Here is a report verifying what many of us have suspected regarding hunting...the link at the bottom will take you to the 24 page report from USFWS

Confirmed Decline in Hunter Participation Should Be a Call to Action for Sportsmen, Land Managers, and Lawmakers

It’s time for our community and decision makers to get serious about R3 efforts, adequate funding, and policy that enhances hunters’ opportunities afield


WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows that 101.6 million Americans participated in wildlife-related outdoor recreation last year. Unfortunately, while the number of people participating in fishing and wildlife-watching is up, participation in hunting dropped by about 2 million people to a total of 11.5 million hunters. Total expenditures by hunters also declined 29 percent from 2011 to 2016, from $36.3 billion to $25.6 billion.

This has significant ripple effects on not only the key federal funding models that support conservation of fish and wildlife, but also the base of support for our public lands and thoughtful natural resources policy.

“It is time for our community and our decision makers to get serious about R3, or recruitment, retention, and reactivation of hunters, because the implications for conservation are dire if this trend continues,” says Whit Fosburgh, president and CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

The report indicates that participation in fishing increased 8 percent since 2011, from 33.1 million anglers to 35.8 million in 2016, and total nationwide spending by anglers was up two percent. R3 efforts geared toward fishing and boating have been successful thanks to a funding provision in the Dingell-Johnson Act, also called the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act, that allows a small percentage of these excise tax revenues to be used for recruitment and retention programs.

The Pittman-Robertson Act, which created the excise tax on guns, ammunition, and archery equipment, does not permit using the funds for R3 activities.

“We must modernize the Pittman-Robertson Act so we can promote hunting the same way we promote fishing and boating, bring the hunter education and licensing systems into the 21st century, and immediately address serious threats to hunting, like chronic wasting disease in deer,” says Fosburgh. “We must also focus on expanding access and improving the quality of the hunting experience—better habitat means more animals and more opportunities for success.”

Decision makers should further support the future of America's hunting traditions by passing a fiscal year 2018 budget deal with robust funding for conservation and crafting a 2018 Farm Bill that not only enhances conservation tools for private lands but also incentivizes private landowners to enroll acres in voluntary public access programs. It is more critical than ever that sportsmen and women continue to be engaged in the public process of planning for management on America’s multiple-use public lands, as well.

The USFWS will update this page with preliminary findings from their latest five-year report.

https://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/S...y/nat_survey2016.pdf

You'd never know it from some of the jackwads that tramp through the woods.

I have watched this trend for several decades. Fewer and fewer kids are participating in hunts. Some point to kids themselves - too many competing activities (soccer seems to siphon off a bunch, though other organized sports take a toll).

I see several contributing factors. One is Parents who don't take the time. Where I work, we have slots for 45 kids to hunt deer, turkeys and hogs on weekend hunts. Several years we have fielded 15 or fewer kids - because parents don't put in an application (free application, free hunt), or don't bring the kid on the appointed weekend due to competition with other activities (we got tickets to the Longhorn game/ Junior had a soccer game are #1 & #2 excuses). So because the parent has no skin in the game, they don't suffer a loss by not participating - AND it takes a slot from someone who would have participated. Don't tell me to hold standby hunts - nobody shows for them either. Noon is too early to get up if I don't have a guaranteed slot...

Hunting opportunity has diminished too. I have hunted deer once in the last 8 years because I choose not to pay a significant lease fee. As a kid, I wandered thousands of acres gratis terrorizing squirrels and rabbits. No mas. I don't begrudge the landowner for trying to make a few bucks - but it's just another obstacle to beginning hunters.

Hard to make a hunter when there are so many obstacles. My grandkids are no different. They live 4 hours away, spend half their time with my daughter and half their time with her ex. Both are caught up in the tar pit that is "life in the metroplex." I sincerely hope I can continue to mold the youngsters into future hunters, or at least guide them to a point where it is a decision not predetermined for them.

A significant license fee? Say it costs you $150 for every single tag your state offers....that's a lot of money for a year's worth of enjoyment and meat, etc.?

I get your point but relative to the fact that it costs more to take your family out to dinner once it sounds silly.

The times have changed, so many urban youths that are never exposed to the country, The antis are among us and Im sure have some input, none of which makes much since inasmuch as hunting is the sole salvation of the huntable species, but hey Im preaching to the wrong folks here..Not to mention kids raised on farms and ranches, or in a hunting family seldom get off on drugs, and crime..None of my kids, grandkids, had time for drugs, they were too busy training for rodeo and all of them hunt and fish.

