Hunting: “a dying sport”?

[CorbLand]

So what you’re saying is I’ll be 135 years old before I draw a Utah moose tag?

Unless you get lucky in the random side of it, probably closer to 140.

Guy I work with finally drew one. Max points and he had been putting in for 14 years before they did a point system. So what 41 years to get a tag?

Good luck, at least moose populations are increasing. I chose sheep...

 

[zion zig zag]

Unless you get lucky in the random side of it, probably closer to 140.

Guy I work with finally drew one. Max points and he had been putting in for 14 years before they did a point system. So what 41 years to get a tag?

Good luck, at least moose populations are increasing. I chose sheep...

I was at the range last year in the late summer and there was a 75+ year old lady sighting in a big ole rifle next to me. I starting chatting with her and she tells me “I finally drew the bull moose tag. I don’t even care about hunting anymore but I’m going to get one on principle!” Cracked me up.

 

[SEIdaho Hunter]

I know a lot of people in Idaho that only hunt when they draw a controlled hunt which drives the applicant numbers higher but doesn't translate into more hunters during the general season. Also, people put themselves in for hunts as well as their spouse, kids, dogs, cats, and elderly neighbor.

 

[CorbLand]

I was at the range last year in the late summer and there was a 75+ year old lady sighting in a big ole rifle next to me. I starting chatting with her and she tells me “I finally drew the bull moose tag. I don’t even care about hunting anymore but I’m going to get one on principle!” Cracked me up.

This guy is early sixties. Has three kids and one is getting married and moving out of state this summer and the other is leaving on a mission. He told me his first concern was "who is going to help me get it out?"

 

[2buffalo]

Actually its possible to do and be legal

Agreed. I have been brought on hunts by customers and brought customers on hunts. Completely legal.

 

[zion zig zag]

This guy is early sixties. Has three kids and one is getting married and moving out of state this summer and the other is leaving on a mission. He told me his first concern was "who is going to help me get it out?"

Ha! Tell him to give me a call.

 

[NorthIDHunter]

I am working hard towards getting back out and into the woods more. We moved to a part of the state that provides more nearby access. Also my kids are a bit older and have expressed interest now so really no reason to not.

The argument about kids preferring to play video games over being active outside drives me crazy. Everyone understands why that is right? In my opinion its the parents, I have been very strict about video games in our home, the first defense was not agreeing to buy a gaming console or at least not a Playstation or Xbox. We did buy a Nintendo Switch but I found its not exciting enough to cause an addiction to it. Also we are a fairly outside active family. We also don't really allow a ton of running and being crazy in our house, so they get shipped outside often. Also my younger kids have an older brother who tends to prefer to meet his friends at the local YMCA type place or local park to play basketball or throw a football, so he seems to have a positive impact on his younger siblings. I don't play video games either, there is some research out there that shows that kids with parents who actively or regularly play video games tend to play far more than their friends who's parents don't, makes perfect sense though and seems pretty obvious to me.

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

If hunting is a sport, this is an athlete.

 

[WRM]

I think much of it will shift to the Meta world for many younger folks as access and herd quality decline. For many it is about the hero shot, this would cover it all it would seem.

As ridiculous as this sounds when you first read it...it may be right.

The first person to open a "hunting ranch" in the metaverse just may make a killing, without killing a single animal! Or, you raise some herd so you can harvest an animal to send some meat to someone as a token for their meta kill. Or, I suppose the animal or meat could just be represented by a NFT. Get your favorite NFT recipe ready now!!

What a world!

 

[WRM]

If hunting is a sport, this is an athlete.

Love to see the video of that "stalk". Assume she is holding his cane.

 

[Dirtbag]

If hunting is a sport, this is an athlete.

you may not like it but this is what peak performance looks like.

 

[WRM]

My experience in other sports is that certain disciplines cycle through their participation popularity over time.

Wish the timeframe here was the same as the Peloton cycle.

 

[CorbLand]

Ha! Tell him to give me a call.

Two guys we work with have horses and I told him to let me know. I think he will have all the help he needs when the time comes.

 

[Macintosh]

