Very good podcast and thanks Robby and Toby for taking the time to do it. The data concerning the effect of weather on heard populations was definitely interesting as well as hunter numbers and harvest fluctuations over the years. First and foremost; however, what everyone should take away from this is whitetail hunters are hard and mule deer hunters are soft….
I think possibly one of the big perceptions of overcrowding is not actual hunter numbers in the field but difficulty in obtaining a tag. If a tag you used to get OTC now requires points, and tags you used to get for 1-3 points now take 4-5 points, and so on, hunters can express that as overcrowding. Where in reality, as the podcast explained, the number of tags is the same. But, the number of potential hunters applying for those tags has increased. Sorry if this was discussed in the podcast and I missed it. But how hunters express overcrowding can go beyond what the experience in the field. Draw data state to state seems to say more hunters are applying for the same number of tags but I don’t have the data to confirm that.
Also, I like how you touch on reallocation of hunters vs more hunters leads to the perception of overcrowding. More OHV vehicles being used are concentrating in the same hunt locations. Could we also think that technology has had the same effect? Three things that have possibly lead to hunters concentrating in areas are 1. hunter education 2. GPS and cell technology and 3. mapping software.
Hunter education: It used to be something passed down from hunter to hunter, parent to child. Also print and television media and even VCR’s. But that is a drop in the bucket to how many people can be reached by the Internet and all it brings. With rapid advancements in broadband and availability, a person can now go online and learn everything and more they need to get in the field. Experience and skill are still king, and it takes a long time still to build that. But many, many more people with no or little background in hunting can get educated from Internet based resources and services, free and paid for, easily enough to get them started in hunting. Where do these new hunters go? OTC and low point draw units. Is that contributing a concentration in certain areas giving older hunters the perception Hunter numbers have increased? When in reality it has increased in that more specific location. And it isn’t just hunting skills and where to hunt. All the logistics and planning are infinitely more easily researched and setup.
GPS, cell technology, mapping software: These go hand in hand in many ways. My first caribou hunt in 1998 in Alaska was definitely was aided by the obtainability of satellite phones and a Garmin GPS device. We did a 12 day river float trip way out from any civilization. While not novices, we were definitely not very experienced remote hunters. Sat phones allowed us to communicate with our transportation services, get a sever weather warning, be contacted or contact loved ones, and for emergency help if needed. They brought peace of mind and confidence to be out there. The Garmin allowed us to know where we were at all times and mark waypoints of places we wanted to return to. While hunting and from year to year. It greatly simplified and made safer to our ability to hunt in a remote area.
Today you have cell service in lots of areas it would have been unheard of even a few years ago. Every phone now has GPS capabilities to run mapping software, download offline maps, etc. Inreach style devices are a lifeline available to anyone now at not to great cost. If you have battery and a functioning device, you can go pretty much anywhere without getting lost. Not to mention weather reports and instant information are at your finger tips. Don’t know something or need a tutorial? Google it on the spot and get what you need. TBH, this is taken advantage of probably to dangerous levels as people likely know less and less about using a compass and a map. Which is what my dad taught me back in the 80’s. But that was just to get around my local whitetail woods. I was not prepared to venture 3-15 miles on foot into remote backcountry. I can do that now (well, if I was in shape for it).
Of course mapping software takes advantage of the latter and has basically made every contour of every piece of land instantly available to you at you finger tips. This combined with more and easily obtainable hunter education have allowed more hunters to find and concentrate into spots that used to only be know by locals. Hunters who learned from many hours and seasons spent in the field and/or passed down from family. Those hunters now see more and more hunters there every year. That constitutes overcrowding in their book.
I think all of that has reallocated the more or less same number of hunters into more concentrated areas giving the perception of increased hunter numbers. And in a way they are right. That location is seeing more hunters. Hunters are forced to seek out new locations farther away from where most people can go. And/or have to get that much smarter and more crafty about finding game where others are not looking.
Finally, as if anyone is still reading this post at this point, loss of habitat and access I think is a big contributor. More hunters forced into the same shrinking space.
Access: And again I don’t have numbers and I surmise, that loss of private land access over the decades has reallocated many hunters from private to public. Not an increase of overall hunters but taking those same hunters and putting them in a smaller space.
Habitat: I don’t mean just western habitat. There is a trickle down effect of a hunter in eastern states losing access due to habitat loss. Unlike protected land out west, much of what is east of the Mississippi can be sold and bought for commercial and residential development. And I it is happening all the time. Now maybe hunter that lost his spot says I need to travel if I want to continue to hunt. Many of these hunter look west. When I moved to Texas that is exactly what I did. In Tennessee have much more access and can travel close to my home or within my state to hunt. And at a far lower cost. I still plan on hunting out west but it is no longer my only good option to simply hunt . It is for a different experience.
I’m not preaching doom and gloom or blame. I’m just expanding on what I think might be contributing to perceptions, and in ways reality, that are covered in the podcast about overcrowding.