Is this decrease a good thing or bad thing, Im not sure, Has good and bad points I suppose.

It has been a while since this topic has seen the light of day and usually when it does quite a few folks tend to get in a lather claiming that it just Ain't So!

From what I have seen over the past couple of decades, it is happening and is going to do so at an increasing rate over the next couple of decades.

The world is changing, peoples attitudes are changing, and a bunch of the folks that have kept hunting alive are going to die off, and when we are gone the impetus to keep hunting as a viable undertaking will go with us.

Yup fewer hunters are out their now than in the past. But I find it interesting they complain about the loss of hunters (who pay their bottom line) but seem to do everything possible to make it tougher to hunt. Plus they listen too much to the anti's who contribute absolutely nothing to wildlife and management.

Surely the demographics of today's youth have changed but the response should be to make things easier for new hunters while still looking out for wildlife.

It's a shame, but true I'm afraid!

And the fact that in maybe 40% of American households there isn't even a father figure living there. Parents are a miserable failure many times.

Truly there are a lot of reasons contributing to the reduced numbers of new recruits, everything mentioned above and more.
Hunting for some is a solitary pursuit and not a social event, for many years that was my type of hunting.
When my kids entered the picture everything changed for me. Now my focus is to make sure my kids and their friends get to experience what Deer and Elk Camp is all about, hunting with friends, family and new recruits. Everyone helping and sharing experiences.
I feel like I'm truly doing my part and my kids doing their part as well.
For instance my oldest boy went off to college, we made sure his freezer was stocked with Deer, Elk and Antelope that he loves. Not only did he share and cook meals for friends but they too soon figured out the allure of all natural meat. Some of his friends took up hunting again that they had been introduced to briefly in their youth, others who will never hunt became much more "tolerant" of killing and eating wildlife.
Every angle helps our sport!
I wish I had more time to recruit more kids and take them on hunts but between work, taking my own kids and their friends hunting and trying to squeeze in a hunt or two of my own I am booked.

quote:

Truly there are a lot of reasons contributing to the reduced numbers of new recruits, everything mentioned above and more.
Hunting for some is a solitary pursuit and not a social event, for many years that was my type of hunting.
When my kids entered the picture everything changed for me. Now my focus is to make sure my kids and their friends get to experience what Deer and Elk Camp is all about, hunting with friends, family and new recruits. Everyone helping and sharing experiences.
I feel like I'm truly doing my part and my kids doing their part as well.
For instance my oldest boy went off to college, we made sure his freezer was stocked with Deer, Elk and Antelope that he loves. Not only did he share and cook meals for friends but they too soon figured out the allure of all natural meat. Some of his friends took up hunting again that they had been introduced to briefly in their youth, others who will never hunt became much more "tolerant" of killing and eating wildlife.
Every angle helps our sport!
I wish I had more time to recruit more kids and take them on hunts but between work, taking my own kids and their friends hunting and trying to squeeze in a hunt or two of my own I am booked.

That is a really good way of looking at the issue.

When I started deer hunting in the late 60's, yes, I went by myself, but for dove or duck it was a group project and was fun. As I have gotten older I find that deer hunting is more enjoyable with a companion, even if they aren't hunting.

Taking a youth or an inexperienced hunter out and helping them get their first deer or pig or whatever makes it all worthwhile.

There's no argument that the number of hunters is decreasing and many young people have other interests and priorities but can someone explain how is hunting going to "end" anytime in the forseeable future? Are states going to stop selling licenses despite burgeoning deer populations and budget shortfalls? Will blue helmeted UN forces go door to door confiscating everyone's M700, 870 or Model 70?

Some of you must have been very lucky. I started hunting almost 50 years ago, despite Dad trying his best to discourage my interest. With no farmers or landowners in my family or circle of friends, I never knew a time when access could be had by knocking on a door. Hunting was never easy nor was it ever cheap for me but I kept going because it was something that I wanted had to do. Future generations will have to do the same, and they will. Hunting is a natural, in-born instinct. The instinct can be repressed or pushed aside but it won't entirely disappear anytime soon. Where there's a will there's a way.

