Declining hunter numbers in the USA...Your thoughts please.

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We also have to consider that a rising population means that the percentage of hunters may fall even as the number of hunters stays relatively high.

It's not reasonable to expect an ever-increasing number of hunters to chase after the same population of game, and there's only so much we can increase the game populations.
 
Llama Bob said:
It's possible only certain segments (and not very visible ones) are in decline. For example, I'm going to bet that fewer possums are being et these days. That's a decline in hunting, but it's not necessarily driven by a decline in interest in hunting so much as a decline in rural poverty.

I think deer and elk are still heavily hunted everywhere. Bear has fallen off some, but is hard to deal with and get it to taste good. Hogs have gone WAY up.
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I think the rural poverty thing is actually a big part of it. Talking with some of the older generation they talk of deer season there was an expectation they were supposed to be hunting because they needed the meat and everyone was poor. My wife’s parents both grew up dirt poor and they ate everything they could shoot.
 
someguy2800 said:
I think the rural poverty thing is actually a big part of it. Talking with some of the older generation they talk of deer season there was an expectation they were supposed to be hunting because they needed the meat and everyone was poor. My wife’s parents both grew up dirt poor and they ate everything they could shoot.
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It certainly fits the pattern I see - species that are not as tasty but easy food and lots of it are going un-hunted, while the tasty species and trophy units there's a line. Elk, moose, deer and bison tags all have healthy competition for them, but parks and wildlife can't give away a bear tag. I could be up to my eyeballs in bear with an OTC tag tomorrow if I wanted to be, but there's work and all the usual excuses and is it really worth cleaning a big bear? Ugh...
 
The number of shooters has increased dramatically however. This is easily seen in the trends in the types rifles, shotguns and handguns that are being introduced. Very few are geared toward hunters anymore. Most are geared toward shooting targets or for personal defense.

The trend isn't just with hunting. Participation in, and viewership in almost all sports is in decline. We see numbers down for the NFL and they are blamed on social issues, but those numbers have been declining for years before a handful of players chose to kneel. Many smaller high schools and colleges have had to cancel their programs due to lack of participation. The numbers are even worse for baseball, and car racing.

Here in GA there is no excuse for not having a place to hunt. The problem is lazy hunters. GA has plenty of public land to hunt on, but it requires you to get on your feet and walk for more than 50 yards and most of it is in rugged terrain. One of my favorite places to hunt would attract 2000-3000 hunters back in the 1970's and 80's for a week hunt. We thought nothing of hiking 3-4 miles off the road to get to a good spot. Over the last few years the same spot only attracts 200-300 hunters each year. I'm 60, and am one of the younger hunters I see there.

The ones who do still hunt don't think it is possible unless they can drive their ATV to within 50 yards of their bait station and elevated shooting platform. That requires private land and money.

We also live in a world where younger folks expect instant gratification. If they can't go hunting and kill something within an hour they get impatient and quit. I enjoy hunting. I don't kill something every season, let alone every time I go out. Younger generations don't have the patience for that.
 
If I just started hunting, I'd quit once I read all the unbelievable rules and regulations.

A neophyte would scratch his head and say, "What the heck!" Deer seasons for does, seasons for bucks, antler restrictions, differing dates in different areas, different bag limits in selected areas. WMA's having different rules, caliber restrictions, different weapons seasons, hunter safety courses, hours for hunting differing between migratory birds and turkeys on different hunting areas. Plus county differences, transporting animals legally, gifting animals, ad infinitum!

What sane person would start hunting with all the different rules and regulations? Perhaps, a lawyer or a statistician or ??????
 
Our regulations here are pretty reasonable and they’ve actually removed a few in the past few years. One thing I wish they would change is our first tag is buck or doe and all tags after that are doe only. I think it would be better if we could have a 2nd buck tag but they are trying to control population while letting more bucks mature. I just want to fill the freezers though so it stinks having to let nice bucks walk and hunt does instead. I sure hope we never have an antler point restriction. Talk about discouraging for young people to be seeing deer they can’t shoot because of a stupid antler restriction, and then having deer get shot by accident and left because they are not in the restrictions.
 
I think our restrictions are fairly out of control. I don't think there would be any meaningful harm in getting rid of of the proof of sex regulation, reducing the number of GMUs to about 1/4 of what there are now (many hunts are already multi-GMU), getting rid of all elk antler restrictions, making bear tags completely OTC and state-wide, and other similar simplifications.

We should however bump the minimum elk caliber to .25 or even .26. The .243 is just too small and causes a lot of trouble.
 
someguy2800 said:
Our regulations here are pretty reasonable and they’ve actually removed a few in the past few years. One thing I wish they would change is our first tag is buck or doe and all tags after that are doe only. I think it would be better if we could have a 2nd buck tag but they are trying to control population while letting more bucks mature. I just want to fill the freezers though so it stinks having to let nice bucks walk and hunt does instead. I sure hope we never have an antler point restriction. Talk about discouraging for young people to be seeing deer they can’t shoot because of a stupid antler restriction, and then having deer get shot by accident and left because they are not in the restrictions.
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I started hunting early age. I had no problem just seeing deer. In fact I got as much enjoyment just learning about deer. I am fascinated with them. I spent years going out with nothing, but just looking for deer sign, how the move what they eat, habits, their bedding ground. I taught that to my son as well. It never was about the killing. It was the woods, the quiet, the Peace etc.
There was a full article in The Virginia wildlife magazine last month point to the fact that so many avid hunters want to pass on small bucks. Even many hunt clubs have made their own persona regulations to not shoot them. And their properties all do well.

