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Good Article on Hunting Trends in the U.S.


archer36

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It has a lot of info to absorb if you have the time. 

In a nutshell, in areas where urban populations are on the rise, hunting participation decreases. In rural states that have seen population growth, hunting has also increased. I guess the hunting population is moving around as well as declining. 

https://www.outdoorlife.com/why-we-are-losing-hunters-and-how-to-fix-it?cmpid=ene20190207&utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&cid=49113&mid=426517980

Edited by archer36
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It’s very hard in today’s society.  I’m in the woods everyday of my life.  I shoot archery or guns everyday of my life.  My kids see my obsession with the outdoors and the joy it brings me.  Yet, it’s hard to get my kids to enjoy the same because of the huge influence of ALL their friends.  It’s a struggle to get them away from video games or just to get them outside.  I would love to mentor or teach a young or new hunter what I have learned but I feel guilty if I’m not doing the same for my own kids.  The great outdoors is definitely a dying passion.

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8 minutes ago, Gobblengrunt said:

It’s very hard in today’s society.  I’m in the woods everyday of my life.  I shoot archery or guns everyday of my life.  My kids see my obsession with the outdoors and the joy it brings me.  Yet, it’s hard to get my kids to enjoy the same because of the huge influence of ALL their friends.  It’s a struggle to get them away from video games or just to get them outside.  I would love to mentor or teach a young or new hunter what I have learned but I feel guilty if I’m not doing the same for my own kids.  The great outdoors is definitely a dying passion.

Nice analysis GnG!  The issue is very complex and there are many reasons for the decline.....i think many state agencies can do a better job at recruiting new hunters and making their WMAs better.....you would think they would do all they can because their very existence depends on it......

Case in point.....look at the chart showing the decline in small game hunters.....its the largest decline......a contributing factor is that early successional habitat is at an all time low, in the NE anyway, and small game hunting is probably the most influential style of hunting to acquire new hunters, for reasons stated in the article mainly associated with the activity being "fun"........but our own agency would rather profit and lease fields to farmers rather than manage the WMA fields for wildlife, particularly small game, meanwhile their budget has a surplus of $1 million dollars and has had surpluses dating back to a few yrs ago as high as $5 million dollars!!!  So there is no need to lease fields to farmers for budgetary reasons......they should manage the WMAs for their present constituents and future constituents. 

Ironically enough, we will be having a rep from the Division speaking about the farm lease program at my county's federation mtg in 2 wks so it shud be interesting. 

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The lengthening of deer seasons and restructuring of pheasant stocking has crushed participation and tradition.  Even though im not much of a gun hunter, when you have months of gun season, the tradition of “buck week” is lost and unfortunately forever.  I really miss that.  The internet, social media, and tv has created this competition between hunters feeling they have to live up to or better all the fake pro staffers.  Hunting, the outdoors and its traditions are gone forever.  Its really sad.

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29 minutes ago, Bonefreak said:

Nice analysis GnG!  The issue is very complex and there are many reasons for the decline.....i think many state agencies can do a better job at recruiting new hunters and making their WMAs better.....you would think they would do all they can because their very existence depends on it......

Case in point.....look at the chart showing the decline in small game hunters.....its the largest decline......a contributing factor is that early successional habitat is at an all time low, in the NE anyway, and small game hunting is probably the most influential style of hunting to acquire new hunters, for reasons stated in the article mainly associated with the activity being "fun"........but our own agency would rather profit and lease fields to farmers rather than manage the WMA fields for wildlife, particularly small game, meanwhile their budget has a surplus of $1 million dollars and has had surpluses dating back to a few yrs ago as high as $5 million dollars!!!  So there is no need to lease fields to farmers for budgetary reasons......they should manage the WMAs for their present constituents and future constituents. 

Ironically enough, we will be having a rep from the Division speaking about the farm lease program at my county's federation mtg in 2 wks so it shud be interesting. 

That surplus if you read the annual reports is there because of Christie's salary freeze. FW anticipated at some point when a new contract was settled, which it was in 2018, fw employees were going to be given retroactive salary monies. It wasn't that they were just sitting on a pile of money trying to figure out what to do with it...

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18 minutes ago, Gobblengrunt said:

The lengthening of deer seasons and restructuring of pheasant stocking has crushed participation and tradition.  Even though im not much of a gun hunter, when you have months of gun season, the tradition of “buck week” is lost and unfortunately forever.  I really miss that.  The internet, social media, and tv has created this competition between hunters feeling they have to live up to or better all the fake pro staffers.  Hunting, the outdoors and its traditions are gone forever.  Its really sad.

We grew up in a time where if you were indoors after school, it was to get your homework done before being allowed to go outside.

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My one son deer and pheasant hunts with me, but his time is limited due to work and young daughter.  My other son enjoys archery and shooting, says he wants to start hunting - I can't wait!  I always ask but don't push too hard.  If he texts me during the day and asks me if I want to go shooting, I always say yes, even if my wife has plans.  She knows how much we both enjoy it and understands.  

As a kid in bergen county, my town had a youth league sponsored by the police.  I would come home from school on Tuesdays, grab my .22 and ride across town with the cased gun across my handle bars - imagine seeing that today?  My best friend had family in PA, where during gun season the kids would hunt their way to school, put their rifles in a gun room during the day, and after school hunt their way home.  I'm showing my age, but it seems like 3 weeks ago!!!

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2 hours ago, Gobblengrunt said:

The lengthening of deer seasons and restructuring of pheasant stocking has crushed participation and tradition.  Even though im not much of a gun hunter, when you have months of gun season, the tradition of “buck week” is lost and unfortunately forever.  I really miss that.  The internet, social media, and tv has created this competition between hunters feeling they have to live up to or better all the fake pro staffers.  Hunting, the outdoors and its traditions are gone forever.  Its really sad.

I don't agree that lengthening of deer season had anything to do with drop in participation. Past six day you only get 3 more days with shotgun and how many guys are really hunting past December. If long season was the cause we would have no bow hunters by now. Its the state of our society. When we were kids they could not keep us inside. At 7 I was all over the place and my parents only knew I was in the neighborhood playing with neighborhood kids. Today kids are at home on computers socializing via electronics.
Anyway, the anticipation is still there like it always was. First chance for a buck with a gun.

Edited by Lunatic
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good article i guess a lot of things could contribute to the decline in hunters video games sure isn't helping liberal tree hugging parents another ,the way guns are porttrayed the last twenty years, loss of lands and interest due to family work whatever . one thing no one mentions is that as americans whites in general (who are the majority of hunters) we are having kids later in life and less overall that was the real base of hunters almost every boy and some girls started to hunt like dad and grandpa as a tradition and i would say many of  you like me got friends from non hunting families into hunting  ...

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21 minutes ago, buckhound said:

good article i guess a lot of things could contribute to the decline in hunters video games sure isn't helping liberal tree hugging parents another ,the way guns are porttrayed the last twenty years, loss of lands and interest due to family work whatever . one thing no one mentions is that as americans whites in general (who are the majority of hunters) we are having kids later in life and less overall that was the real base of hunters almost every boy and some girls started to hunt like dad and grandpa as a tradition and i would say many of  you like me got friends from non hunting families into hunting  ...

Yep.....yet another factor to consider...smaller families n having kids later in life....like I said....very complexities. Maybe we shud all make a pact for next season to mentor a new adult hunter & do our part to reverse the decline!!

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