn't expect that. That is encouraging. the most recent numbers show 15.689 million hunters or 5.2% of the population. In 2018, this was MORE than birdwatching more than 1/4 mile from your home/vehicle (12.344 MM) and downhill skiing ((14.7326 MM). Unfortunately, Wildlife Viewing saw a decreasing trend.

How accurate was this survey of just over 20,000 people? Dunno, but there is some optimism in those numbers! They do state that it has a "high degree of statistical accuracy".

 

[rwc101]

Access is very much an issue for certain people in certain places. From the age of 12-24 I had sporadic hunting opportunities due to land access. I saved up $800 to join a hunt club my senior year of high school. Factor in the gas money it took just to get to a 1979 Wagoneer the nearest property leased by the club and there was no lack of hard work, interest, or effort.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I don’t think access is the primary issue. Hunting is a lot of work and it seems to me that the newer generations are just not up for it. It’s an age of instant gratification that we are living in and hunting is about as far from that as you can get. I live in NJ and our hunter numbers have halved since the 80s. It isn’t because of lack of access. We have plenty of state, federal, county and even township lands that are open to hunting and teeming with deer, yet the young guns are simply not interested and if they are, they don’t stick with it.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I will not dispute access is an issue for people. I think expansion of public access is vital also for many reasons including promotion of hunting to youth. I am merely stating that when you look at the numbers nationally, access is not the primary driver for declining hunting numbers. May play a role but not the big one. Fishing is experiencing similiar declines. Kids bike riding is experiencing similar declines. Etc.

I was going to mention that soccer is also experiencing a huge decline. Although I have read many articles, and anecdotally this fits with my experience, that kids are increasingly having to specialize and spend all there time in one activity instead of being able to sample many. Increasing you play baseball year round, swim year round etc through clubs in addition to school sports.

 

[Aussie_hunter_JD]

I don’t think access is the primary issue. Hunting is a lot of work and it seems to me that the newer generations are just not up for it. It’s an age of instant gratification that we are living in and hunting is about as far from that as you can get. I live in NJ and our hunter numbers have halved since the 80s. It isn’t because of lack of access. We have plenty of state, federal, county and even township lands that are open to hunting and teeming with deer, yet the young guns are simply not interested and if they are, they don’t stick with it.

In Australia we have only 3 of our 8 states and territories that even allow public hunting. Species such as buffalo, banteng, scrub bull, chital and rusa have effectively no public land in the entire country. I hunt hard as do plenty of others but if there's minimal land to hunt on it means bugger all.

Reading about USA both here and in other places access os very dependent on where you are. Some areas seem to have lots of public, but some have little and what they do have has more hunters than game. Some folks just fail to see that their experiences represent the area that they're exposed to and next door can be much different.

 

[Ben Lamb]

I was going to mention that soccer is also experiencing a huge decline. Although I have read many articles, and anecdotally this fits with my experience, that kids are increasingly having to specialize and spend all there time in one activity instead of being able to sample many. Increasing you play baseball year round, swim year round etc through clubs in addition to school sports.

This is what happens when we idolize Urkel instead of Li'l Richie Cunningham.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Some folks just fail to see that their experiences represent the area that they're exposed to and next door can be much different.

Exactly!

With regard to this US hunting decline we are specifically talking about the East Coast. There was never a ton of public land and it was never people in the inner city hunting. This decline is happening in the suburban “back 40” areas.

 

[rwc101]

Where I spent my teenage years the population was 50,000 in 1960. Today it's around 250,000. All suburbia that was once mixed forest, swamp, and farmland great for hunting.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Where I spent my teenage years the population was 50,000 in 1960. Today it's around 250,000. All suburbia that was once mixed forest, swamp, and farmland great for hunting.

There is an ikea where my dad went with his dad to hunt pheasants...

It’s funny to juxtapose this thread with the “hell no I won’t share my hunting spot” thread. So let me get this straight you are going to take out a new hunter to either your private, where they can’t come back to hunt, or take them to some public spot, where they can’t return without you, and where they definitely can’t bring a buddy when you are too busy to go with them.

 

[rwc101]

There is an ikea where my dad went with his dad to hunt pheasants...

At least he can still get cheap furniture and meatballs.

 

[stealthy_bowman]

Say what you will and I am no boomer by the way. Just stating reality, young people are simply not hunting anywhere near the rate they used to. This may be more pronounced in the east coast, but it is a national issue. Access helps, but it is not the primary reason for people not taking up the sport or sticking to it, it is driven more by a societal change.

 

[MTelkHuntress]

I was going to mention that soccer is also experiencing a huge decline. Although I have read many articles, and anecdotally this fits with my experience, that kids are increasingly having to specialize and spend all there time in one activity instead of being able to sample many. Increasing you play baseball year round, swim year round etc through clubs in addition to school sports.

