Young/New Hunters, are you concerned about the future of hunting?

[ProStaffSteve]

In some ways this already happened, perhaps unwittingly. Can’t tell you how many places I fished as a kid and caught few if any fish—they just weren’t there. “This place used to be really good”

Meanwhile get back to the cabin and there are countless pictures of entire kitchen counters covered in limits of fish (or more) from those exact same spots from a decade or two prior.

I’m sure others can relate to this scenario in both hunting and fishing.

Seems like you need to get better at fishing

 

[ProStaffSteve]

I think hunting is a dying sport. Once all the baby boomers are too old to hunt you will see a big dip in license sales. I just looked it up, average age of a hunter is over 40. A lot of "men" in their 20's are either doughy gamers or soy boy wanna be men. I think all of you young hunters will have the greatest hunting opportunities possibly ever.

I’m a gamer. I have several groups of friends that game. What separates me from them is a buddy with farm land, while growing up. People would be stoked to go shoot deer, yes some are more inclined than others, but everyone thinks it’s cool. Even my CA coworkers think my deer are cool & talk about how sweat it would be to fill a freezer with natural meat. But they don’t know how to go about any of it, and how could they. Being a first in your family hunting rifle/shotgun owner is probably more rare than first gen college grads. Access and opportunity, seconding corporate greed turning outdoor rec areas into whatever they feel is most profitable.

 

[Diced]

I think hunting is a dying sport. Once all the baby boomers are too old to hunt you will see a big dip in license sales. I just looked it up, average age of a hunter is over 40. A lot of "men" in their 20's are either doughy gamers or soy boy wanna be men. I think all of you young hunters will have the greatest hunting opportunities possibly ever.

I think you're spot on.

Last year we elk hunted with a guy who's a wildlife biologist. This is basically what he was saying. His take on things was very different than alot of what you read on these forums.

 

[Yoder]

I’m a gamer. I have several groups of friends that game. What separates me from them is a buddy with farm land, while growing up. People would be stoked to go shoot deer, yes some are more inclined than others, but everyone thinks it’s cool. Even my CA coworkers think my deer are cool & talk about how sweat it would be to fill a freezer with natural meat. But they don’t know how to go about any of it, and how could they. Being a first in your family hunting rifle/shotgun owner is probably more rare than first gen college grads. Access and opportunity, seconding corporate greed turning outdoor rec areas into whatever they feel is most profitable.

I have a lot of respect for first generation hunters. It's pretty intimidating to start hunting on your own even if you have a mentor. There are a lot of skills you need to have to start.

I wasn't trying to trash gamer's but my step son is into it really heavy. He has the muscle tone of a veal calf. I couldn't even imagine him trying to gut a deer, walk far or sit in the cold. He might hunt if he could shoot one from inside the house. There is a certain amount of discomfort that comes with hunting that a lot of younger people aren't used to anymore. Access really depends on the state. I don't know what CA is like but here in PA we have a ton of access.

 

[cornfedkiller]

I think hunting is a dying sport. Once all the baby boomers are too old to hunt you will see a big dip in license sales. I just looked it up, average age of a hunter is over 40. A lot of "men" in their 20's are either doughy gamers or soy boy wanna be men. I think all of you young hunters will have the greatest hunting opportunities possibly ever.

I've kinda thought the same thing, and for myself and my kids' sake, I hope you are right.

 

[wytx]

WY, right now, is leading the way...

How easy are those tags to draw in NM and Utah, how many do they give NRs?

 

[jgilber5]

I appreciate all of your replies, some really interesting points brought up. Perhaps encouraging that the boom in hunting popularity may ebb and flow, opening up some room for newcomers. I work in the fly-fishing industry, one of my concerns there as in hunting though is that as we lose generations who grew up in the outdoors, will we have enough people who care about the sport to defend it? Hard to protect something the majority of folks don't connect with.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I appreciate all of your replies, some really interesting points brought up. Perhaps encouraging that the boom in hunting popularity may ebb and flow, opening up some room for newcomers. I work in the fly-fishing industry, one of my concerns there as in hunting though is that as we lose generations who grew up in the outdoors, will we have enough people who care about the sport to defend it? Hard to protect something the majority of folks don't connect with.