A very long time ago I was told that only the very wealthy and politically connected are able to hunt in Europe. Hunting was said to be beyond the means of professionals such as doctors and engineers in Europe and nobody but the police and military can own firearms. Supposedly, it was only in the US where the 'common man' could hope to go hunting. I found out later it was all a lie. Hunting is highly regulated, regimented "over there" and getting a license is a whole lot more complicated than entering your credit card and customer numbers on a website but it is possible. Gun laws may be draconian (compared to us) but a person willing to jump the legal hurdles can own the same firearm I use for hunting. More moose are shot in socialized, nanny-state Sweden than anywhere else in the world. The US will probably follow along this path.

If future generations decide that hunting is not worth the effort it's their loss, not mine. If they want to keep the hunting tradition going it will be their fight.

I too believe the future is the end of hunting as we have known it. One thing that I fear is that as hunter numbers dwindle there will come a point of critical mass (a LACK of critical mass) where there will be no discernible voice standing up for the value and right of hunting. At some point when hunter numbers get too low, PETA will win the day and the masses of the American public will be persuaded by PETA that hunters are evil sadistic brutes. They will be persuaded not because PETA is right but because there will not be a critical mass of practicing hunters who are known to their non-hunting fellow citizens to be incompatible with the picture PETA paints.

There are other considerations. If it is important to source revenue from hunters to fund governmental services related to hunting, does this at some point result in driving up out-of-state license fees for Colorado elk hunting, as an example, to 2X its current level? 3X its current level? 6X its current level? As prices are increased, more and more people will turn away from hunting and the price increase cycle will continue.

Hunting is important to me. I have grown accustomed to doing some big game hunt every fall and love it. For the last 5 years this has been elk hunting at 11000 feet elevation in SW Colorado in mid-October. I love it. I spend a lot of time training and preparing for it. But change the circumstances a bit and it becomes unviable for me. It is NOT the only part of my life, it is not the most important part of my life.

I hope to get my children up to elk hunt with me. So far that has not panned out. They have other activities. My hope is that they will become impassioned with elk hunting, camping in a canvas tent with a wood stove, seeing the mountains in the dark and watching the world come to life on a frosty morning as the east begins to glow and then the sun comes up, thawing out your frozen toes, and then you hear a bull elk bugle drifting up from a draw down in the timber in front of you. If they did, maybe the hook would be set and they would make it a priority -- while the costs are not prohibitive -- to do the elk hunt every year. But maybe they will not find it as absorbing as I do?

I will say that for some reason young people do not have the hunger for hunting that I had. Maybe it is because they have many alternatives? Maybe it is because I grew up seeing my dad's Outdoor Life magazines and Field and Stream magazines describing the adventures of hunting? Maybe it is because I grew up on a farm, but I now live in a suburb and my children -- as with many, many other children -- don't grow up on a farm but in a suburb or city. Hunting seems more fitting and natural to someone growing up on a farm, I suspect, than to someone growing up in a suburb.

Politicians and 24 hour news are partially to blame. When I was in school, most of my friends kept a rifle or shotgun in their vehicle to go hunting on the way home from school. Now the general public is so afraid a teenager with a gun is considered to be a member of a gang.

I can remember a canon fired after the hometown football team scored. We even had a shooting sports team at our school.

Not now.

quote:

I hope to get my children up to elk hunt with me. So far that has not panned out. They have other activities. My hope is that they will become impassioned with elk hunting

They well not hunt unless you take them hunting.

What other activities are you talking about.

I see and hear others tell me their kids don't hunt they are to busy with other things. Well take them out of the other things and take THEM HUNTING.

Make hunting important make it more important then football basketball or other sports. If one does not do that then other things well consume them and be more important.

I live in Penna. our game department has been the main cause for downfall in hunter numbers. Pheasant hunting has become put and take, deer numbers purposely lowered to the point if you do not have access to private land a week's hard hunting may be rewarded with 2 sightings,our Public Game Lands bought with hunters $ have been turned into eco sport spots, etc. All this comes as the Game Dept. is near bankrupt begging for fee hikes to fund their posh pension and health plans...who wants to pay more for less while any increase does not go to habitat or game but to pensions?
Parents whom hunt are giving it up around here in disgust for lack of game, lack of hunting land so kids never get the chance.

quote:

Make hunting important make it more important then football basketball or other sports. If one does not do that then other things well consume them and be more important.