As I mentioned, One of the most well managed areas to hunt is a large military Reservation. They only allow so many hunters in each zone. They also give the statistics for each zone. How many mature deer broken down into points, age, HOW MANY MAN HOURS FOR EACH DEER KILLED ETC. And those hours to kill a deer are quite a few. But that is not the point. It is a lovely area. Beautiful in the fall and the winter. And yes, I will always see deer. If I do not score a kill. NO BIG DEAL!
 
If anyone is interested in how a well maintained deer herd is done look at the link below. Many graphs of age killed antler spread, and on and on. And It is one of the best Public ranges in VA.

Here is just a example of on of the many graphs. Each area will allocate a specific number of hunters. Harvest reports,

https://faph.isportsman.net/files/Hunting/2017-18 FAPH Deer Harvest Report.pdf

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When one figures the expense involved in game systems and the constant stream of new games for them as well as the cost of the newest iPhone or electronic gadget, the general, basic costs of hunting are not the issue.
 
Llama Bob said:
Wow, that's painful in terms of success rate. Armed hiking...

Or maybe I don't get it - it looks like the average hunt trip is 4-5 hours. A "trip" must not mean what I think...
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That is just a example of the many graphs and satistics of the area. That list does not show how many hunters allowed in the area. One area may only have three hunters, some more. You should look at all the data. How many Bucks, does, the amount of antlers and age etc.

https://faph.isportsman.net/files/Hunting/2017-18 FAPH Deer Harvest Report.pdf
 
Jeb Stuart said:
I started hunting early age. I had no problem just seeing deer. In fact I got as much enjoyment just learning about deer. I am fascinated with them. I spent years going out with nothing, but just looking for deer sign, how the move what they eat, habits, their bedding ground. I taught that to my son as well. It never was about the killing. It was the woods, the quiet, the Peace etc.
There was a full article in The Virginia wildlife magazine last month point to the fact that so many avid hunters want to pass on small bucks. Even many hunt clubs have made their own persona regulations to not shoot them. And their properties all do well.

As I mentioned, One of the most well managed areas to hunt is a large military Reservation. They only allow so many hunters in each zone. They also give the statistics for each zone. How many mature deer broken down into points, age, HOW MANY MAN HOURS FOR EACH DEER KILLED ETC. And those hours to kill a deer are quite a few. But that is not the point. It is a lovely area. Beautiful in the fall and the winter. And yes, I will always see deer. If I do not score a kill. NO BIG DEAL!
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We have a big military base about 20 miles from me and they do a similar hunt that you have to apply for. They get some incredible deer out of there.

I grew up in the country and live in the country so I see deer pretty much everyday. I too enjoy watching them and walking out among them. In the summer they seam to loose much of their fear of humans and I can sit on the front porch and watch them eat acorns 50 yards away and talk to them. I have a big old doe that I’ve watched raise 3 pairs of twins now. She isn’t afraid of me or the dog anymore.

For me deer season is about 3 things. First and foremost is the comraderie and memories made hunting with family. 2nd is I really enjoy hunting and tracking and get an adrenaline rush from it. 3rd is filling the freezer. I could afford to buy meat but I prefer venison and I get great satisfaction providing meat for my family. Between my wife’s parents, my brother in law and his wife, and my family we probably put up 800 lbs of venison each year and we butcher and process ourselves. It is our primary source of protein for the year. We eat venison 3-4 day a week all year long so we need to fill tags to do that. Our land more than supports that so we take advantage of it. My brother in law and father in law get more into antler hunting than I do, my biggest satisfaction is making meat.

When we have gotten what we need for the year we usually just go deer watching and wait for the 30 pointer. Sometimes I don’t even load the gun.
 
A lot of good points. Some of my opinions regarding the Millennial generation;

When people my age or younger find out that I am a hunter, it is very common for them to ask me a lot of questions about it and they are very interested in it, generally. I have had quite a few people ask me to show them how in the last 10 years. I am taking a guy on his first hunt (cow elk) this October. The interest is there, but they are very intimidated by it. Bringing a rifle into the woods by themselves, away from civilization, and trying to kill an animal is intimidating to someone who spent their youth inside on a computer or playing video games. It's very much different than anything they are used to. This doesn't mean they aren't interested, they are. They want to learn. But they want a mentor.They understand that there's a big gap between reading about it and doing it. Then they look at a set of regs and it's ridiculously confusing, and a lot of times it stops there. And in AZ everything is public land. Asking to hunt private land has to be even more daunting. A lot of folks recommend "take a hunter safety course" which is good in that it would explain laws and draw processes etc, but this is a generation that is used to receiving information that is easily packaged and ready to understand summarized in a 3 minute video. Take a class? In person? Nah. They want to be shown how and I understand that. It’s a big leap for a lot of folks and I can appreciate that. So I try to get people started when I can.