Exactly. Legislation (like eliminating grizzly hunting in BC) is passed based on the votes of people that live in cities because they have the majority of votes. Every day that passes, there are more people born into the world that won't understand hunting (or why it is important), than people who will. Basically, urban areas and the people who are attracted to them (whose knowledge of animals is based on cartoons and Disney movies) are outbreeding people like us. (Hunting is just one area this will be felt, but the woke culture push of the last 24 months is a good preview of the bigger picture).

Land segmentation and loss of "public land" will continue to get worse as well.

I think he last chapter of hunting in the lower 48 will take place on private lands. You will either need to own it, have a friend who does, or be able to pay the going rate for a landowner tag.

 

[Pacific_Fork]

The problem isn’t that we are out numbered at the polls. The real issue is the vast majority of the 15 million hunters in the US don’t do jack when it comes to sitting at the table going against the antis. They sure like to complain about it without putting up any defense. We def don’t need more numbers, we just need to work harder. More numbers means less quality and opportunity. Luckily groups like HOWL are starting to pop up and help us lazy people reach or elected officials.

This past year was a first for me showing up at DFW meetings. I suggest every hunter getting more involved. HSUS is a powerhouse but not impossible to keep at bay because they don’t have legit science like biologist do.

 

[CorbLand]

Exactly. Legislation (like eliminating grizzly hunting in BC) is passed based on the votes of people that live in cities because they have the majority of votes. Every day that passes, there are more people born into the world that won't understand hunting (or why it is important), than people who will. Basically, urban areas and the people who are attracted to them (whose knowledge of animals is based on cartoons and Disney movies) are outbreeding people like us. (Hunting is just one area this will be felt, but the woke culture push of the last 24 months is a good preview of the bigger picture.)

24 months? Try 24 plus years.

 

[mxgust]

I’m much more optimistic than most of you. I’m 32 and a Wyoming resident. I have watched elk hunting improve my entire life, and it’s heads and tails above what it was for my dad and grandfather. Deer have struggled recently, more in some places than others and I think habitat fragmentation and CWD poses a real risk for them. However there is awareness of this issue and more importantly, money going in from the state to help improve habitat and preserve migration corridors. There will always be challenges but we are in a much better place they were with many things in decades past. There will always be opportunities for those who look. In this state I am much less worried about unfriendly legislation from the state for hunters and I realize that is not the case in much of the US. I also play the NR game in many states across the west and I do understand how hard tags are to get. My strategy is much different in other states because I have so much opportunity at home, but I still could draw more tags than I could hunt if that was my goal and if budget allowed. I’ve also have just never cared what something scores. If it looks big I’m happy, and if I work hard and still don’t get into animals, that’s just how hunting goes. If I don’t come home exhausted then I don’t think I have anything to complain about. Increasing costs will price out many people I think, and human population changes could very well derail things in Wyoming but the local economy is a barrier for the average person looking to move here. I’m not trying to minimize that. Someone who does not live in a western state will have a different perspective and rightly so. But overall I’m very optimistic

 

[displacedtexan]

I know this won't be a popular opinion...

But some hunters have such a victim mentality. "The government is trying to ban hunting, the grizzly/wolf/lead/whatever ban is just the first step!", the government (both parties) has proven pretty incapable of doing much besides waging war.

I've never known a former hunter who quit because of government regulations and bans. They've all quit because life situations have changed.

And if hunting fades away after I'm gone because people don't want to make the necessary sacrifices to hunt, then I don't care.

But what do I know? I'm just a first generation hunter from a long line of metrosexual soy boys... Started 15 years ago, hunted in 6 states now. My non hunter parents love the pictures and stories.

 

[Dos Perros]

I'm not a young man, but I know not to ask young men what the future holds. I admittedly didn't know anything when I was in my 20's. Don't know much more now, but am at least more certain of it.

 

[Bajr]

Exactly. Legislation (like eliminating grizzly hunting in BC) is passed based on the votes of people that live in cities because they have the majority of votes. Every day that passes, there are more people born into the world that won't understand hunting (or why it is important), than people who will. Basically, urban areas and the people who are attracted to them (whose knowledge of animals is based on cartoons and Disney movies) are outbreeding people like us. (Hunting is just one area this will be felt, but the woke culture push of the last 24 months is a good preview of the bigger picture).

Land segmentation and loss of "public land" will continue to get worse as well.

