Declining number of hunters? Your thoughts?

[addisonlee]

As you know sport hunting has been woven into Wisconsin’s culture and economy for 100 years, but there are many changes in society that make its future uncertain. Declining participation by both youth and adults in hunting suggests that new initiatives may be necessary to maintain its relevance to a changing society. How do we make sure our traditions survive? How and who should be introduced to hunting? What opportunities will they have? How will the conservation ethic be perpetuated? Have you personally seen a decrease in the WI hunting population?

I've been invite to participate in a WI-DNR Hunting Future Search Conference in Febraury and would like to hear from all my BEAST brothers on their thoughts on this subject. The objective of this conference is to develop action strategies that the hunting community can take to enhance the future of hunting in Wisconsin.

Thanks in advance for all your input. You're all a great group of guys on here.

Addison Lee
President - Hmong American Sportsmen Club

*If I posted this in the wrong thread, I apologize in advance to Dan, Carol and Dan Jr.

[JV NC]

I hear declining hunting participation cited all the time. What I've also realized is.....most times people aren't citing actual hunter numbers. They're citing a decline in the percentage of people who hunt, in relation to the population of the county/state/etc....

I don't think hunter numbers are declining.

[addisonlee]

I hear declining hunting participation cited all the time. What I've also realized is.....most times people aren't citing actual hunter numbers. They're citing a decline in the percentage of people who hunt, in relation to the population of the county/state/etc....

I don't think hunter numbers are declining.

Could you elaborate? I'm very interested in your insight on this topic. Thanks.

[jlh42581]

I think TV has made archery really popular. I see more and more people.

I actually wish it would go down. My state boast 750,000 registered deer hunters, over 950,000 general license holders

[addisonlee]

I think TV has made archery really popular. I see more and more people.

I actually wish it would go down. My state boast 750,000 registered deer hunters, over 950,000 general license holders

Thanks for your reply. Interesting numbers from PA, similar to WI.

[Dewey]

I have seen a huge increase in the number of bowhunters in the last 10 years or so. I agree with the large amount of hunting shows on TV having something to do with this. Bowhunting has become the "in" thing to do.

As far as gun hunters I would say it's about the same amount.

I don't believe what they say about declining hunter numbers. If anything the problem is that the average age has been going up because not enough recruitment of younger hunters. I see alot of people getting into it later in their life instead.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Zap]

Definate increase in bowhunter numbers.

[headgear]

I hear declining hunting participation cited all the time. What I've also realized is.....most times people aren't citing actual hunter numbers. They're citing a decline in the percentage of people who hunt, in relation to the population of the county/state/etc....

I don't think hunter numbers are declining.

I have always kind of wondered this myself. It seems like the numbers aren't really dropping but they are not keeping up with the general population growth. Like Dewey said this is much more of a recruitment problem. When I was a kid everyone I know hunted, along the way most of them just stopped hitting the woods.

[goldtip5575]

Bowhunters numbers are up but gun hunting numbers are down.Most of the places we used to have access for gun hunting (deer drives) have been leased out to 1 or 2 hunters.Others have been sold with access denied.And others family relation have taken up hunting.The days of the huge deer drive crews are almost a thing of the past around here.What used to be 4 different groups of 10-15 guys pushing hard every day are now getting together a day or two.If you dont have places to go this is where you are going to lose your hunters.The more deer hunting becomes a pay to play sport the more hunters you will lose.

[JV NC]

Numbers v. percentage.....I'll give it the old college try...lol.

Let's say there were 200,000 hunters in NC (purely made-up number) in the year 2000. Let's say (another purely made-up number) the population of NC in 2000 was 6M.

The percentage of people who hunted (v. the overall population - in the year 2000) would have been just north of 3%.

Let's fast-forward to 2011. The number of hunters in NC (again...made up for the sake of the example) is again, 200,000. But, the population has risen to 7M.

One could cite the percentage of hunters in NC has fallen. But, the truth would be....the number of hunters hasn't changed.

I hope that made sense.

[Buckfever]

There is a massive reduction in the amount of hunters here in the urban setting. It's just that the hunting opportunity available has outpaced it by a factor of maybe 10/1 so while there are slightly less hunters they are competing for a much smaller hunting opportunity so the pressure on the properties has gone through the roof. Additionally the pressure is not intelligent pressure so the deer are even more on edge. What is does though is leaves certain areas completely unhunted, so guys like us can carve out areas for ourselves.

[dan]

I believe hunter numbers are declining, but at the same time female hunters is increasing.

[ozzz]

I hope they continue to go down.

[Josh]

There are a lot of people taking up archery and taking the bows to the woods, But I wouldn't call a lot of them hunters! In my part of the country, Ethics are at an all time low especially with the young hunters. I mean teenagers to early 20's. Very few die hards around here, I think hunting shows are making these new "bow hunters" think they have to kill a boon and crockett buck no matter what it takes. Poaching is so bad around here I have even heard a lot of these POS saying they bought bows so they would be quiet shooting out of a truck! I guess I better get off my soap box I'm just making myself mad!

[BackWoodsHunter]

I'm seeing more bowhunters, I think the crossbows have helped a lot of older guys, like my grandpa, who shot bows years ago then set them down get back into it.

I think the excitement in the way its portrayed on TV has the newest hunters trying both bow and gun hunting rather than just gun hunting. The amount of youth hunters bowhunting is bringing some of the middle aged guys into it because they are doing it with their kids.

I think overall popularity of it is growing and I think there are more people hunting with bows now than even a couple years ago. No numbers to back it up, just an observation spending time on the public ground and in the woods where we own land. Lots more activity on the weekends in recent years than the past.