http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070902/ap_on_re_us/fewer_h...nSBztg3Rgbdfpo6s0NUE

By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer Sun Sep 2, 4:53 PM ET
Hunters remain a powerful force in American society, as evidenced by the presidential candidates who routinely pay them homage, but their ranks are shrinking dramatically and wildlife agencies worry increasingly about the loss of sorely needed license-fee revenue.

New figures from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service show that the number of hunters 16 and older declined by 10 percent between 1996 and 2006 — from 14 million to about 12.5 million. The drop was most acute in New England, the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific states, which lost 400,000 hunters in that span.

The primary reasons, experts say, are the loss of hunting land to urbanization plus a perception by many families that they can't afford the time or costs that hunting entails.

"To recruit new hunters, it takes hunting families," said Gregg Patterson of Ducks Unlimited. "I was introduced to it by my father, he was introduced to it by his father. When you have boys and girls without a hunter in the household, it's tough to give them the experience."

Some animal-welfare activists welcome the trend, noting that it coincides with a 13 percent increase in wildlife watching since 1996. But hunters and state wildlife agencies, as they prepare for the fall hunting season, say the drop is worrisome.

"It's hunters who are the most willing to give their own dollar for wildlife conservation," Patterson said.

Compounding the problem, the number of Americans who fish also has dropped sharply — down 15 percent, from 35.2 million in 1996 to 30 million in 2006, according to the latest version of a national survey that the Fish and Wildlife Service conducts every five years.

Of the 50 state wildlife agencies, most rely on hunting and fishing license fees for the bulk of their revenue, and only a handful receive significant infusions from their state's general fund.

"They're trying to take care of all wildlife and all habitats on a shoestring budget," said Rachel Brittin of the Washington-based Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

In New Hampshire, only multiple fee increases — which produced numerous complaints — have enabled the Fish and Game Department to keep revenues robust. Its ranks of registered hunters has dropped from 83,292 in 1996 to 61,076 last year, according to department spokeswoman Judy Stokes.

"We hear concerns about land access," Stokes said. "People grew up hunting — you went out with your family, your uncle. And now you go back, and there's a shopping plaza or a housing development. Some of your favorite places just aren't available anymore."

National hunting expert Mark Damian Duda, executive director of Virginia-based research firm Responsive Management, says America's increasingly urban and suburban culture makes it less friendly toward the pastime.

"You don't just get up and go hunting one day — your father or father-type figure has to have hunted," Duda said. "In a rural environment, where your friends and family hunt, you feel comfortable with guns, you feel comfortable with killing an animal."

Indeed, hunting remains vibrant in many rural states — 19 percent of residents 16 and older hunted last year in Montana and 17 percent in North Dakota, compared with 1 percent in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey. Nationally, 5 percent of the 16-and-over population hunted in 2006, down from 7 percent in 1996.

As their ranks dwindle, hunters are far from unified. The often big-spending, wide-traveling trophy hunters of Safari Club International, for example, have different priorities from duck hunters frequenting close-to-home wetlands.

One rift involves hunters disenchanted with the National Rifle Association, which runs major hunting programs and lobbies vigorously against gun control. A Maryland hunter, Ray Schoenke, has formed a new group, the American Hunters and Shooters Association, primarily as a home for hunters who would support some restrictions on gun and ammunition sales.

"The NRA's extreme positions have hurt the hunting movement," Schoenke said. "Soccer moms now believe hunters have made things more dangerous."

Political support for hunting remains strong, though, with several states recently enshrining the right to hunt and fish in their constitutions.

Last month, President Bush ordered all federal agencies that manage public lands to look for more room for hunting. In the 2004 presidential campaign, both Bush and Democratic rival John Kerry courted hunters' and gun owners' votes. A camouflage-jacketed Kerry even toted a shotgun during a goose hunt.

Among the 2008 candidates, Democrat Bill Richardson aired a TV ad showing him hunting, while Republican Mitt Romney was derided for calling himself a lifelong hunter even though he never had state hunting licenses.

Public support for hunting also is high, in part because huge deer populations have become a nuisance in many areas. Duda's surveys indicate less than 25 percent of Americans oppose hunting, although groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals denounce it as cruel.

Most major animal-welfare and conservation groups don't campaign to end hunting, but some lobby against specific practices such as bear hunting or "canned" hunts in which game is confined in fenced areas and shot by hunters who pay large sums for the opportunity.

"As a matter of principle, we should not condone the killing of any animal in the interest of sport," said Andrew Page of the Humane Society of the United States. "But as a matter of pragmatism, we target those practices that even hunters would agree are egregious."

The Humane Society welcomed the new federal data showing a surging number of birdwatchers, wildlife photographers and other wildlife watchers. They increased from 62.8 million in 1996 to 71.1 million in 2006, spending $45 billion on their activities compared to $75 billion spent by hunters and anglers.

"The American attitude regarding wildlife is changing," Page said. "I suspect the day will come when a presidential candidate goes to a local humane society to adopt a homeless animal, rather than go the field and pose as hunter with a gun."

However, hunting groups and state wildlife agencies are striving to reverse the decline by recruiting new hunters. Vermont's Game and Wildlife Department, for example, sponsors thrice-annual youth hunting weekends, offers low-cost youth licenses and teaches firearms safety and outdoor skills each summer at youth conservation camps.

Another initiative is Families Afield, sponsored by three national hunting groups; it aims to ease state restrictions on youth hunting. At least 12 states have obliged, enabling thousands of youths to sample hunting before taking required hunter education courses.