I guess hunting and fishing doesnt look as great on a school resume. I know this isnt quite what you're talking about but I know for a lot of parents, sports are seen as a way to get their kids into colleges. So maybe they focus on one sport/activity for that very reason. Personally I knew several people in high school that stopped hunting because they were in fall sports trying to get a scholarship. Maybe they pick it back up but you never know. It may not be a significant amount of people that quite because of those reasons but I would assume it all adds up.
I just wish hunting wasnt so demonized in so many circles. When I applied for college, my advisor told me to delete all hunting or fishing related pictures from Facebook, even the ones where I was just wearing a camo jacket. I didnt really ever post "trophy "pictures. I know if I ever apply to medical school or grad school, I'll have to delete all those types pictures again. It's almost like you're looked down on because you enjoy those activities. Maybe educating more people on the conservation aspect would help.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I guess hunting and fishing doesnt look as great on a school resume. I know this isnt quite what you're talking about but I know for a lot of parents, sports are seen as a way to get their kids into colleges. So maybe they focus on one sport/activity for that very reason. Personally I knew several people in high school that stopped hunting because they were in fall sports trying to get a scholarship. Maybe they pick it back up but you never know. It may not be a significant amount of people that quite because of those reasons but I would assume it all adds up.
I just wish hunting wasnt so demonized in so many circles. When I applied for college, my advisor told me to delete all hunting or fishing related pictures from Facebook, even the ones where I was just wearing a camo jacket. I didnt really ever post "trophy "pictures. I know if I ever apply to medical school or grad school, I'll have to delete all those types pictures again. It's almost like you're looked down on because you enjoy those activities. Maybe educating more people on the conservation aspect would help.

Actually that was exactly what I had in mind, and I think your comment perfectly highlights a huge issue getting youth hunters involved.

 

[1976]

I agree somewhat with the lack of access, but I think a major problem now days is people don't have the time or don't want to make the time. The great information slash an outcome is instant age has completely thrown patience is a virtue and hunting is hunting right out the proverbial window. Whether I am at a barber shop or a banquet I always here the excuse that there is either no deer or birds around, the hunting sucks, everything is posted, and oh yea game and fish screwed the tag system up. And when I ask how many days they went out its 1 day, maybe a weekend where it was a couple half days, didn't see shit, and it sucked. When u tell them its not that bad and the hunting doesn't suck if u get out of the pickup and get to hunting and let the dog work, they just want u to give them your hard earned honey holes.

 

[vanish]

I think there isn't one issue, but all of these issues at the same time.

wllm teased stealth_bowman about it, but I think the concept of "It’s an age of instant gratification that we are living in and hunting is about as far from that as you can get." needs more consideration.

This isn't just with teenagers, but with people of all ages. Think of how easy it is to sit and watch a specific movie or tv show, custom content on youtube, deep dive on reddit or launch a video game. It takes almost no effort. It can also be really cheap.

Contrast this with what it takes to go hunting. When I was a kid, and I'm no boomer by far, from September through December I could get off school, grab my bow and hunt deer right out my back door. Yeah, there are still some places like that, but I wasn't living in the middle of nowhere. Those fields and brush I used to hunt are houses now.

Now, for me to go hunt is an average 3 hour drive just to be in the area. I pretty much have to commit to a whole weekend. If I was just getting into it, that would sure be a pain in the butt. Has been for the three people I've shown the ropes. They just don't want to make that time commitment.

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The above example illustrates access, too. Those places I hunted as a kid are gone. Some of them still exist, but you damn sure can't just walk onto them not knowing what a property line means. Nobody cared when I walked through the middle of the "block" back then. Now its all "No Trespassing" and "Hunting Property for Lease."

Now you need to do a lot of research, planning and investment before you can start even trying to hunt.

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"Although I have read many articles, and anecdotally this fits with my experience, that kids are increasingly having to specialize and spend all there time in one activity instead of being able to sample many"

This isn't just kids either. Society as a whole now values being "obsessed with" a very particular thing over being well rounded. Just take a look at Instagram or Youtube. Nobody cares unless you're #sickforit . You've got to be totally invested in becoming the best at one very specific thing or you aren't taken seriously. I don't feel like I have the right words to describe this, but I definitely see it.

 

[BuzzH]

There is an ikea where my dad went with his dad to hunt pheasants...

I've shot ducks, pheasants, geese, and deer where aisle 10 is now located in the North Reserve Wal-mart in Missoula...

I cant tell you how many hours I spent after school hunting near there from about 6th grade through high school...thousands.

I think that's a huge part of the problem: having decent hunting/fishing/O.R. close to town.

 

[noharleyyet]

Yep... it's weird... sometimes it's the perception that people are missing out on value if they let people hunt, rather than actually making money.

-Hunter "Can I hunt your property?"

-Landowner "$2500"

-Hunter "Hmmm, that's more than I can afford, just out of curiosity how many people hunt your place"

"Oh I haven't been able to get many hunters on, no interest"

-Hunter "Just curious, how did you decide on $2500?"

-Landowner "Because that's what my neighbor Jerry is charging"


.... same landowner to CPW


"YOU GOT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THESE ELK, THEY ARE EATING ME OUT OF HOUSE AND HOME"

Yep, in these parts the difference between 10/acre and 12 is an overheard coffee shop comment.

 

[sharpshooter97]

I think the biggest problem is urbanization, as city's expand a lot of close to town hunting ground either turns into parking lots or is all posted up because too many bad apples don't treat the landowners with any respect. I'm fortunate to live in rural ND where hunting private land can be as easy as a knock on the door or taking a few minutes to help with a quick chore. And you don't need to make a weekend event out of hunting, most people are out bow hunting almost every night after work. At least in small town USA most the kids are still out hunting, fishing and shooting.

 

[Ben Lamb]

There's only one solution big enough to solve this problem.