Is hunting still THAT FUN anymore?

[camping1601]

It's a tough question to answer after 37 years of hunting. I grew up being able to shoot critters off my back porch and now I can't even shoot my bow at home. A properties I've hunted for 30 years has been shrunk by development over those years make them less fun for me.

One of my newer passion has been taking the truck camper to the public land mountains to hunt, but that just got a hole lot harder with new camping restrictions.

I see my self in 10 years still hunting, but doing more pay to play stuff.

I hate to say this, but there's selfish side of me that wants another real estate crash so I can buy my own piece of ground.

 

[manitou1]

Never saw a rig on last years WY Elk hunt. Nobody around for the latter part of my OR Elk hunt this year. Saw 2 rigs in 5 days on my WY Deer hunt that just ended. If you're not having fun maybe it's the areas your hunting.

True, but when you don't get drawn then one is forced to hunt general, which is akin to Wal Mart on Black Firday, lol.

 

[JBrown1]

I think that we tend to forget, that while hunting opportunities have shrunk and the number of people hunting has increased, in some ways access had become easier.

Take western hunting for example: in the 1970s my dad and uncles would drive 1,000 miles to hunt in Colorado. They were often driving vehicles such as a 1962 chevy truck(2wd), a late 60s Bronco, and a 1950s Willys jeep(top speed of 55 MPH and little weather protection. You can bet they took along a lot of tools to fix the frequent breakdowns. They had to be self reliant because they were truly on their own.(no cell phones, inreach or roadside assistance).

That jeep would be akin to driving a your side by side 1,000 miles to hunt. And a 2wd chevy would basically limit you to the easier access roads.

Not to mention, the learning curve was steep: the only way to learn to hunt out of state, was to humble yourself and ask someone who had been there, or take a couple of giant leaps and do it on your own

Now days it is nothing to drive 2,500 miles in a climate controlled 4wd truck or SUV that rides like a Cadillac knowing that you are unlikely to have a break down, and if you do, help is only a cell phone(or Inreach) call away.

I guess my point is: hunting during the "golden years" was only "easy and fun" for the guys who were nutty enough to take the risks and put in the work. Which is not much different than it is today.

Do draws suck? Yes, they do. But the reason that those draws are required is because the bar to access have been set so low that you now have competition for those hunts.

My advice: try to focus on the good, instead of focusing on the negative. That is what I am constantly. reminding myself.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

It’s like other things in life that you “get used to.” If you ain’t having fun doing it, you’re doing it wrong.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

Yes but i hant 80% on my own 75 acres and meat is my priority.If a decent buck is spotted every 3/4 years thats a bonus.
If i didnt eat it 3-5 times a week than no.

 

[cnelk]

Public land is crowded. I get that. And I can deal with it and still have fun.

What doesn’t make it fun is when some yahoo comes walking through the woods 15 mins before shooting time and he still has his headlamp on.

C’mon man. Have some woodsmanship.

He came within 100yds of me and I yelled at him “Shut your light off!”

Stoopid people don’t make it fun

 

[30338]

I periodically get bored with rifle hunting. So started hunting with a bow again and also hunt with traditional blackpowder these days. Its fun again. I'll pick up a rifle again for some bear hunting next year.

 

[Pacific_Fork]

Public land is crowded. I get that. And I can deal with it and still have fun.

What doesn’t make it fun is when some yahoo comes walking through the woods 15 mins before shooting time and he still has his headlamp on.

C’mon man. Have some woodsmanship.

He came within 100yds of me and I yelled at him “Shut your light off!”

Stoopid people don’t make it fun

You and me both! The LED headlamps first thing in the morning are a real head scratcher. Use your damn red light people, at the most.

This year on opening weekend for deer I had guys shooting 100s of rounds of ammo (this is not an exageration, I lost count after 50) through rifles/pistols in this drainage 3 miles in like they just got bored. i guess they packed in dozens of boxes of ammo? I never wanted to kill a man more that day...I really dont get how dumb and inconsiderate some "hunters" are.