That can be a lot harder to do than you think. For families living in urban areas trying to direct their children away from activities at school with their friends is difficult at the minimum.

With social media what it has became and the continuing growth of a negative attitude toward hunting of any kind, recruiting new hunters is going to simply get harder to do.

It is just an aspect of human evolution that has been creeping up on us for about 3 decades now.

In today's society with attitudes toward hunter's/hunting being what they are kid's can or do face a lot of peer pressure over such an issue.

I have 3 kids at home and one who is working hard to be married to some kid in the Navy (story for another day). The younger 3 are 6, 4, and 2. We watch hunting dvds everday and talk about hunting almost every day.

They know about the coralis effect, and as a biologist I spend quite a bit of time on science projects and wildlife/forestry lessons for them.

At this age, they are all interested in hunting and are all girls. One of the best things going on is that they can watch Brittany Boddington shoot something, and she has red hair just like they do. So they lose their minds. Gotta love you tube.

I didn't raise my oldest daughter, she grew up with my ex-wife and in a non-hunting family. If she was ever interested she isn't now.

Even as adults I meet people all the time that grew up hunting, and do not now. So how do we recruit youth away from phones, Instagram, facebook, internet porn, and other social media? I think for most unless they are spun into it at an early age, or are mature enough to see it as an interest later on the odds are pretty low.

I took my boss shooting and he nailed a steel plate at 600 yards with my 338 Lapua before we left California. It blew his mind. He is interested in shooting, but is going through an expensive divorce. So another expensive hobby is probably out the door for him.

Here in Germany I wouldn't invite anyone other than my kids for a day afield or to the range. The difficulty of getting a hunting license in Germany, completely destroys any chance I would risk them doing anything which might risk that right I have worked so hard for taken away.

My brother in law will not take his daughters shooting, and his son is only interested in hunting on a computer video game. He is a Mormon and he doesn't believe that women should hunt. He hunts a bit, he has drawn some incredible tags, but works in IT, and has not been able to take time off from work to hunt.

Not sure if this is normal in Mormon land or not, but his son is 10, and he has daughters all the way to 19. He spent all his weekends at boyscout functions camping with boys that were not his until his son was born. And now that his son is old enough to go, he never fostered that hunting and camping fire in the boy, and he is not interested.

My other brother in law also works in IT, and his son is 20. He joined the Army but it was too hard and so he came home. They let him out of his contract in bootcamp, can you imagine that? He doesn't have a job. His dad and I used to hunt together in high school and when we would be home on leave while in the military. But like many men, my brother in law isn't interested in hunting because he doesn't think it is important enough to drive a couple hundred miles to the game fields.

It is hard to be a hunter, work, and have a big family. We struggle with that, and finding time to put into family time off is hard enough. I understand why recruiting numbers are so low.

Then I walk through the food court at the local mall and see 200 kids with their phones out, and realize that this generation isn't like the kids I grew up with.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
Then I walk through the food court at the local mall and see 200 kids with their phones out, and realize that this generation isn't like the kids I grew up with.

Exactly.



I have two daughters (now 2 & 4) that I pray will carry on the torch. The oldest already seems to have that internal drive and instinct. I hope I am right. We practice shooting her BB gun, "hunt" inflatable wild boar in the house with her toy bow and pump shotgun, trap opposums and rats on the back porch (they both really love trapping shit), and watch hunting videos (and alligators eating other animals... a favorite next to anything with wolves eating other animals) on Youtube.

I guess the point is, I encourage hunting without force-feeding or throwing it in their face. Seems to be working.

Fishing is easy... we are surrounded by water and have boats. Mom loves to fish so naturally the imprinting helps.

Friday morning at 10am, I am going to do a demonstration for four classes of preschoolers learning about the ocean by showing and sharing SCUBA gear with them, including my speargun. They all loved it last year and asked me to come back again. This is an all-girls Catholic school, by the way.

So I guesz we all need to do our part to seize the moment or else we are going to wake up and be that old grouchy misunderstood generation that "used to kill animals for fun".

quote:

I have two daughters (now 2 & 4) that I pray will carry on the torch. The oldest already seems to have that internal drive and instinct. I hope I am right. We practice shooting her BB gun, "hunt" inflatable wild boar in the house with her toy bow and pump shotgun, trap opposums and rats on the back porch (they both really love trapping shit), and watch hunting videos (and alligators eating other animals... a favorite next to anything with wolves eating other animals) on Youtube.

