I can only speak for myself, but I am not losing touch the huntings roots. I like to consider myself a skilled knowledgeable hunter, and I have no doubt that a few here that know me, and those that have hunted with me would attest to. I say that because like many here, I started hunting as a child, small game, and moved up to big game. I grew up, like many here, in a lower middle class family. So when I started hunting, it was with what I already had, not hunting clothing. And like many that grew-up like me, I harvested a whole lot of animals in regular clothes.
Well I grew up, managed to get a formal college education later in life and proceeded to complete a graduate education and am currently employed with an inner city school district. THe school district I work for pays the lowest in the area but I actually love working where I work; I could moved districts and make up to 50 grand more a year, literally. But that is beside the point. My point here is I make a comfortable wage that allows me to purchase some of the what is considered top tier gear, and I do because it just performs way better that lesser gear (the lesser gear still gets the job done). But at 58 you really notice the difference in comfort level, and or performance level. Okay, you notice it well before hitting 58.
But really, where does the drive for wanting the best come from if you do not yet know the difference. Well guess what, I have a couple theories on that like other replying here. I think there are primarily 3 types purchasing top tier gear. One I already mentioned, those like me. the 2nd is those new hunters that have yet to develop the knowledge skills and abilities to consistently be successful. As such, they have an unquenched desire for more consistent success, or perhaps their first success. So many in this group will fall prey to the hype (the hype may be legitimate in at least some cases) . Then there is the last group, and I am sure many here have recognized them. It is those that most of us would consider above middle class and having the discretionary funds to just purchase the best, either all at once, or at a rate to most of us to be considered all at once. Some old enough call this keeping up with the Joneses. Or perhaps it is setting the bar, an awfully high bar.
Moving on to commenting on some of the comments. Hunter numbers are not going down at the national level. They however have been on a decline per percentage of population in most of the nation. So in short, the numbers of hunters has gone up over the years, just not at the population growth rate. There are however some exceptions to this.
I will stop there. But keep in mind, artistic license was exercised in the writing of this post. So please do not take anything I wrote as an authoritative opinion.
