Is Western hunting over promoted?

[EJFS]

I go back and forth on this. The promoters would tell you that hunting numbers are down and we need to recruit more hunters. But I have a little selfish voice in my head saying "quit trying to convince every hunter in America to bombard a handful of western states every year to hunt big game!!" I mean all I hear is people talk about over crowding and over pressured big game populations. Then again, I always manage find places of solitude...

I tend to think that as a community we would do better to just keep a low profile and focus on habitat conservation, improvement, and access.

I try to look at it with an abundance mind set that we can expand and improve on what we have, but I have to be honest, I am concerned about the future of wildlife and wild places.

Maybe I'm just getting old. Just thinking out loud here, what do y'all think?

 

[Dcrafton]

I go back and forth on this. The promoters would tell you that hunting numbers are down and we need to recruit more hunters. But I have a little selfish voice in my head saying "quit trying to convince every hunter in America to bombard a handful of western states every year to hunt big game!!" I mean all I hear is people talk about over crowding and over pressured big game populations. Then again, I always manage find places of solitude...

I tend to think that as a community we would do better to just keep a low profile and focus on habitat conservation, improvement, and access.

I try to look at it with an abundance mind set that we can expand and improve on what we have, but I have to be honest, I am concerned about the future of wildlife and wild places.

Maybe I'm just getting old. Just thinking out loud here, what do y'all think?

As an example, I have been fishing a great area for about 16 years now. Up until about 5 years ago I was pretty much the only one there.
Some how when I go now, sometimes I can’t even find a place to park. Plates from California, Florida, Colorado and everywhere in between.
So yes we are creating our own problem by promoting the great western areas.


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[elkduds]

I try to look at it with an abundance mind set that we can expand and improve on what we have, but I have to be honest, I am concerned about the future of wildlife and wild places.

Maybe I'm just getting old. Just thinking out loud here, what do y'all think?

I share your concerns. IMO there will never again be enough hunters to politically protect public lands, without aligning with other user groups.

 

[Nostradamus]

It's the thrill they promise every hunter with luring pictures of amazing animals, that are fairly rare. The compounding factor is that they are not evenly spaced, but clumped in small groups that makes it even harder. I think CO should manage their elk numbers like NM and AZ has. Fewer tags with better payoffs, makes it worth the wait.

 

[5MilesBack]

If I could go back to the 80's with the gear I have today........I would in a heartbeat. Hunting and fishing was great back then with all that solitude. You didn't even have to think about it, no matter where I went, it was pretty much solitude. But we have better widespread trophy quality these days than back then too, so there are trade-offs. But I've just about given up flyfishing the rivers I always used to.......because of the crowds 12 months out of the year these days. Hunting might be next.

 

[AZmark]

Hey! Good question. It is over rated especially in Arizona so stay home so maybe the residents can get a tag.

 

[DavePwns]

IMO, looking at the long term perspective, the more the better. The more money the gov gets for hunting, the more its willing to protect it and its animals. Animals find a way to avoid pressure, so if you can think like an animal and be willing to work hard, you can have incredible hunts. Smart hunters use hunting pressure to their advantage.

 

[justinspicher]

I think it’s the lifestyle as much as hunting or any other recreational endeavor.

 

[mwebs]

Yes. All the drone footage, looking up into Aspen shots, wide panoramas that show endless mountains with seemly no one in them, all with bugles coming from each ridge top... It's nauseating and oversells the product. Fact is it is beautiful out here and there is tons of public land with animals, however it is most certainly not endless and it gets small very quickly with the increased hunter numbers out west. People I know from the midwest watch those videos and think there is no way they will run into other hunters in the vast expanse of the west. They quickly find out that is not true when they get out to an OTC unit. Hunters as a percentage of the population have decreased, however western big game hunting participation and popularity has skyrocketed period and there are some people making a lot of dough off that, helping to ruin the experience.

 

[idahohikker]

Yes western big game is a limited resource as people are starting to see with OTC going away more and more. The fad should revert back more to enjoying the game in your own state and is heading that direction IMO.

The vast majority of hunters won’t and can’t hunt the west on any kind of regular basis. I think it’s awesome that some can but there has to be reasonable limits in place.

The big justification for all the push on western hunting is hunter recruitment but the areas with struggling recruitment aren’t in the west and the problem won’t be solved by a small fraction of eastern hunters heading west. I think the push you see now with romanticizing the west and consumption of the image is due to widespread technology and financial incentives.