 

[jmez]

Yes, still that fun. Looks like it may get even better after all the " woe is me" quit!

Sent from my moto g power (2021) using Tapatalk

 

[5MilesBack]

My advice: try to focus on the good, instead of focusing on the negative.

Ya, but if you focus on the good........then there's nothing to change or fix. Focus on the negatives, and then there's always something to fix. The way my mind works is "all this good stuff.......it's good.......it's working, no need to focus on any of that when there's stuff that needs fixing".

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

Just how much has hunting increased in the past 17 years?

Number of hunting licenses and permits in the U.S. 2024 | Statista

Hunting is generally regulated on a state-by-state basis in the United States.

www.statista.com

How Many Hunters Are There, Really? | Hunting Retailer

How many hunters are there in the U.S. today, really? Are there more people hunting today than, say, 20 years ago? Which states have the most licensed hunters?…

www.huntingretailer.com

 

[manitou1]

Yes, but the # of hunters going West has increased substantially., thanks to Western states' sales of NR licenses.

 

[NABG Hunter]

Never saw a rig on last years WY Elk hunt. Nobody around for the latter part of my OR Elk hunt this year. Saw 2 rigs in 5 days on my WY Deer hunt that just ended. If you're not having fun maybe it's the areas your hunting.

Nice! What unit did you draw in WY for Elk?

 

[stanginthe11s]

Nice! What unit did you draw in WY for Elk?

yeah let us know so we can all come there next year. lol

 

[NABG Hunter]

yeah let us know so we can all come there next year. lol

I strongly suspect that if he didn't see any other rigs there...that it is a "very limited" entry unit. Which means that "most" hunters won't be able to hunt there. And, he won't be hunting there in the near futre either, or maybe never. Right?

So what's the harm in asking?

 

[camping1601]

It would seem hunter numbers would have to decline over time atleast at the rate of habitat loss. Much of the land I've hunted now has house on it. It's not just the lot size but the safety zone around it.

 

[MallardSX2]

I'm still waiting for others to lose interest. Instead, they are losing places to hunt and competing with me for the places I currently hunt. lol So no, it's not as much fun as it used to be, but I remain optimistic of what will happen in 10 years. I foresee things staying status quo.

 

[Danny Hoey]

I want my own piece of property. I don't want to take my kids hunting and have to worry about the pumpkin army. 25 years ago when I started hunting with my dad, we didn't have to worry too much. If there was a rig in a spot, we kept going and could find space. Last few years that hasn't been the case. I honestly don't know where I will take them when they get old enough. They won't be able to go where I go elk hunting. I don't want to take them deer hunting around 20 other people in the woods. I want them to experience the solitude of the woods. The sheer silence that you can experience until you hear that twig break, or grouse explode under your feet. I don't think Washington is that place anymore.

I have fun in Idaho elk hunting. Deer hunting in Washington isn't fun anymore. Bird hunting in Washington isn't that fun anymore. In fact, I probably have more fun in Washington picking huckleberries, elderberries and mushrooms than I do hunting.

 

[AKBC]

I think as we go through life our interests change. If we don't like running anymore we blame a knee injury. If we don't like hunting we blame competition or lack of access or game.

 

[whoami-72]

You mentioned states that are being heavily flooded with new people and new money. I often complain in the same way. In some units of both states there has been a 3-4x increase in hunters since 2018. Two things to consider:

1. you can always buy private lands and secure your own hunting areas. I understand it’s not feasible for most but it’s possible.

2. There is a lot of new money rolling into hunting and in the long run most of the middle and lower class can’t afford hunting especially at this level. If we hit another major recession, there will a be thousands if not tens of thousands who “just don’t have the time this year” or “can’t take the time off work”. It’s gonna take a while but only the dedicated will be left or extremely poor will be left.