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Author
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Topic: Is hunting getting more popular?
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Lonny
PANTS ON THE GROUND
Member # 19
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posted August 22, 2006 01:41 PM
I always read about how hunting is dying due to lack of new hunters. Supposedly kids are into sports, video games, etc.. and not into getting up early and chasing wild animals. I don't have satellite TV, but I am amazed at the numbers of shows that are about hunting. In one evening a guy can shoot Cape Buffalo and Dall Sheep right from his couch. The other night I saw a guy make his FIRST kill ever with any weapon, kill a whitetail buck big enough to go into the record book.
I had a contractor stop by the other day and when the guy pulled up in his F350 with 36" Monster Mudders. His rear window was all decked out in decals picturing arrows, bows, elk, deer, you name it.. Decals with sayings like, "compound users get deeper penetration" that sort of thing. It was easy to tell this guy was a hard-core hunter.
I have a few dead things hanging around the house and all this guy wanted to do was talk hunting once he saw them. He told me all about the new bow he had ordered and couldn't wait for hunting season. I asked him if he rifle hunted also? He got a strange look on his face and said, "guns scare me!" I was more than a little surprised at this and after a little coaxing he admitted to never having killed anything in his life, but bowhunting was for him! Because of the challenge it offered over rifle hunting.
I see lots of guys driving around proudly displaying their hunting heritage, but it has me wondering if they really hunt? Are they doing it to just look cool? What about where you live.
Posts: 1209 | From: Lewiston, Idaho USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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RagnCajn
ADDS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING
Member # 879
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posted August 22, 2006 02:21 PM
Lonny, I have seen this escalate over the years. I call them Cabela shooters. If you outlawed baiting, 4 wheelers, heated stands and high fences, there would be very few "hunters" left.
Leasing and paying high bucks for a deer to hang on the wall was created by the video sellers. It is called free enterprise.
This in turn brought about a whole new breed of game shooters. They have the money and are willing to pay for the opportunity to harvest a record book game animal. They would get no pleasure in scouting a piece of land and sitting in a brush blind or a board nailed across a limb while freezing their toes off to harvest a small 6 pt.
These are the same guys, that when they get a nice buck/turkey/insert what you may here/ they drive around showing it off till the hair begions to slip.
It is only getting worse. Coyote hunting is just hitting this area. I hunted coyotes for 10 or so years before anyone else did around here. The Bass Pro got put in and all those videos are playing when I go in. They still haven't figured out how those quilting videos keep ending up in their machines after I leave.
Posts: 362 | From: Shreveport LA | Registered: Jul 2006
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NASA
Knows what it's all about
Member # 177
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posted August 22, 2006 03:10 PM
Posers! They're all around us. If you've paid your dues, you know one when you see/hear one.
Posts: 1168 | From: Typical White Person | Registered: Apr 2003
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The Outdoor Tripp
Knows what it's all about
Member # 619
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posted August 22, 2006 05:47 PM
Hunting more popular? Not a chance. In almost every state licenses are down (long term trend) and the average age of a hunter is climbing.
Predator and turkey hunting are growing in popularity, but overall, hunting is in a sad slow slide.
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The Outdoor Tripp
www.theoutdoortripp.com
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
Posts: 805 | From: Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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Joe Manes
Knows what it's all about
Member # 686
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posted August 22, 2006 06:30 PM
I think there are a lot of "transitional" hunters.
They get into it for 1/2 seasons, and then it is off to something else.
Posts: 31 | From: Phoenix | Registered: Jul 2005
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted August 22, 2006 07:14 PM
Back in my college days, we were taught of a survey that is conducted every 5 years and, at that time ((mid-80's), the number of people getting involved in hunting was on a slight increase, but that growth didn't keep up with population growth nationwide and when compared with overall population growth, the net result was a slow decline.
As Tripp pointed out, the past decade has shown a slow slide from what I recall reading and the future doesn't look good as far as recuuitment goes.
I disagree that most people are 1/2-season hunters. In truth, the majority are opening weekenders and that's about it. In many states, they push that "opening weekend" issue to their favor and split the seasons to create 2 or more "opening weekends". The result is usually more people out those openers with subsequent weekends dropping off precipitously.
I don't think these numbers hold true for coyote callers. We're out before and after everyone else, and in the most brutal of conditions, and we're proud of it. I think we're all a little sick in the head.
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5438 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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Joe Manes
Knows what it's all about
Member # 686
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posted August 22, 2006 07:53 PM
OOOPS!!!
