nsmith253 wrote:This is probably way too big picture, but I think demographics explain a ton of the media and tactics/equipment trends described in this thread. A factor in the future trends of deer hunting will be the transfer of land ownership over the next 15-20 years. Not trying to make this political, just looking at the data, we know the Baby Boomers have ~55% of the nation’s wealth, while Gen X and Millennials have about ~16% and ~5% respectively, and of course Gen Z less than that.
Depending on how you define those generations, younger Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z now make up probably 95%+ of the guys healthy enough to be hunting the way we talk about on the Beast. There’s also been a large rural to urban migration over the last 20 years following the job market, especially for us younger folks (I’m 29, for reference). Data also shows that we’re delaying marriage, homeownership, and having kids much longer than previous generations.
You have geographic concentrations of young hunters in prime health with not a ton of money, lower land ownership rates, and less access to other private land. But we have more free time, less obligations with kids or ties to one place. We also have the benefits of the latest technology, whether it’s learning the tactics online or watching YouTube, using satellite photos or OnX, or the lightest equipment to cover more ground and make it easier to get to those *spots*. We’re also the ones watching a lot of the “new media” of hunting, like The Hunting Beast, THP, MeatEater and many others. We see guys having success and of course want to emulate that.
All that is a long-winded way to say here’s my prediction: As the older generation passes on or otherwise cannot maintain those traditional deer camp or recreational properties, a ton of them are going to be coming onto the market and will drive down prices. Of the people my age who have moved to the suburbs/city and have family who own land unfortunately very few are interested beyond the money they can get out of it (speaking generally). They’ll AirBnB the cabin, lease the land, or they’ll sell it.
That will coincide with my age group (+/- 5 years) of hunters settling down in one place, starting to think about our families, our futures, and the legacies we’ll leave. I think there will be a shift in the media that follows from hardcore public hunting to sustainable management and harvesting on smaller tracts of private land for wildlife, because that will be more obtainable for the average guy than it is today. Think what Steve Rinella and Mark Kenyon are doing with the Back 40 series on YouTube. This combined with the hopeful continued success of initiatives to secure more public land across the country will reduce some of the increase of pressure we're currently seeing on public.
I would say this is correct. I just payed for 260 trees to be delivered this spring for habitat improvements on my in-laws farm. They have deer but it could be a lot better with a little effort. I plan to plant trees every year going forward.
I finally got them to stop haying a few small pieces and I put up a stand for my father in law on one spot they didn’t hay. He hunted an hour for his buck and the lightbulb finally went on. 3 bales worth a $150 or better deer hunting.
I have a friend who planted 20,000 trees on his land to improve the deer habitat. He’s owned the land for over 5 years and doesn’t even deer hunt it. Just wants to see more wildlife. Right now he hunts out west on huge tracks of public. He said some day he’ll deer hunt his stuff when he’s old and when he dies there will still be the trees and hopefully lots of deer for someone else.