.

[sneaky]

Didn't you get the memo? There are only like 10 hunters left, nobody hunts.

Or........Wyoming Game and Fish Department - More hunters applying in Wyoming than ever before

Gee how could both things be happening.....weird...

Doesn't change anything as far as hunter numbers overall are concerned. Just means that more of them decided to apply in Wyoming, most likely to the detriment of other states. Guess you didn't get that memo...

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[ChrisAU]

I second this. I know I'm never going to stop but it's a big strain on people out east who want to do it because it can be tough financially and vacation wise. I'm lucky that my job is lenient and I get 5 weeks of a year plus I can work extra a few days and so I can get some added days but not everyone is that lucky.

Yeah it is a struggle. I changed jobs left year where I had 19 days of vacation, to one where I now have 10. BUT, at my last job I had to work ALL of October and November 2 out of every 3 years. Only 9 years to go at current employer until I hit 20 days! Ha

 

[rustneversleeps]

Be careful what you ask for....LOL. In texas, its mostly private land and you pay lease fee to hunt on top of the tags. I stopped paying the lease fees when my lease climbed to 2000 per deer season, per hunter in addition to tags! I realize that's not really what you meant, but I mentioned it just to put things in perspective.

I do think what your saying is whats going to happen though. Meaning.....if hunting numbers do climb exponentially, there will be more hunts and locations placed into draw hunts, and less OTC availability. Just my thoughts on which they will head. I think its important to maintain some OTC availability though as well. As much as I like Texas, I absolutely hate the lack of public land hunting availability. Yes there is some, but its not very widespread. And I don't like the concept of paying 2k to sit in deer blinds over feeders waiting for deer to show up. Not ALL texas deer hunting is that way, but a lot of it IS. Id rather pay the Non Res fees to hunt the mtns out of state. But with that said, its already expensive!

I'm not saying reduce public land. I'm saying limit the number of non-resident tags and give preference to residents, who would pay more for the tags.

 

[orionthehunter1]

Doesn't change anything as far as hunter numbers overall are concerned. Just means that more of them decided to apply in Wyoming, most likely to the detriment of other states. Guess you didn't get that memo...

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Idaho, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado all had increased apps as well as Wyoming

 

[Pro953]

Is it just me or does everyone in the over the counter States of Colorado and Idaho feel like they are seeing hundreds of new hunters at the trail heads and back deep because of shows like Born and Raised, Destination Elk, Hush etc Who are inviting everyone to come experience public lands? In a sense aren't public lands as a whole like a honey hole that have now been discovered because of these guys talking them up on YouTube?

I have not seen any of those shows so cannot really speak to that. All of that said. More folks buying guns, gear and tags. I am not sure how that is a bad thing. Plus as many have pointed out many may drop out of the industry which can be a boon for the classifieds section!

We can use more support in the political arena and more folks being active in the hunting industry invested in public lands and supporting organizations that in turn support hunters.

I know everyone wants to have a private experience in the backcountry. But if we want to keep our public lands and hunting rights we need the numbers and support.


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[sneaky]

Idaho, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado all had increased apps as well as Wyoming

Probably all from the same pool of hunters. Hunter numbers ARE on the decline, that's been born out across the nation. What is on the rise is the number of Cam Hanes wannabes who "gotta go deep". With a finite number of access points to public, it doesn't take much for people to think there's a huge increase in hunters because everyone is concentrated to the same jump off points.

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[JWP58]

Idaho, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado all had increased apps as well as Wyoming

Oh come on....its just the same 10 people applying in every state. Actually numbers dont matter.

Overall hunter numbers are down, because the usfw spent a lot of money on a survey. Wonder how many on this site took the survey, surely they didn't miss anyone....

 

[sasquatch]

I feel the percentage of ppl vs those that hunt may be smaller. However I do not think there’s less hunters. The countries population alone has grown a lot in the last 50 years. More ppl more hunters I feel. Now, the percentage is less I do agree, but pure number wise, I don’t think we hunters are becoming extinct


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[orionthehunter1]

bingo the increased of hunters to the increase in people is not proportional so it may look like a decrease in overall population but I would be the numbers are far greater than the 60s and 70s. Although I did hunt three of the previous mentioned states last year so maybe there is only ten of us

 

[sneaky]

I think you should dig up the numbers that are out there. The population has gone up, but the percentage, and actual number, of hunters has decreased. I remember growing up and everyone hunted. Now, when I am back home visiting and talking with people I grew up with none of them or their families hunt anymore. The hunting population is heavily skewed towards being older, and more and more are dropping off the participation rolls every year and the younger generation has very little interest in hunting. If it weren't for fishing license sales our hunting license costs would be ridiculous.

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[cnelk]

Some good reading here about declining hunter numbers - take your pick of the links provided

hunter numbers on decline - Bing

 

[TravisIN]

Man I get it, people don’t like hunting competition, I don’t either. The thing I don’t get is the constant hate on non residents. States manage the wildlife and in every state (that I’m aware of) they favor their residents which they should. Licenses WAY cheaper, more tag allocation, heck in Wyoming I’m pretty sure non residents can’t access wilderness areas without a “guide”. Even though it is federal land that is federally funded. In Colorado in 2012-13 the CPW made 38million in elk and deer license from NR compared to 7.6 million from residents. That’s considering, of the 575k big and small game licenses, only 86000 were to non residents. So there’s WAY less NR hunters and we Pay WAY more in licensing which funds your states management. I haven’t checked every state so I can’t say for sure but I would expect similar findings except in the states with very restricted NR tag allocation.
So recap, way fewer NR hunters that Res hunters. Who foot a big portion of the management bill and pay taxes to support federal lands just like residents but they are constantly hated on.