Start them young

I seen a lot parents spend a lot of time and money on ball sports going to every ball game buying expensive equipment ect.

But complain about buying a suitable rifle or hunting licenses.

Then they wonder why their kids don't hunt.

I notice there are a TON of discount hunt offers out there this year. Wonder if that is a blip or a trend of things to come.

quote:

Wonder if that is a blip or a trend of things to come.

I am afraid that it is a trend. Here in North Texas, lease prices have reached a point where if someone drops out of a lease it has become more difficult to fill such spots.

Well it seems like the results of their survey don't jive with their own hard facts.

USFWS data, Paid Hunting License Holders (https://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/s...enseinfo/Hunting.htm)

2017 - 15,486,123 (must be an estimation?)

2016 - 15,413,638

2015 - 14,843,895

2014 - 14,597,091

2013 - 14,631,237

2012 - 14,960,522

2011 - 14,974,534

2010 - 14,448,040

2009 - 14,453,794

2008 - 14,623,598

2007 - 14,575,484

2006 - 14,726,427

2005 - 14,679,041

2004 - 14,966,406

2003 - 14,740,188

2002 - 14,966,406

2001 - 14,996,205

But they did include a disclaimer in the survey report:

quote:

Preliminary information from the 2016 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation is provided in this report. The final, more detailed National Report will be available December 2017....

The advance release of preliminary survey results is an effort to make the data available as soon as possible. Please note that the data are subject to revision.

So much for surveys.

.

What difference does it make?

It is up to future generations to decide if the hunting tradition will continue or not. I expect to have the opportunity to hunt for as long as I am physically able, so I really don't 'have a dog in this fight.' It is those who will live in the future that will have to decide for themselves if hunting is something they want to do or not and if the tradition dies, it will be their loss.

Predicting the future, based on current trends, is difficult if not impossible. Things can change radically overnight. After spending the first few decades of their lives with a screen glued to their eyes, today's media obsessed youngsters may seek out a more natural world as they age. Who knows?

I don't have any kids but if I did there's no guarantee that they would have the same interests or priorities that I do. Time and time again I've seen parents (mostly fathers) trying to recreate their own childhood through their offspring.

quote:

I don't have any kids but if I did there's no guarantee that they would have the same interests or priorities that I do. Time and time again I've seen parents (mostly fathers) trying to recreate their own childhood through their offspring.

And they would/well not if you don't introduce them to your interests.

I have children they are hunters and gun owners because I took the time teach them.

It is a liberal lie that parents can't and should not influence their children.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

I hope to get my children up to elk hunt with me. So far that has not panned out. They have other activities. My hope is that they will become impassioned with elk hunting

They well not hunt unless you take them hunting.

What other activities are you talking about.

I see and hear others tell me their kids don't hunt they are to busy with other things. Well take them out of the other things and take THEM HUNTING.

Make hunting important make it more important then football basketball or other sports. If one does not do that then other things well consume them and be more important.

One "kid" is a 27 year old man and is an attorney and lives on his own in a town 10 miles from my house. Another "kid" is a young woman 25 years old living 1000 miles away in Colorado. Another "kid" is a young woman 21 years old living 30 miles away and a college student. They all have different schedules and other commitments. My son, for example, just returned from a 10 day trip abroad where he competed in the World Arm Wrestling championship in Budapest for the United States team. That physical training commitment plus the heavy schedule he keeps as an attorney make it difficult to schedule other things. It is a matter of priorities. His priority is winning a world championship in his weight class in arm wrestling.

I took my son pronghorn antelope hunting in Wyoming in 2004. That was a good hunt. He liked that. I took him deer hunting a couple of times in Oklahoma, but he liked this less: too sedentary of a hunt. I'm thinking elk hunting in high country would be something he would like a lot. BUT . . . he has other competing interests. My hope is I'll get him out one time and then he'll get hooked.

I feel the same way with my oldest daughter who actually lives in Colorado. I'm thinking that has a good chance of happening.

quote:

What difference does it make?

It is up to future generations to decide if the hunting tradition will continue or not. I expect to have the opportunity to hunt for as long as I am physically able, so I really don't 'have a dog in this fight.' It is those who will live in the future that will have to decide for themselves if hunting is something they want to do or not and if the tradition dies, it will be their loss.