I mean one or two season hunters.
My bad.
Posts: 31 | From: Phoenix | Registered: Jul 2005
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varmit hunter
Knows what it's all about
Member # 37
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posted August 23, 2006 10:59 AM
The number of hunters may be down, but the number of experts is skyrocketing.
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Make them pay for the wind.
Posts: 932 | From: Orange,TX | Registered: Jan 2003
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted August 23, 2006 11:43 AM
Now, that's funny, I don't care who you are!
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31449 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Andy L
HI, I'M THE NEW MODERATOR OF THE CENTRAL MISSOURI FORUM, PULL MY FINGER!
Member # 642
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posted August 23, 2006 11:47 AM
It dont take long to become a expert Ronnie. Not when you can get 10 yrs experience in 365 days like BS. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif) ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) ( I shouldnt say that since I dont know the guy. Just a playful jab where everyone else throws it.)
Seriously, theres alot of truth in that. Internet has escalated the expert status, IMO. Used to, in every locality, there was an expert deer hunter, always killed a big buck every year. He paid his dues, but he was consitant. He could walk in a room and folks would whisper (good things) to each other and held him high. Same with trapping, coyote calling, coon hounds, ect.... Always an expert in that area at that species.
Seems the internet has brought alot of those folks together. And, due to egos, they dont like being the small fish in a big pond. Dont like having equals or even superiors. I think that causes alot of clashes and bruised egos.
Then, you got those who would have never amounted to anything, and still wont in reality, all smoke and mirrors, if it hadnt been for the internet. Maybe would have never been anything more than a recreational, weekend warrior, but got on a board, learned about calling and made a video or 5 and some bucks.
Its not just with calling either. As far as TV stars go, anyway. I know of two local guys (semi local) that have a pretty well known hunting and fishing show. Thing is, you never see them without a guide, on the water or in the field. I have been asked to guide them before for bass and refuse. They are jacklegs and I want nothing to do with them. Whats really funny is you never see either one at a pay window at a bass tournament. One of them has cashed a few checks, but all have been right in front of the weigh in cove from released fish, and they were very small tournaments. They are far from experts at anything, but they did market themselves well. And stepped on some toes along the way.
I will get off now. What do I know after all. Im still trying to make master jacker, like Cal and Q.....
As for the original question, I would have to say no. About the same with the age going up. Not many take their kids anymore. Thats sad. I couldnt imagine not taking my boys hunting or fishing....
JMHO
[ August 23, 2006, 12:01 PM: Message edited by: Andy L ]
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Andy
Posts: 2645 | From: Central Missouri | Registered: Apr 2005
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varmit hunter
Knows what it's all about
Member # 37
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posted August 23, 2006 12:21 PM
I am sure I posted this before. I was a speaker at a very large banquet. The master of ceremonies introduced me as a expert game caller. I thanked him for the fine introduction. Then told the crowd that in my opinion a expert is someone that has made all the mistakes, and folks that's sure not me.
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Make them pay for the wind.
Posts: 932 | From: Orange,TX | Registered: Jan 2003
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JD
HONORARY OKIE .... and Tim's at fault!
Member # 768
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posted August 23, 2006 02:46 PM
If making all sorts of mistakes is what`s required to be an expert than I must be getting close.
I know what you meant VH, someone who truly is good at something has been down the wrong road a time or two.
I`m undecided about the number & age of people that are hunting. Living within throwing distance of Cabelas has given me opportunity to overhear some interesting conversations over the past several years, it seems like there are a lot of "new" hunters but many of them are adults just getting started, maybe with guided hunts becoming more & more popular they are finally in a financial position to take up hunting as an adult....I don`t know but I can`t imagine what life would be like without hunting as a child, those are some good memories for sure.
I don`t see a lot of folks like Andy who encourage their children to hunt anymore, maybe with all the social pressure & the crap our kids are taught about hunting & guns in general they`ve decided it`s not worth it or more likely, completely misunderstand it.
I`ve shot PDs with Andy & his oldest son & I had a blast seeing Austin so excited about it & to top it off he outshot the both of us. ![[Wink]](wink.gif)
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Jason
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What do Obama & TA17Rem have in common........both are clueless asshats!!!
Posts: 1456 | From: NE. | Registered: Dec 2005
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Kokopelli
SENIOR DISCOUNT & Dispenser of Sage Advice
Member # 633
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posted August 23, 2006 03:49 PM
Maybe it just seems like there are more hunters each year because each year there is less land to hunt on.