Post #2 nailed it. I've had lengthy conversations with a guy at our state fish and wildlife dept who does the statistics for them, I contacted him because our state was creating economic incentives to drive the outdoor recreation industry in a way that was (and still is) actively harming our ability to access places to hunt and fish, and I wanted some stats to back up some letters I wrote to our legislature. Basically, at least in Vermont, total hunter numbers are declining. However, it depends on how you count it. If you count # of individuals who hold a license, it's declining. If you count the number of specific tags (i.e. general hunting license which for us includes a whitetail buck tag, a bear tag, and small game; versus a muzzleloader tag versus an archery tag, a turkey tag, etc) then the numbers are not declining, and thus the revenue from license sales is pretty stable. If you count total hunter days, it's also not declining. Based on this fact and on polling they have done, they are fairly confident in saying that while overall hunter numbers have declined, that the % of ACTIVE hunters (i.e. those who will be out all season, take time from work to hunt, hunt multiple seasons, etc) is increased. I also see a higher % of my friends talking about traveling to hunt, even if it's a neighboring state--with the popularity and accessibility of the Hunting Public, Meateater, Randy Newburgh and every Bruce and Sheila out there being an "influencer", this comes as no surprise to me.
A few takeaways from my convo's with him:
1) fewer people that are in the woods more frequently can manifest as an increase in people in the woods on any given day--it's entirely possible that if people are hunting differently that it CAN be more crowded even if fewer people are hunting.
2) in my state, almost 14% of the population holds a hunting license, almost 3 times the national average. Even though our total hunter numbers are declining, that's still on par with the most popular outdoor activities such as fishing, hiking, bike riding, running, etc. If your state is similar dont let anyone shaft wildlife or hunters in favor of other activities because someone says it's a "dying sport". It will be if people keep killing it by developing other infrastructure (example, dense networks of dog-walking and mountain bike trails on WMA's paid for by pittman robertson funding, etc) on the public land where people can hunt locally. #1 reason I have seen cited for decline in participation is lack of a quality local place to go, #2 being not enough time to drive there (...because the local place is no good/not available, etc). Bottom line, by my read of the research lack of local access is a big factor driving the decline.
3). key-point-- the overall population demographics are driving much of this. With baby boomers aging out of hunting, there are simply fewer people to replace them. As a % of the population hunters may be smaller, but we also have a larger population, so the guy I spoke with said that if you look at the % of the population who hunt in specific age-brackets it hasnt changed all that much, we just had a huge bubble of hunters casued by a population boom through the 1960's and 1970's that has been tapering off since then. To a large degree the overall decline in hunter numbers says as much about our population as it does about participation in hunting. Thats not to say there are no issues, but if you account for the baby boom population it makes the decline much less dramatic.
4) I live in the east and there's lots of public around me. Not near as much as if I lived in any of the rocky mtn or western states, but I am perfectly happy hunting within 2 hours of my house, and I can literally walk out my back door and hunt whitetails. Tons of people will tell you that Vermont is a terrible state to hunt. Puny deer (true for the most part) lots of hunters (true as a % of the population) terrible weather and harsh winters and hardly any ag so very low deer numbers, etc compared to the states people will say are good hunting. All true, but between bird hunting, deer hunting, rabbit hunting I get to hunt every year from Sept 24 through March 31 on an OTC license, and then I have an OTC archery tg that is good for oct 1-mid december, I can apply for a muzzleloader doe tag that has very good draw odds, and I get a buck tag and a bear tag as part of my general license. All that plus my fishing license for sub $100. I get that a special place has a different experience and that's why I like to travel to hunt, but I feel like maybe the emphasis gets put ot he wrong stuff sometimes. I feel pretty fortunate to live in a state with such a reputation for "crappy hunting".

 

[CorbLand]

If you have a town of 100 people and 50 of them hunt. 50% of the town hunts. If 50 more people move in, and 10 of them hunt. 40% of that town hunts but they saw a 20% increase to the number of hunters in that town.

Decreasing vs increasing is going to be based on what metric you use.

 

[RyanT26]

If hunting is a sport, this is an athlete.

It’s good to see Fat bastard had a successful life after the Austin Powers series.

 

[ammonnhonduras]

I worry that my kids (2yr and 1yr old) will not have the opportunities to hunt that Ive had in my life. All the places I hunted while in my teenage years are now neighborhoods. Its ever increasing in price to buy gear to hunt. I can only hope they have the drive to head west, cause the southeast is getting too difficult to hunt easily.

 

[jbmuley]

Well whatever it’s worth to this forum this will be my first year to hunt elk in Colorado (I did try a few years ago but it didn’t work out) but I e deer hunted hard for 10 years or so and hunted even before that, we are planning on hiking out and staying out in the wild/forest but a lot of people I asked to go with me and a friend wouldn’t go

Probably money and time hinders

 

[HornPorn]

If you have a town of 100 people and 50 of them hunt. 50% of the town hunts. If 50 more people move in, and 10 of them hunt. 40% of that town hunts but they saw a 20% increase to the number of hunters in that town.

Decreasing vs increasing is going to be based on what metric you use.

Bingo, metrics can be spun to support any agenda or side to an argument

 

[Dos Perros]

https://ksoutdoors.com/content/download/54980/600092/version/1/file/HarvestReport2020_2021.pdf

Kansas resident deer tag sales (there are some limited entry but mostly OTC) are down 25% from the high 2014.

If you read the hunter survey comments many residents note they are losing places to hunt. People dying, farms getting sold, leased by outfitters, etc.