Upcoming Trends?

[Jackson Marsh]

I’ve never been one to follow a trend. Start your own trend and keep it to yourself. About the time something gets too popular I change it up and move onto something else. Last thing I wanna do is follow the popular trend. It’s kinda funny it seems things I did many years ago suddenly become the “in” thing to do now. Guess I’m way ahead of my time but too dumb to realize it.

Okay mister pellet smoker

Some trends are tasty

[Dewey]

I’ve never been one to follow a trend. Start your own trend and keep it to yourself. About the time something gets too popular I change it up and move onto something else. Last thing I wanna do is follow the popular trend. It’s kinda funny it seems things I did many years ago suddenly become the “in” thing to do now. Guess I’m way ahead of my time but too dumb to realize it.

Okay mister pellet smoker

Some trends are tasty

Yeah that’s one trend I’m happy to follow.

[Hookslinger]

When I got into mobile hunting lately I chose a saddle and got some beast sticks. I try not to get caught up in trends when it comes to set ups and equipment. Its easy to jump on the latest and geatest type of set ups especially when it comes to bows, arrows, ect. BUT what do I really need? A set up that allows me to fatally and quickly shoot a deer that is within bow range. Thats it!

[MATexbow]

This isn't a trend yet but Dan's frog-legs are a godsend and by far the best foot gear for staying dry and comfortable in very wet conditions and terrain. Only draw back is how noisy they are but I am amazed that they are not more popular.

[Lockdown]

I'm going with out of state hunting. People that watch thp will think they can go anywhere and get monsters on the ground.

That's kinda what I was thinking. All the new people who are hunting public land, who are actually enjoying it and having fun but wanting to escape the higher hunter density areas.

NR hunting has been on the upswing for a while and it’s very evident with point creep. When I first applied in SD i got a West river any deer tag with 0 points. Takes 3 or so to draw there now. And I burned 6 in the county I went to last fall. I figured my chance of drawing was 60-70%.

I think a lot of the guys that head out of state will do so a couple times and realize it’s not as easy as all the online kill pics and THP make it look.

All trends eventually fade. And regardless of what the trend is, the goal remains the same. Outwork and outsmart the other guys.

[Rich M]

Good post!

I agree with the ground hunting. Back in the 70s and early 80s we didn't hunt out of trees often, had to learn the nuances of that, now the young guys think hunting off the ground is something new and will have to learn the nuances of that.

Similar trends with arrows and forward weighting of the arrows. Again, folks were doing this years ago.

Can also remember articles in magazines where saddles and getting high (40 ft in some instances) were the way to get big bucks.

I also agree with the traveling salesman type hunter - where I'm at - you have to travel to hunt. I can drive 6 hours and still be in FL, but still drove 6 hours and am hunting diff deer than where I live. Then comes the big antler thing - where I hunt in FL and GA, big bucks are not a realistic expectation. Also can't get muleys or elk or antelope or bears around here either. Then we need to add in the loss of hunting opportunities in the more heavily populated states. Traveling to hunt will only increase into the future and it will get to the point where a lot of guys will stop hunting if they can't travel.

[nsmith253]

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.

[Hawthorne]

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.

Great post. Just listened to part of a podcast Zach from THP talking about eventually buying his own land. I think you have a good prediction

[Jurist]

Zach and the Hunting Public crew dominated the ground game this year. It was so much fun watching these guys success.

So yes I would say ground game could trend.

I hunt a lot more off the ground because of them. Sometimes there just isn't tree. And when there is on the ground is just a little more exciting.

[Jurist]

I think the trend will be e-bikes

Agree! I modded a 25 year old mountain bike with an electric motor kit and it was AWESOME to use this season!

Do you have any pics of this?

[ajack]

I killed my buck this year from the ground. It was the first time ever doing so and it was awesome. Now that I have some confidence in it I will definitely be doing that more often. Especially for evening hunts after work. It'll save so much hassle and time as opposed to setting my stand with a limited time window.

[Coalcracker]

A lot more stand hunting in thick bedding areas on public. With the new mobile trend hitting the woods, I suspect more deer will be getting bumped than dumped. Do opposite of others.

In my mind its relative to the situation. I don't always do the same thing, one day its mobile, the next its stand hunting. All depends, but, if a bunch of mobile bow hunters get to pushing deer around on certain parcels I hunt, I'll be hanging in a tree along the escape routes and thick bedding locations like I'm rifle hunting.

Much of the trendy things have already been mentioned. Some I just don't like, I like traditional. In fact, I've thought about going in the opposite direction and killing deer with a recurve. Something I've never done.

[Bowmet]

I hope that mentoring other, inexperienced hunters will trend. I think this will counteract a lot of the comments about the hunters who are gear-centric, but don’t know how to hunt. That fad irritates me, but some of these hunters are the future of the sport we love. Dan has modeled mentoring well and I’m looking for an opportunity to share what I know with someone who wants to learn. Finding that person is the hard part.

[Jurist]

I hope that mentoring other, inexperienced hunters will trend. I think this will counteract a lot of the comments about the hunters who are gear-centric, but don’t know how to hunt. That fad irritates me, but some of these hunters are the future of the sport we love. Dan has modeled mentoring well and I’m looking for an opportunity to share what I know with someone who wants to learn. Finding that person is the hard part.

Here could be your craigslist ad:

sung to the tune of "escape"

I was tired of my lone wolf
it was time to move on
Like your favorite grunt call
that you hang on the wall

Do you like walk'n in the swamp?
And getting caught in the rain?
Are you not into bait piles?
Do you have half a brain?

Did you like climbing trees as a kid?
and the smell of the same.
I will teach you to beast hunt
through the snow and the rain.

Meet me tomorrow at noon
and we will kill us Boone.

[jkelley1487]

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.

Awesome post. I think you could be right. I at least hope land prices go down but who knows. They’re as high as they’ve ever been in my area.