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And lo, the Light of the Trump shown upon the Darkness and the Darkness could not comprehend it.
Posts: 7576 | From: Under a wandering star | Registered: Apr 2005
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Lonny
PANTS ON THE GROUND
Member # 19
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posted August 23, 2006 04:11 PM
I see where Cabelas has been mentioned a few times... I was just looking at my new Cabelas catalog and noticed where they are adding 12 new stores in 2006-07. This will add to the 14 existing stores across the country. Somebody must be buying Scent-loc camo...
It must have something to do with the fact that people spend a whole lot more money on hunting nowadays. Maybe more people hunted 40 years ago, but they didn't spend much doing it.
I apply for several lottery hunts in a couple different states each year. Some of the odds are literally 1 in a 1000. Even lottery hunts that had 50% odds 8-10 years ago are now 10% or less. And the numbers applying for those hunts keep climbing.
I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but look at how predator hunting has grown the past few years.
[ August 23, 2006, 04:12 PM: Message edited by: Lonny ]
Posts: 1209 | From: Lewiston, Idaho USA | Registered: Jan 2003
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DAA
Utah/Promoted WESTERN REGIONAL Hunt Director
Member # 11
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posted August 24, 2006 07:57 AM
The number of hunters has increased, is increasing in Utah. More people hunting and buying licenses here now than there were years ago. But, as a percentage of the population, hunter numbers are going down, down down. When I was a kid, the schools closed for the Fri. before and the Mon. after the opening of deer season. So many families went deer hunting, there wasn't much point in the schools being open. I don't know what the percentage is now, but I'd bet less than one kid in 40 is going to miss a day of school for deer hunting now.
- DAA
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"Oh yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom, but they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em." -- George Hanson, Easy Rider, 1969.
Rocky Mountain Varmint Hunter
Posts: 2676 | From: Salt Lake City, UT | Registered: Jan 2003
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UTcaller
NEVADA NIGHT FIGHTER
Member # 8
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posted August 24, 2006 08:41 AM
DAA,
I think that is because of the cap on hunting licenses.And forcing people to choose an area to hunt.And having people apply for tags.Kind of taken the whole family experience out of the equation.The Bucks aren't what they used to be either.Yea, there are still some nice bucks out there but not like there were in the 70's and 80's.Same thing with the Pheasant hunting,used to be second only to deer hunting but times have changed.Good Hunting Chad
Posts: 1612 | From: Utah | Registered: Jan 2003
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JoeF
resides "back east"
Member # 228
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posted August 24, 2006 01:04 PM
I'm sure there is a lot of "show but little go", but imagine that there has always been a lot of that.
I truely feel sorry for a person that is thinking about starting to hunt on his own as an adult, never having had the benefit of all of the free knowledge that he would have gained growing up with it.
The price tag alone would scare off a lot of people of modest means. With all of the stuff that is marketed towards the beginner he would think he'd have to spend more than 100% of his annual discretionary income, just to get started.
Gotta have that $500-$1000 electronic gizmo. Hand calls are the tool of experts.
Gotta have that scent lock suit at maybe $500 (?), everybody knows that you can't kill any thing dressed in army surplus camo, let alone a flannel shirt and jeans.
Gotta have a $600-$1000 dollar scope for that $550 rifle.
Gotta have camo'd scent locked $150 boots, lord knows you can't shoot critters in plain ole boots or tennies.
Gotta have them special knives, an Old Timer folding knife would never work. Better buy a commercial tail splitter, also. Get a tail stripper while you're at it, those ole broken off sticks don't work no more. Add another $100-$200.
Better spend another $100(?) on soap, sprays, shampoo, detergent, etc...
Over $4000, potentially, just to figure out whether you're gonna enjoy a sport that gets you up at oh dark thirty and out in the cold and slop. No wonder NASCAR is getting so popular.
Man, I admire anybody who really picks it up on their own and does more than just slap decals in the back window.
Take your kids hunting, you'll save them a ton of money in their early days.
[ August 24, 2006, 01:11 PM: Message edited by: JoeF ]
Posts: 646 | From: Midwest | Registered: Aug 2003
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TRnCO
FUTURE HALL OF FAMER
Member # 690
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posted August 24, 2006 06:10 PM
Taken from my latest "American Hunter". The number of sportsmen shrank by 7% between '91 to '01, but then actually rose from 14,740,188 in '03 to 14,779,071 in '04. the number of American hunters has been slowly declining for decades, but not diving off a statistical cliff. And spending on equipment and hunting trips between '91 to '01 actually went up 29%.