I think he last chapter of hunting in the lower 48 will take place on private lands. You will either need to own it, have a friend who does, or be able to pay the going rate for a landowner tag.

Exactly. Look at maps of elections. Large cities mostly the only blue on map. Liberal city's ruin it for everyone out in country (for those that live there and don't agree with the political majority in them I do feel bad for you).

I have family in Germany. Same thing happened there. Only people that can hunt or have a gun for that matter are super rich that can afford the permits to do so. I hope that is not our future of hunting.

 

[Danny Hoey]

Yes. Washington is a shillhole already. When I started hunting 26 years ago, it wasn't as bad. I don't see it magically reversing anytime soon.

 

[Rich M]

The problem isn’t that we are out numbered at the polls. The real issue is the vast majority of the 15 million hunters in the US don’t do jack when it comes to sitting at the table going against the antis. They sure like to complain about it without putting up any defense. We def don’t need more numbers, we just need to work harder. More numbers means less quality and opportunity. Luckily groups like HOWL are starting to pop up and help us lazy people reach or elected officials.

This past year was a first for me showing up at DFW meetings. I suggest every hunter getting more involved. HSUS is a powerhouse but not impossible to keep at bay because they don’t have legit science like biologist do.

I been doing stuff like that since 98 or 99.

The most discouraging part is how hunters will eagerly attack other hunters standing up for the group.

Hunters who don't stand up, don't get to make the rules. And when they don't like the rules, they bitch. Hunters are mostly just whiners who only show up to hunt.

 

[540-Virginian]

I think hunting is a dying sport. Once all the baby boomers are too old to hunt you will see a big dip in license sales. I just looked it up, average age of a hunter is over 40. A lot of "men" in their 20's are either doughy gamers or soy boy wanna be men. I think all of you young hunters will have the greatest hunting opportunities possibly ever.

I agree with this. I am imagining a a few years of amazing hunting as the boomer generation gets too old to hunt hard or, as I am actually seeing on our lease, just not interested anymore…

So a big void will open and you’ll have greater chances from less pressure. But that won’t last…

How many people in the younger generations will write to their representatives about losing or need hunting opportunites? I have no idea. Maybe more, maybe less… but i fear more the land being developed and then people being against hunting moving in. But there will be giant fancy leases that few can afford. We are slowly becoming like England in a way. Sucks…

Also, other hunters are just as greedy and bitchy and entitled as any other group. We complain about everything. “Hunting with dogs is unfair, hunting with crossbows is unfair, ebikes are unfair!”

These are excuses for people who suck at hunting IMO. What we need his better habitat protection and management. Better protection from developments and groups wanting to limit it to their own needs (no hunting, hiking only, archery only). There should be land for all our interests. You hunt NF for example during the fall-winter then you have all summer to hike and what not. But thats not good enough to each of the different groups.

I just try to lead the way in being nice helpful respecting and polite to all. Even my vegan friends…

 

[simplepeddler]

We need to bend all conversations about hunting from "how we want to hunt" to "why we want to hunt"
Killing is not hunting. It's actually a very small part.

The challenge we have is hunting is still a male dominated sport. Men notoriously struggle to share their emotions. So the "why" we hunt is overlooked.

My bride is not a hunter, but after taking her to work days and a few days during the season, she has come to understand WHY I hunt and respects that for me.

May be tough to hear, but a good way to save hunting is get your significant others involved.

I am blessed to hunt a private piece of property that a family has managed now for 18 years.
EVERY woman in the family actively hunts. If fact, great discussions have occured based on who has to "watch the kids" this hunt.

And women, will indeed share their feelings!!!! LOL

 

[CB4]

I am worried more about not having weapons to hunt with vs the actual hunting. Are tags going to become more expensive? Yes. Am I willing to pay it? Yes. As a Midwesterner I am 100% okay with every state going to a draw system however there should always be units in every state that take 0-2 points to draw, but there needs to be a cap on tags. I like what Idaho did they just need to spend that nonresident money on new servers.

 

[Thunt22]

Hard to say, I would love to play out ideas of maybe in 30 years when we hit that cliff of a huge population of hunters not being able to hunt anymore. Then will the demand over supply significantly decrease? I know there’s plenty of other factors too such as laws and access but would be interesting if all things were still equal