Other programs seek to attract more women, though few promote racial diversity. More than 90 percent of U.S. hunters are male; roughly 96 percent are white.

Rob Sexton, a vice president of the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, said one upside of the shrinking numbers is that hunting groups are more motivated to seek remedies, such as access to more land and less burdensome regulations.

"There are still a lot of us," he said. "Hunting is a great passion for our people."

It sure as hell hasn't dropped here!

I live in central pa and in our local newspaper it made the headlines. they say there is a significant drop in hunters here but i just looked to see how many doe lisences were left and there werent to many, there were only a couple WMU's that any left. So i dont see where they get their info from.

Michigan numbers have been on the decline. Not a good sign, as all of Southeastern Michigan is Liberal Democrat, and they elected a Democrat Governor.

Don

I have two friends that hunt only because I took the time to get them hunting. Now they will be passing it on to their children.

If you can get two people out hunting, be it big game or bird hunting, you will have done your part to make sure our sport stays alive.

Just some thoughts....

I live in Kansas where it is very difficult to get good deer land to hunt. Increasingly, land is being leased in large quantities to deer outfitters, which may have impact on the little guys. Almost all land is private, and some counties it seems almost impossible to get permission. Remember unit 12 in the late 90's? Geez, the deer were so overpopulated and tearing up all the farmers crops that Wildlife and Parks finally gave in to the farmers and issued all kinds of extra tags, but the problems persisted for many years because people could not get permission to hunt them.

Maybe it has to do the the baby boom popuation getting older. Urbanization and increases in population are also factors.

I've also noticed that many farm kids, even though they have land, never stayed interested in hunting past childhood, if at all.

I don't know. I just hope there will be just as many opportunities for future generations as there was for past generations.

Kudu56... You are right!! The numbers have gone way up, The draw has gotten terrible!! Every place I go there are more hunters. Last Saturday, a 6000ac BLM area had 10 horse trailers parked at it , they killed 3 elk and ran the rest onto private land.

I actually agree that there are fewer hunters nationwide, a truly disturbing trend. However, in my experience there are more hunters on available public land because of the increasing difficulty of obtaining permission to hunt private property. This is also apparent in the "lottery," in which draw odds have decreased dramatically as more and more people apply for limited entry hunts because they no longer have access to private land or readily available tags. The bad thing, as more and more people are concentrated on smaller plots of public land, the overall experience will be degraded, making it even more difficult to keep new hunters interested.

Although it really chaps my ass, I've pretty much relegated myself to the fact that I will have to continue paying increasing costs to maintain a hunting lifestyle and to get and keep my kids interested in it. It's that or let them get sucked into the electronic gaming world or tagging rock walls downtown. I'd rather spend my money taking my kids hunting than on Nintendo...

I moved here chasing work more than 12 years ago and finally gave in to the commercialization. I joined a hunting club for the land access because there are so many hunters stacked up on public land it isn't safe, and the hunting was terrible.

The CO DOW has made the process of actually getting a big game hunting license such a mess that is it any wonder why new hunters (including my 14 year old son ) get discouraged. Some areas that historically were 'over the counter licenses have now become a mission of many years. It is conceivable that he could wait until he was of legal drinking age to get a desired license. That won't hold his interest very long. The DOW will slowly work themselves out of jobs and never even realize it.
As for fishing....you should read the fishing regs for CO...its like reading a dictionary/encylopedia. No wonder people lose interest. It has been "reg-ed" to death.

Tropy hunting also has driven the price of hunting beyond the average hunter inlots of places..The price of gas has really effected alot of hunters making less trips.The decline of two parent families also hurt hunting.
There is a way to save hunting.If you take as many women and children hunting and get them started it will save our sport.I have taken 15 kids and 4 women hunting .I taught them to hunt the way my father had when I grew up.There needs to be more small game hunting for kids to start on.I take kids grouse hunting to break them in.My dad use to take every one of my friends and their dads hunting.This was in the days when we had 5,000 acres to hunt with little or no cost to hunt the land.Today the same area is $60 an acre.The areas that are trophy managed cost around $5000 a year for trophy deer management.Its up to us as hunters to preserve hunting.A hundred years ago Teddy Roosevelt saved the land which we hunt upon today and the big game animals we hunt and its our turn to save hunting.The loss of habitat,cost of hunting,loss of the family unit and antihunting is our biggest threats today.If each hunter introduced 20 kids into hunting instead of making sure he killed the biggest trophy we would save hunting forever.Hunters also have to stick together more than they do.I see too much conflict in hunting to keep us together as one unit.If you dont like one type of hunting such as over bait or hunting with dogs learn to understand why its important to hunt this way instead of trashing that way of hunting.Canned hunts behind fences will ruin our sport and will become the main stay if not kept in check.Its the freedon of the animals we hunt and trying to out smart the animal that makes it such an awesome sport not having the most money to kill the biggest animal that was raised in a pen.We have to return to the roots of hunting as a family and have hunting as a family not as just a competition between others.

quote:

Originally posted by skb2706:
The CO DOW has made the process of actually getting a big game hunting license such a mess that is it any wonder why new hunters (including my 14 year old son ) get discouraged.

As an Alaskan, I am blessed with excellent hunting and fishing opportunities. I like less competition.

On the Colorado big game whine, My kid drew a Mule Deer tag last year and I'm hunting Unit 67 for a trophy muley in a little over a month.

If the application process this that difficult (I don't think so) then it keeps the idiots from obtaining a tag - you are hunting with folks above average intelligence. Unfortunately, all the idiots are the poachers anyway.


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