For those of us that live "out west", we obviosuly have more public lands available. The hunters in the east are really feeling the pinch from the loss of lands to leasing, development, etc. The states that have implemented some sort of "walk-in" programs are helping, but the scary part is that 2.2 million acres of land were developed from '92 to '02. I hate to hear an update of that number, it would be numbing I beleive.
SO, with all that said, I agree, loss of land access is hurting us most!
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Is it hunting season yet? I hate summer!
Posts: 996 | From: Elizabeth, CO | Registered: Aug 2005
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted August 24, 2006 06:55 PM
Joe,
I got decals on my truck windows promoting my calls, but I'm in that group you describe as self-taught. My dad and my ganddad were all sight dog runners. I started my addiction from the front seat of a pickup at 3 years old - 38 years ago. I was the first in my family to take up calling. Self taught. Stuck with it.
TR,
I agree. Three years ago, the local Pheasants Forever President hit me up for a donation of taxidermy work. I declined and offered him a few calls instead. He asked me why I wouldn't give more. I told him it was simple - PF, DU, WTF, QU... all of them, are missing the boat today. Sure, twenty-five years ago when they all chartered under the premise that habitat and fencerow to fencerow farming were wiping out our wildlife resources, developing and preserving crucial nesting/ bredding habitat was a big necessity. Then, shortly afterwards, the Farm Bill was passed and you and I, by way of our tax dollars, underwrote the development and creation of millions of acres of prime habitat across the country. As was forewarned in KS, along came outside influences once we started coughing up giant whitetail deer leasing up all that CRP ground so they could bring in big money non-residents to hunt those proverbial "deer behind every tree". Because of this trend, today it's growing harder and harder for a regular guy to find even a marginal place to hunt. My son hunted deer one year on the best ground I could find available - ground I wouldn't even had looked twice at myself, but it was all we could get on. He was so bored and disappointed that he's found other interests, despite my best recruitment efforts.
I told my buddy, the Pres, that the threat to hunting is no longer loss of habitat. We have more of that than we know what to do with. The threat is loss of access for guys that can't afford to pay a grand a year to hunt one parcel of land.
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5438 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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Rob
Knows what it's all about
Member # 75
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posted August 24, 2006 08:11 PM
[ September 02, 2006, 09:09 AM: Message edited by: Rob ]
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"Where did all these #$%^&* Indians come from?" Gen. George Armstrong Custer
Posts: 224 | From: Clancy Montana | Registered: Feb 2003
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JoeF
resides "back east"
Member # 228
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posted August 25, 2006 04:07 AM
CDog, I take it you were around other types of hunting. The guy I'm talking about is the one who enters in to the sport as a young adult, possibly with the "makins" of a family, with absolutely no hunting background or equipment. Even make it a city guy that hasn't got much in the line of waterproof and warm clothing.
The price tag has got to appear overwelming, relative to other types of recreation.
I don't know anyone personally that chose calling as their first form of hunting on their own. I do know several people who chose bow hunting (deer) as their first type of hunting in their adult years. They are some of the most dedicated people I know to their pursuit, but also the most "gear gulable". It makes me cringe when I see the money they throw at gear.
Oh well, it's only money. Bass boats and Harleys are a bit "cashie".
Posts: 646 | From: Midwest | Registered: Aug 2003
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TRnCO
FUTURE HALL OF FAMER
Member # 690
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posted August 25, 2006 06:02 AM
Cdog, I'm sure you're fully aware of this little fact, that KS. is only comprised of approx. 2% of public lands, not counting the approx. 1 million acres of walk-in lands. I don't think there is a state with less public owned lands. And like you said, the leasing is not only making it tough to find a place for the average hunter to hunt, BUT land prices are also going through the roof, and it's not the farmers that are buying the land because they know that they can't make ends meet at the prices that the land is selling for.
There is some hope for KS. though. I recieved a survey from them a while back and they are looking into possible changes for several current hunting laws. Such as possibly doing away with the T-tag. Like you said, the outfitters bringing in the rich out-of-staters that are paying outragous prices to hunt deer and turkey is really making it hard on the local hunters to find descent access.
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Is it hunting season yet? I hate summer!
Posts: 996 | From: Elizabeth, CO | Registered: Aug 2005
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