Predicting the future, based on current trends, is difficult if not impossible. Things can change radically overnight. After spending the first few decades of their lives with a screen glued to their eyes, today's media obsessed youngsters may seek out a more natural world as they age. Who knows?

I don't have any kids but if I did there's no guarantee that they would have the same interests or priorities that I do. Time and time again I've seen parents (mostly fathers) trying to recreate their own childhood through their offspring.

Really good post and it really sums up the situation.

quote:

One "kid" is a 27 year old man and is an attorney and lives on his own in a town 10 miles from my house. Another "kid" is a young woman 25 years old living 1000 miles away in Colorado. Another "kid" is a young woman 21 years old living 30 miles away and a college student

A little late in life to imprint them.

But keep on trying one never knows.

Hunting is an instinct and there is no need to "imprint" it on anyone. The prey/predator relationship is understood by all. Why else would would cartoons like Tom and Jerry, Roadrunner / Wily Coyote and countless others resonate so well over the generations? The one thing our side has going for it is that urge to hunt is built in. It may not express itself to the same degree in everybody but it's there nonetheless. It is important that anyone who might have the urge gets the opportunity.

Much emphasis has been placed on introducing kids to hunting. Kids that may or may not be interested and have a wide range of other activities to occupy their time. Kids who grew up staring at bright, flashing, colorful screens and have an attention span measured in milliseconds. Kids who's minds may have already been poisoned by media. Sons and daughters of avid hunters who will get their chance to take up hunting regardless of youth and mentor programs. It's important to introduce hunting to youngsters but it's only part of the battle.

Have you done anything to introduce adults to hunting? There's an emerging trend called "adult onset hunting." Here's a link to one of many articles on it. Have you ever noticed that almost all hunting media is focused on experienced hunters? ("How to get the buck of a lifetime! etc.") There isn't a whole lot of material available to walk an adult newbie through the process of becoming a successful hunter.

Outfitters generally pitch their services to those who already have years, if not decades, of hunting experience under their belts. Clients are expected to at least know the basics of hunting and and have good marksmanship skills. Does any outfitter offer a special "we'll show you how to shoot, get you on your first game animal and show you how to dress it out" package? Sure, there's more money to be made by selling trophy hunts to experienced outdoors people but the perspective hunter who isn't taught how to take a whitetail doe is not likely to ever book a trophy elk hunt.

This isn't the case with other activities. If someone is interested in working on cars, they can find material on every aspect of auto mechanics from doing an oil change to building a hot rod from the ground up. If electronics sounds interesting, you can read up / watch videos on every level of it, starting with connecting a flashlight bulb up to a battery and working your way up to building and programming a computer.

It's easy to convince an enthusiastic father to take his son or daughter hunting. Would you be as willing to bring an inexperienced adult along on a hunt and "show them the ropes?" What about sharing your opportunities with a "lapsed" hunter who gave up for lack of a partner or decent place to hunt?

At one time I had an interest in possibly taking up trapping. I was intrigued by the idea of being out in the field every day looking for sign, checking traps etc. A way of "hunting" when the other seasons are closed.

I knew several experienced trappers and asked about just tagging along to see what it's all about. They all knew I was an avid hunter so I wasn't going to be bothered by the blood and guts yet not one of them offered to take me along as the checked their lines.

At this point I've lost any potential interest and they can ban trapping tomorrow for all I care.

This same scenario has no doubt played out for many potential hunters. We're worried about recruiting new hunters but in reality we're a very insular, cliquish bunch. That alone can be a big turn-off to a lot of people.

quote:

Originally posted by Bigasanelk:
At one time I had an interest in possibly taking up trapping. I was intrigued by the idea of being out in the field every day looking for sign, checking traps etc. A way of "hunting" when the other seasons are closed.

I knew several experienced trappers and asked about just tagging along to see what it's all about. They all knew I was an avid hunter so I wasn't going to be bothered by the blood and guts yet not one of them offered to take me along as the checked their lines.

At this point I've lost any potential interest and they can ban trapping tomorrow for all I care.

This same scenario has no doubt played out for many potential hunters. We're worried about recruiting new hunters but in reality we're a very insular, cliquish bunch. That alone can be a big turn-off to a lot of people.

Most likely more worried about competition there other reasons.

One just has to look at the jealousy in some of the treads here.

Or the fear that some one else might shoot the game they are after.

Or the fact that many make money off of hunting.