I’m not trying to start shit or anything I’m just trying to point out that maybe NR aren’t as big of an enemy as they are made out to be. I’m also a little biased bc I’m always gonna be a NR out west and don’t wanna feel like a free loading POS. Haha. I really do understand that NR bring certain frustrations along with them too. I’m new to the elk game and will shoot the first legal bull I can. Which could be irritating to people looking for bigger bulls/bucks that would like to see them grow. I fully get it, I’m surrounded by out of state leasers that’s shoot the first 2 year old they see bc it’s big for back home. I don’t disagree with those frustrations. And I guarantee im making a crap ton of mistakes that could negatively impact an experienced hunter who’s been scouting that area all summer or hunting it for years. But I’m sure there are plenty of residents doing the same things.
I know this is long winded but I just see it a lot and been wanting to say something about it. Hope I didn’t piss anyone off. Just doesn’t seem that these things get talked about much. Only the negatives of NR and wanting to get rid of them.


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[westrnwild]

I live in Colorado the Non Resident capital of hunting.. I dont want to get rid of Non residents, i just want to see better management of animals and id like to see a little more love for us residents. We get more love when it comes to drawing deer tags but not elk. I hunt all over the west and i sometimes go east, but rarely do and its usually cause im visiting a friend. I have to play the NR game in other states and i am fine with it as long as the state offers a good hunt. I have good friends that come from out of state to hunt with me and im fine with them paying more and fine with them having harder odds...its just the way it is or at least should be.. i pay a lot more in taxes towards my state then a non resident elk tag costs... Let along i buy like 6 tags a year and other hunting fishing licenses the avg non resident doesnt, coming in around that Non Res price tag.

Now back to the subject at hand....the BRO crew and Hush and those guys are doing what they love and good for them, granted ive noticed this season of Land of the Free viewership could be down..at least the one or two episodes i watched only a few thousand views, remember seeing alot more views last year. I love the guys for supporting Public lands and for that i cant hate on them. But if your going to hate on them go ahead and hate on Rokslide too why your at it. This Forum gives people a ton of information and confidence to come out west just like those shows do...those shows might spark an interest yet i bet a lot of google searches bring people here. Ive seen a big difference in this forum in the last several years...some good some bad..

 

[elkduds]

Its public land and most of the American public doesn't give a rat's azz about it. Which puts it @ risk of being transferred or sold to private interests. The more voters that use it, the better our odds of keeping it public. I am thrilled by the idea of people getting exposed to public land treasures by trying hunting, even if it is too hard for them. As long as they value and vote to preserve public lands.

 

[N2TRKYS]

There are more folks hunting now than ever before in my area. If anybody knows where there's less hunters and lots of game, send me a pm of this mythical location.

 

[mtnwrunner]

I don't care what the stats say.....there are way more out of state hunters here in Idaho than I've ever seen.

Randy

 

[Bbell12]

I agree that much of this infatuation with bow hunting the backcountry will die down. The BRO guys make it look easy but everyone here knows that it’s a totally different ball game when you’re actually out there. All of the people I know who’ve “caught the bug” of bow hunting the rut ended up quitting that same year because of how hard it was.

That’s just my opinion though...


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[sneaky]

I don't care what the stats say.....there are way more out of state hunters here in Idaho than I've ever seen.

Randy

Last stats I saw from IDFG said NR bought 6% of tags and contributed almost 40% of revenue. That data was a few years old, but the NR tag quota hasn't gone up and residents still buy several thousand of the NR tags as second deer or elk tags. NR may be concentrated in your area, but overall they still make up a very small percentage of hunters in the state.

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[SummitsCalling]

I second this. I know I'm never going to stop but it's a big strain on people out east who want to do it because it can be tough financially and vacation wise. I'm lucky that my job is lenient and I get 5 weeks of a year plus I can work extra a few days and so I can get some added days but not everyone is that lucky.

100% agree. Coming out west with never hunting it probably has very low odds of success, probably even more if you throw bow hunting into the mix. Hunting public land elk somewhere you can't scout is difficult to say the least.

I agree that much of this infatuation with bow hunting the backcountry will die down. The BRO guys make it look easy but everyone here knows that it’s a totally different ball game when you’re actually out there. All of the people I know who’ve “caught the bug” of bow hunting the rut ended up quitting that same year because of how hard it was.

That’s just my opinion though...


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One thing people forget is the BRO guys usually hunt with inside information, it's not pointing on a map randomly and going there to hunt. They also bring half a dozen people to help/hunt. Finding one hunting partner that is dedicated is hard enough, let alone 6 who have inside information to an area.

 

[ElkNut1]

Not taking anything away from them but yes they have inside info! Elk hunting is tough no matter what on OTC hunts!

ElkNut/Paul