Mine dont, not one of them. Too busy, raising kids, working, mowing the lawn ... Just like my dad did before we went hunting.

Has hunting gotten that much harder than back when I was a kid (1970's). Believe me its not easy, I am heading out tomorrow with my 5 yr old, and I have been packing for 4 hours. But I was noticing on FB that none of my friends are going. Just wondering

I cant' think of any of my old boyhood friends that don't still hunt. In fact, most of (me mostly) hunt more than we ever did growing up. Yes, it's harder and more expensive than when I was a kid, but I'll be damned if I quit what I love. I'd rather drive an old POS car and hunt than the alternative.

Few of my old friends hunt anymore. I have one that does and can't imagine he will ever give it up. We are going out for pheasant tomorrow. To many, it is not worth the cost anymore. Interestingly, I don't see many young hunters taking their places either. Just another part of our heritage dying with the seniors.

"Just another part of our heritage dying with the seniors."

I'm 75, and I was going to say a number of hunting pals from my youth have died. Those who are still alive, still hunt. One is 93, and shot three deer in Texas just this month. Another is 72 and finally drew an Arizona desert sheep tag last season and shot a beautiful ram. Another is making his 15th or 16th trip to Africa next year. I shot my 12th Arizona elk a few weeks ago near our cabin.

Bill Quimby

I am in my late 30s and maybe 15-20% of my friends that I grew up hunting with, still hunt. Out here in the West we are seeing a decline in huntuing opportunities, mainly due to more trophy management. People out here seem to enjoy hunting the areas where they grew up. It is sad to see traditions die due to elite management. Deer populations have also declined.

Not one of my family of cousins and uncles hunts anymore. That is 20+ hunters who are currently between 40-75 years old. All stopped in the last decade. Truly sad for me. Makes me wonder if I should even start my kids down what is becoming a dead-end road.

Yes, most do.

Most of mine still do but in a more limited way. When I was in high school me and my buddies hunted pretty much everything...squirrels, ducks, quail, dove, deer, turkey, etc. Now with work, kids and all the other grown up stuff we have to pick our battles. Most of us pretty much just deer hunt now and get in a dove shoot or two and maybe a few mornings in the duck pond.

All of mine still hunt except one who got married for the first time at 52,now he cooks vegan and takes pictures 0f buildings in europe,totally pussy whipped!

The only hunting buddy I have is my dad. None of my friends hunt...making it harder to go on trips that are physically more challenging. Those I have planned to go by myself. Still wouldn't trade the 20 years I've been able to hunt with my dad for anything in the world...
Hoping for another 20!

I can't give a direct answer to the original question because none of the buddies from my youth hunted. However, almost all of the friends, co-workers and acquaintences that I met later in life, who started hunting in their youth, are still active hunters. (They are small-town guys in their 30's to 70's.) I really can't recall anybody in my circle of friends and acquaintences who was an avid hunter that voluntarily gave it up. Some of them may have slowed down or cut back due to (usually temporary) financial, health or personal issues but I don't know of anybody who just said "screw it" and quit hunting altogether.

I suspect that those who voluntarily give up on hunting never fully had it in their heart to begin with. Yes, hunting is difficult and can be expensive but those who really want to will find a way to do it.

It's not realistic compare some mythical "golden age" with today. I started in 1970 and never knew a time when hunting was easy. There are no farmers, ranchers or large landowners anywhere in my lineage so access was always an issue. (Access to a place to hunt is actually a bit less of a problem now because if all else fails I can just break out the wallet.) In my home state of Wisconsin, 40-some years ago the deer population was a fraction of what it is now. For deer hunters (gun season) it was bucks only back then unless you drew a "party permit." To apply for the party permit you had to be part of a group of at least 4 hunters, and the permit allowed the taking of one antlerless deer. WHOOPIE! A young hunter like me had no chance of getting a doe tag and slim to no chance of seeing a buck. Seeing a deer TRACK was exciting. Equipment was expensive and wages were low as evidenced by all of the military surplus and old, "hand me down" lever action rifles carried around in the deer woods back then. A scope? Forgetaboutit! That was for rich people. You can call 40+ years ago "the good old days" if you want to. It wasn't for me and countless thousands of others.

Being an active and successful hunter is far from a "dead end" these days. Kids get special seasons and a printer at the local convenience store will spit out multiple doe tags at $2 each. There are plenty of deer to be had by a well-motivated hunter.

The bowhunter never had it so good. They can choose archery equipment ranging from handmade longbows and wooden arrows to carbon fibre arrows launched by contraptions that look like props from a sci-fi movie. With seasons that last for months a modern bowhunter can stick enough deer to make a 19th century market hunter blush if they had a mind to do so. It's even better for a small game hunter these days. They practically have the woods to themselves. I can't personally compare waterfowl hunting then and now, never having done it. But I don't hear many of today's duck hunters complaining too loudly or longing for the "good old days" of leaky wooden boats and non-autoloading shotguns.

No. There were five of us who hunted during school, but after graduation families were started and funds were short. I continued on a very limited basis until the kids were through college.

Two of my buddies died before their time, I lost touch with one for a few years, and one made a career of the Military and gave up on hunting saying it was too expensive for the effort required. I finally made contact with my missing buddy but he had taken up hunting exotic plants.

While my daughter does not hunt, she encourages her son to learn about shooting and hunting from his "Ahpa" (me) and my Son thinks he shoots better than the "old guy"

For me the answer is yes, they mostly still hunt, but not as much as we used to. I do have a couple of buddies that wrapped up into drugs and in trouble with the law and don't live anywhere near me anymore. Probably can't own a gun anyway. But of the guys I hunted with prior to us graduating college, they all still hunt but on a much more limited basis. I am guilty of that as well. Life gets in The way!!!!! I moved away for awhile and missed a few seasons when my kids were little but I'm back and still passionate for hunting, I enjoy getting my kids involved too. I just don't have the same amount of time available. A full time job and a family of five take a lot more of my time than when I was going to college and living with all of the guys I hunted with. It's just a fact of life and I wouldn't trade any of it. But I will never give up hunting entirely either.

Yes, they still hunt. We're all married, have full time jobs, etc, so we don't get out quite as much as we used to. I used to hunt every day of the 2 week rifle deer season, now I usually only make it out a couple of times.

I can think of two that will go for birds but not deer anymore. Other than that they all still hunt.

BigB