I seen threats of killing others over game.

Even seen it happen the Vang case is a prime example all those dead hunters over the fact that some one might shoot one of their deer.

quote:

Most likely more worried about competition there other reasons.

One just has to look at the jealousy in some of the treads here.

Or the fear that some one else might shoot the game they are after.

Or the fact that many make money off of hunting.

I seen threats of killing others over game.

Even seen it happen the Vang case is a prime example all those dead hunters over the fact that some one might shoot one of their deer.

You are correct.

Those are the real issues with hunter recruitment. Who wants to be introduced into this dark sort of world? What adult would want to take up an activity where they are immediately regarded as competition? What kid would stick with it once they've outgrown the "doing something cool with Dad" phase? Especially when so many other activities welcome newcomers and offer friendly, sociable interaction with others of like mind.

Is this an American 'thing' - "rugged individualism," "frontier mentality" and all that? Hunting is said to be a much more socialized activity in Europe and anyone willing and able to pass the stringent licensing process has no problem finding hunting opportunities.

The down side of hunting is that it tends to bring out the worst in some people. Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth - all of the 7 deadly sins - are found in abundance among hunters. I've seen it all - sometimes by looking in the mirror!

What can be done to make hunting more attractive ?

quote:

What can be done to make hunting more attractive ?

Take it out of the realm of being a COMPETITIVE Sport!

How many hunters would go to the trouble of registering an animal in ANY of the Record Books, if their name would not be listed?

I have taken several people out hunting that had never hunted, some of them liked the experience, some didn't.

SO:

We need to figure out a way to recruit new hunters if we want the tradition to continue into the future.

BUT:

We don't want to drag those new hunters along (except sons/daughters) so they can screw up our hunting opportunities.

We don't want those new hunters drawing our limited tags.

We don't want those new hunters in our secret honey holes.

We don't want those new hunters driving up the price of leases and guided hunts.

We don't want those new hunters shooting our game.

It sounds like we've got a real dilemma. I don't see a solution.

Ever hear the term Catch 22.

We want hunting to continue into the future, but we don't want the competition.

quote:

We don't want to drag those new hunters along (except sons/daughters) so they can screw up our hunting opportunities.

I know one fellow who doesn't bring is 12 yoa son along so he doesn't screw up his drinking and chasing around.

what a shame.

Maybe as a group, if it is possible to honestly consider "Hunters" as a group, we all need to honestly ask ourselves why we hunt and what the future of hunting actually means to us as individuals.

Both of those questions need to be addressed by the individual honestly.

As I have gotten older, I do not view hunting now, the same as I did 20 years ago.

So much has changed in hunters attitudes, at least those that I come in contact with now, compared to the attitudes of those I had contact with 50 years ago and YES I have reached that milestone, I have been actively hunting for 50 years.

I remember the time when as soon as Football practice was over and school let out we would go out, hop in our vehicles and head for wherever the doves were flying the best, shotguns and shells were already in the vehicles, didn't have to go home and get the stuff.

I remember when ANY buck whitetail was a TROPHY! I can remember when there were NO FERAL HOGS in most of Texas.

Having retired from the 9 to 5 Rat Race and moved back to the rural area I grew up in, hunting for me has become more fun when I am guiding someone else, paying client or a family member/friend or one of their kids/relatives. I personally have not shot a deer up in this area in the past two seasons.

The last deer I shot was the cull Mule Deer buck on the hunt in Big Bend area Lora and I were drawn for in 2015.

Hunting used to be fun, but it turned into a competitive business and that damaged the concept.

they make it harder all the time. I like to hunt muzzleloader season. 9 days and you can only draw a bull tag every 4 years in my unit. Yet bow season is 6 weeks long, takes less points, overlaps my ml season and there was an idiot under every tree blowing on a call and causing the Elk in the area to go silent and nocturnal. Oh yeah and Parks and Wildlife wants to double the cost of tags on top of CO having the shortest big game seasons in the West if not the country. Reminds me why I spend more time and money in other states every year chasing big game than I do in my home state. Pretty damn frustrating to say the least.

I started hunting Elk in Colorado in 1992 and have watched things go progressively downhill for Residents and NonResidents since about '97.

My last hunt was in 2013, and it may turn out to have been my Last Colorado Elk hunt.

From what I have seen during these 25 years, is Colorado has been steadily turning into California East.

Wished that had not happened.