Hunter Numbers and Health

[BigE]

The advances in gear and tech have expanded the potential pool of hunters in my opinion. Rifle accuracy and weight isn't the same as 40 years ago, scope tech has advanced, ballistics calculators, gear is lighter and more advanced, etc. Bows of today and all the associated gear has major improvements over traditional. Game cameras with cellular capability, gps mapping tools, weather stations. emergency devices, etc.

That doesn't begin the conversation around access - more planes, helos, atv's, utv's and e-bikes that allow people to get in deeper easier than ever before. Horses and mules have been around the hunting scene since humans started riding, but llamas in the US?

Understanding that the human component may not be as physically fit as generations before, but we've made up for it with other advancements. Imagine a few years down the road hunters will have powered exoskeletons to get from the couch to their honey hole.

 

[Whaledriver]

I agree that the western hunting will decline over the next years. Society today is being engineered for comfort. Not to mention instant gratification. People want things Amazon Prime fast. Neither of that happens on an OTC hunt. You might hunt 4 years before even having an opportunity. Meanwhile you will be cold and wet. Physical fitness is a big part of it. After 40 it gets harder to stay fit and avoid injury. If an injury happens, recovery can take a while. It may limit how far you go after recovery. I think blind hunting (shooting really) will always be a thing. Mainly because comfort can be maintained. The physical aspect is not a factor.

 

[Touchdown88]

I think the numbers will start to die off in the next 2-3 years. Inflation is hitting the middle class hard and coupled with the increase in non-resident tag prices, number cannot stay where they are at.

Some of the adult-onset hunters I work with are already starting to waiver. Most of them have gone 3-4 years without success and it's killing their ambition.

 

[def90]

The total number of hunters has declined every year for at least 20 years. It's not going to increase all the sudden. Most kids don't want to be uncomfortable. Hunting is uncomfortable unless you're sitting in a heated box blind over a corn feeder, and that's not hunting.

You know that only 4.7% of the US population are hunters right? Those lazy kids aren't hunting already.

I don't see the numbers of western/big game hunters changing any time soon. If there truely is a decline in hunters I would be willing to bet that the decline is happening with small game hunters and further east where there is much more development and opportunity has decreased.

 

[Yoder]

I live in PA. Our state has actully added public lands. Just in my area they purchased about 1k acres that used to be private or Boy Scout property. When I was a kid you would see trucks everywhere during rifle season. Now, opening day has maybe half the hunters and it drops off from there. The last five years archery hunting I have run into one hunter in tthe woods. It has nothing to do with loss of opportunity. Our seasons are longer and more tags are available. Less people are hunting. I think most of the people who buy a license are older and hardly hunt at all. I know numbers in Western states have jumped dramatically but total number of hunters is down. I think you will see it drop off again in the next 10 years.

 

[HuntQuietly]

Mark my words.

Big game hunting, in my lifetime (assuming I live to a ripe old age)- will run a similar course as fishing and upland hunting has in many western states.

We will have state agency funded big game “hatcheries” that churn out critters that are let loose sometime in August onto whatever public land remains. Each with a barcoded ear tag or rfid chip. Tags are limited but they let a LOT of them out so people don’t bitch too much.

It starts as a result of some kind of illness that causes people to cry “do something!!” Just like they did with the fishing. CWD and Blue Tongue are prime candidates and at least a couple states are already starting to hear the cash register ring. Are you paying attention yet?

Once it starts, and people find that road hunting and window shooting these tame
Critters is big fun and tastes great - it will pick up speed amid more calls to “do something!!” about the lack of opportunities to find native big game. Habitat becomes even less
Important since these critters are really only on the landscape for a few months until they are killed. Discounted tags offered in January to clean up any lucky enough to survive the season.

Then about ten years or so after it really picks up speed- I’ll be long gone by this point- there will be this revelation that a couple of the hatchery deer and elk have cross bred with the native critters and that’s bad.