The point is, it's daunting to get into hunting when you've had zero exposure to it your whole life. You can ridicule millennials all you want but the fact is there is a large group of people that want to learn and feel that hunting would be awesome but unfortunately they feel it's inaccessible unless you have someone to show you how. The good news is there are people interested in learning, it is not widely hated (although often poorly understood and ignorance breeds intolerance) and as someone else mentioned, while the percentage of hunters may continue to decline as population rises and wildlife habitat declines , there is hope that the future will hold enough people with a vested interest to always keep it alive.

Let’s keep putting our money where our mouth is, and pass it along as best we can. Hunting is conservation, and that concept is not lost on young folks. At least not all of them.
 
In someways I think TV hunting shows contribute to new/young hunter disappointment.Most of the shows are so far from what hunting is actually like.I heard some boys talking in the local archery shop the one wasn't going to shoot a buck unless it was a 140. A140 buck in our area is very very rare.What happened to being happy with a spike.Unreal expections.
 
Lack of area to hunt is number one problem around here. Many trophy bucks killed around here in the 90’s attracted the attention of many people from all over. In came people with money and bought everything around here. Now 1% of the hunting population owns 90% of the hunting land, (whom are not even from around this area and hunt it alone). Public hunting is a circus and down right dangerous in these parts, I don’t even want to expose my kids to it. I’m one of the lucky few that has friends who let me hunt their family owned farm.
 
One thing I have always believed in, is the ignorance to why hunting is actually important to the existence of the deer herd in general. Most liberal media has started early on with the idea that guns are BAD, KILL People, Kill ANIMALS. School systems in my area are predominantly Liberal. They start brain washing these kids early. Most people do not realize that their are more American Whitetail Deer in America than when our Forefathers fist landed. In my state of Virginia for instance, the White tail deer was almost extinct in 1947.Why? Lack of Hunters to keep the in herd in check. Deer are like goats. They can deplete food sources fast. Then starvation, disease etc. Proper game mgt. has done such a fantastic job of improving herds with knowledge of Habitat and capacity. The Hunter is actually the Deer's best friend. In Virginia, they actually had to bring in deer from PA to start a restocking program.

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wild willy said:
In someways I think TV hunting shows contribute to new/young hunter disappointment.Most of the shows are so far from what hunting is actually like.I heard some boys talking in the local archery shop the one wasn't going to shoot a buck unless it was a 140. A140 buck in our area is very very rare.What happened to being happy with a spike.Unreal expections.
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I absolutely agree. What these people don’t realize is a bunch of the huge bucks being taken on camera are on super high dollar private land hunts. Guys go out on over hunted public stuff and expect to see B&C bucks around every corner like on TV. And they are disappointed when they don’t.
 
Nurture you child at a early age to the beauties of the outdoors. No need for any gun at that time. Let him or her see a deer track, see a pine cone picked down by a Squirrel, here the crow call and warn others, watch and listen to wildlife, see where a big buck has scraped a tree, catch a trout from a stream, and on and on. Do things right and don't push.
My gun club has dedicated time to the Boy scouts for range time. Nothing like watching a group of 15 or so young lads having the time of their lives shooting 22.cals. And even black Powder, archery. If the child does not like the outdoors, fine. Let them do their thing. Does a young Beagle have a desire to hunt? Of course it is breed into his marrow.Loving the outdoors seems to have been part of my DNA. Three brothers, two love the outdoors, the third could care less. Just part of combination of nature and child raising.

Look at how many adults cannot even enter the woods without a GD cellphone. And yet they are the first one's to blame their kid for using one like a zombie.
 
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I had to teach myself to hunt and shoot and fish as my dad didn't give me the time of day. Probably why I'm now so close to my father in law, he pretty much adopted me at age 22 lol.
 
I don't have time at the moment to read everything here, or the links provided.

My thoughts:

The ongoing decline in hunters and hunting will mean a decline in revenue for game conservation and the like.

This will mean there will be an increase in taxation in order to compensate for this.

HOWEVER...even if the money issue is resolved with general taxation, this will not resolve other issues associated with the decline in hunters and hunting: namely an understanding of, and corresponding control of, wildlife animal populations.

It's not enough to "conserve" wildlife, most especially in and around a growing human population. The wildlife must also be "managed". Uncontrolled wildlife growth is bad because many of the other factors which are integral to wildlife control/management within nature are simply no longer around...or aren't understood by the general populace as to its importance.

Preserving deer, for example, is more involved than most goody-two-shoes animal rights activists seem to think. Unchecked deer growth is a hazard to human populations (think road accidents), a pest problem for farming (no matter if GMO or organic), and a hazard to their own health (over population, disease, lack of sufficient natural predators). This would lead to the need for culling deer populations...which would bring about the fury of animal rights activists who don't understand that the balance of deer populations in the absence of natural, or other human, actions is NOT "humane".
 
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