 

[ODB]

Yes. And it has become a tragedy of the commons.

 

[prm]

For all the stated need to recruit more hunters, I’m sure finding tags harder and harder to get. I understand the desire to have as many people as possible in the outdoors for the purposes of conservation, but there does need to be a balance of how many people are hunting any given area.

 

[RazzleDazzle]

Technology is helping to fuel it. Even this forum aids to it. Is what it is. When places get overcrowded I go somewhere else. I dont post pictures or talk about my successes publicly but if you do than that's fine. I've always felt that was my part in the whole conundrum the OP has outlined. I've seen social media ruin fisheries and certain public land spots but people have a need to feel accepted. It's not my thing but some people thrive on it. Guides also need to make a living so they promote and recruit as well. The old days are gone so I dont dwell on it I just do what I feel is my part and I adapt. Getting more people into what we do is how we preserve it but it also comes with a cost to what we hold personally valuable. The scary part is the next few generations to come. Who knows what kind of numbers they will be seeing in 50-100 years.

 

[Chipz]

Yes western big game is a limited resource as people are starting to see with OTC going away more and more. The fad should revert back more to enjoying the game in your own state and is heading that direction IMO.

The vast majority of hunters won’t and can’t hunt the west on any kind of regular basis. I think it’s awesome that some can but there has to be reasonable limits in place.

The big justification for all the push on western hunting is hunter recruitment but the areas with struggling recruitment aren’t in the west and the problem won’t be solved by a small fraction of eastern hunters heading west. I think the push you see now with romanticizing the west and consumption of the image is due to widespread technology and financial incentives.

So tell me, if you lived in a non western state that only had deer available to hunt (that youve hunted for 10-15-20 years), you would be perfectly fine with other people telling you to enjoy what you have and to stay out?

 

[idahohikker]

So tell me, if you lived in a non western state that only had deer available to hunt (that youve hunted for 10-15-20 years), you would be perfectly fine with other people telling you to enjoy what you have and to stay out?

I’d move. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that and OTC and low point options will remain available for nonresidents. I think that most OTC will go away but rotating through western states a committed guy should be able to get a tag somewhere. I don’t see demand getting to the point that it’s a long draw wait in every state. We’ll see.

 

[cmahoney]

Good argument for draw tags. I’m happy to live in a state that doesn’t have OTC tags. It’s worth it to me to wait a few years for a way better quality hunt where I don’t have to deal with crowds.


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[Gatorgrizz27]

The “problem” has several sides. One is the social media, YouTube, Instagram, etc stuff trying to make a living off it, so they promote it like it’s their job, which it is. I’m not necessarily blaming the people who put out helpful information like Newberg, Jacobson, Rinella, etc, but it’s nauseating how many guys are pushing it these days.

Compounding that is the “go deeper, be fitter” mentality, which I fall into in some ways due to preferring backpack hunting and I do train for hunts. I have wondered what impacts this will have in the long term as elk have fewer places to escape pressure.

Finally, a lot of the local guys and old timers aren’t paying their fair share of the $, if they want fewer outsiders. A CO non-res bull elk tag costs $670, in addition to the ~ $100 cost to apply (small game, habitat stamp, etc). A resident tag is $46. We all know if they made resident tags even $100, you’d never hear the end of it.

The 4 of us that went 2 years ago contributed over $2,500 to Colorado’s funds for 5 day’s of hunting that resulted in one elk harvested. Four locals hunting all season would result in $200 of funding and probably take 2-3 elk, if were talking average hunters.

I don’t really agree with the “pay to play/deep pockets” models as that’s how everything is done in Texas and I find it unfortunate. However, you can’t discount that $ coming into your state unless you do something to replace it.

I do think guys back east take for granted the how much ability they have to hunt as long as they have public or private land access, even if it is primarily whitetail. Our season runs from September through February and we can take 5 deer, with no tags, drawings, etc. It used to be 2 per day for the entire season, but changed last year. We do have several quota areas I usually apply for but it’s more or less a bonus if you draw one, and a lot of the time I return them.

It’s completely foreign to me that if you strike out on a drawing you just don’t get to hunt that year.

 

[silasbowhunter]

I just feel like the states need to manage non residents a little harder. I’m biased because here in Nebraska it’s all OTC first come first serve and only a little more expensive to a non res. A state resident shouldn’t sacrifice a season to nonresidents in my opinion.


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[Trial153]

Yes

 

[Whisky]

Yes