So, we will have a period of the next 20 years with the state agencies expanding their budgets even more, hiring more people and collecting more money through invasive big game stickers and atv check stations to ensure no cross-bred critters are transported with fee revenue all pouring money in to stop the spread of the invasive cross-bred “IdaMont hybrid mule deer” all the while the big game hatcheries keep cranking out the big game food stamp fodder.

Think I’m wrong? Look at the fish hatchery program history of every single western state and then go to a reservoir where they plant gullible pasty white rainbow trout on the day they put them in.

Then, next month go to ANY state wildlife management area where they plant pheasants in the morning only to watch tools show up to slaughter the nearly flightless birds until they are gone. If the agencies even HINT at the prospect of stopping the practice- the “sportsmen” revolt and demand they continue!!!

Then tell me with a straight face it can’t happen.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

I’m dam sure hope,maybe a blue coller worker will be able to get back in the game.I’m 47 and plan to semi retire in 5-6 years.I would love to spend 3-4 months a year chasing critters but as it stands that will be for does and cows.I’m actually ok with that but some bucks,bulls and especially goats would be a dream.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

On a side note,it seems a lot of hunts are starting at 10000 and going to 6 figures.If theres signs i slowing down i dont see it.Who can afford that unless your a doc,lawyer etc.Look at what people pay for vehicles.It’s seems like it’s a sign of prestige now days to be big game hunter,or drive the raptor to deer camp towing your 50000 sxs.

 

[Billinsd]

There was a HUGE baby boom after the end of WW2 until 1964. The youngest Boomers are 60 like me. A big reason for the drop in hunters is that most Boomers have aged out of hunting. There are a lot more people in the country now than when I was born, but most are foreigners who don’t hunt or they poach, because it’s not frowned upon in their culture. There could be more poachers than hunters in California, wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

 

[Billinsd]

On a side note,it seems a lot of hunts are starting at 10000 and going to 6 figures.If theres signs i slowing down i dont see it.Who can afford that unless your a doc,lawyer etc.Look at what people pay for vehicles.It’s seems like it’s a sign of prestige now days to be big game hunter,or drive the raptor to deer camp towing your 50000 sxs.

Whoa!!! I think you forgot your decimals!!! You know you don’t have to drive a raptor and you don’t have to have a SXS. I see most guided hunts under $10k. The non resident tags are expensive, but they were expensive in the 70s. Traveling has gotten very expensive. Forget about the Glamour Boy Hunters. I ain’t no glamour boy. Bill

 

[Swamp Fox]

Yeah, but if we can just get more women and latch-key kids to go to a hunting seminar, and if more dads help their 7-year-olds to put the crosshairs on more P&Ys before they've ever hunted a squirrel, everything will work out alright ...

 

[amassi]

The hunting industry will continue to prop itself up now that every facet has been monitized and made popular through social media. I think western hunts will actually get more crowded as eastern family farms are gobbled up those easterners will turn left and head for open pasture. Coupled with predator introduction, loss of habitat and especially wintering grounds will leave more hunters aiming at less game.
The Colorado model is unsustainable but may become attract to states that continually have these hard winter die offs. Game and fish don’t care about success rates if hunters are happy with opportunity.


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[Deadfall]

I don’t know if I’d call fitness a barrier for getting a tag. I see a lot of fat people decked in camo cruising the dirt roads where I hunt. To me it seems the vast majority of hunters never get more than a half mile from their truck\side by side.

But I do agree that a significant chunk of hunters are older and will age out of it.

Amen to that

 

[1jeds]

The total number of hunters has declined every year for at least 20 years. It's not going to increase all the sudden. Most kids don't want to be uncomfortable. Hunting is uncomfortable unless you're sitting in a heated box blind over a corn feeder, and that's not hunting.

Where are you getting this data? This thread has been anecdotal so far, but here is the actual data for the last 55 years from the US Fish & Wildlife Service:

Dashboard

Dashboard

us-east-1.quicksight.aws.amazon.com

The absolute number of licenses has steadily increased over the last 10 years, but has remained stable overall (same number of licenses solid in 2023 as 1971). What has changed is the relative number of hunters to the overall population, which grew significantly over that same time period.

 

[Idaboy]

So many discussions about tag numbers, non-residents, etc. so want to switch up the discussion. Do you think we are reaching a peak in the numbers of Western hunters? Covid definitely had an affect, so has social media, but obesity numbers have tripled in the last 50 years and as a whole we are not as fit of a population as we once were. Also, we are becoming a much more technology driven society: more jobs are desk jobs, more indoor entertainment available, etc.

Current statistics are that the percentage of hunters starts to decline after age 65 -- with a large percentage of current hunters being 55-65. Do you think this will remain true for our current generations who are not as fit as a whole? Or do you think they will start to "age out" of western style hunting sooner due to their fitness. Will the new number be 50-55? Combine that with lower hunter recruitment numbers in children, and I honestly see there being a significant drop in western hunting applications in the next 10-20 years.

What do you guys think?

(And this is not an attack on anyone, just a discussion. I find myself in the desk job category with several extra pounds I'm fighting myself -- so I take this as a kick in the butt personally to ensure I outlast the statistics.)

Interesting question....and agree with some of the points/ideas raised....But, where are we getting the data that hunter numbers are down? In the 2 states I hunt big game in, I have not observed a drop in tag numbers sold in past decade. Also would like to see breakdown of small game, bird/waterfowl vs big game. Is it that US population growing and the actual percentage of hunters decreased? Or is growth of urban areas, lack of access and lack of habitat. Maintain or expand access and habitat and we can preserve hunting I think. When I look at waterfowl numbers where I used to hunt it's atrocious, so are there less hunters because there is less game?

Hunter numbers dwindling across the US, not in the West

Number of hunters increasing year by year

www.gohunt.com

 

[Yoder]

Where are you getting this data? This thread has been anecdotal so far, but here is the actual data for the last 55 years from the US Fish & Wildlife Service:

Dashboard

Dashboard

us-east-1.quicksight.aws.amazon.com

The absolute number of licenses has steadily increased over the last 10 years, but has remained stable overall (same number of licenses solid in 2023 as 1971). What has changed is the relative number of hunters to the overall population, which grew significantly over that same time period.

I just Googled hunter numbers by year. Every article said they are down. Total number, not % of population. I don't care enough to check by state. I know for a fact PA is down every year for at least 20 years.

 

[mt terry d]

I'd be curious to see kill numbers vs hunter numbers compared over the years.

This is my opinion, I have no figures to back it up, but I think some states will sell as many tags as they can regardless of the number of game animals or the makeup of the herd.

I find it appalling that with the millions of dollars spent on game studies and "management" that these aren't the the true golden years of hunting. As with the wolf scam, it's my belief that in many states money and politics trumps true healthy game management. I know for a fact that there have been "studies" done where the results were predetermined and conflicted with the actual study results.

 

[MallardSX2]

People will lose interest soon enough.

Seen a guy riding around in his sxs and I asked him what he was hunting and he said “archery elk” . He was 60 years old, 5-5 and 250#. he was a super nice guy and he had spirit but I guarantee he didn’t fill his tag. Saw lots more just like him during my hunt. I told my wife that once those guys age out it’s goi g to hopefully get easier to draw tags. Seems like that age class gobbles up a lot of the tags.

No offense to anyone in that age class either. I hope I just make it to that age.

 

[Bluefish]

I expect numbers will continue to drop as culture has changed to be less hunting focused. For western tags, I think pent up demand will keep tag numbers up for a while. Won’t take too long before those numbers start dropping as well.

 

[MuleyFever]

I don't think license sales is equal to the number of individual hunters. Way more common to have multiple licenses now. Many states require one just to apply.

I have a big game license in 5 states this year and only 1 tag.