MCH Posted July 4, 2005 Report Share Posted July 4, 2005 According to a group study published by the NTWF, USSA, and NSSF, the national average hunter replacement ratio is .69. In other words, for every 100 hunters that quit the sport, 69 newcomers will take up the sport. We all need to do our share to promote hunting. Whether it be introducing our families, friends, or neighbors to the outdoors or taking a more proactive stance in the community. On a good note, the State of Oklahoma finished second to Missouri with the highest ratio. 1.1. For every 100 Oklahomans that quit hunting, 110 take their place! Find out what your state ratio is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron buck Posted July 4, 2005 Report Share Posted July 4, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics A sign of our times. When hunting.....I never even run into kids playing in the woods. And see VERY FEW youth hunters. They (young generation) are content to stay at home & play video games for the most part. A shame. And their loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddhunter Posted July 4, 2005 Report Share Posted July 4, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics I think alot of it has to do with the rising cost of our sport. You can't hardly get permission to hunt on private land anymore do to leases and ever so many poeple buying up land for developement and or deer farms which you have to pay big $$$$ to hunt on. And with the lowering of wages and rising gas and equipment prices it's hard to get out anymore. Our state is buying up more land for public hunting and fishing and all it cost us is $5 on new licenses, which I think is a very good deal. We also have a program that pays private land owners to let people hunt on thier land. In my opinion that is why we have so many hunters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilhnter Posted July 4, 2005 Report Share Posted July 4, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics i started going hunting with my dad when i was 5 as did my brother..........he took us squirrel hunting with him when we were 5 and deer hunting when we were 8. We were to young to take a gun and all that but i've been hooked. I'm now 21 and just last year i got my girlfriend to take the hunter safety course and she now will be going hunting with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gitcha_some Posted July 4, 2005 Report Share Posted July 4, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics coming from another 17 year old hunter it definantly pays to have a parents or relatives who hunt that can help on the money and land issue...a 17 year old has little to no chance of gaining property to hunt in maryland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robk Posted July 4, 2005 Report Share Posted July 4, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics money i think is the biggest issue today. they see what it takes to get started and it sucxks to be honest. and sometimes i think the manufacturers are way out of line for their products but i also know that there new innovations that demand the new prices but it does stop a lot of us from buying more of the newer products. it's too bad their isn't cost cap and that the weapons we use to hunt are sold at a certain price. i know the metals and stuff are gettign higher and the big bow companies feel they should charge this or that price to get themoney needed but i guess that is why they have the lower end bows and arrows and even the rifles and blackopowder guns are going up by leaps and bounds. it is going to end up where the weapns being bought will be from private citizens because you can get cheaper stuff from them and more and more people are buying into reloading as well as buying shafts and going with products like the turbo nocks as it is cheaper than trying to get feathers for their arrows and ot os a vicious cycle right now and costly rob k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDubWSR Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics well coming from an 18 year old hunter, i also believe that involvment from and older individual is very important. i caught my first fish on my 3rd birthday with my parents and my father has always taken me dove hunting with him. My dad isnt very into deer or turkey hunting, but one of my dad's best friends is. he hunts our land with me and has always been more than willing to help my older brother and i with anything that has to do with hunting. he would even take us out with him and let us shoot the deer that came in. he gave me the first two bows that i owned and even gave me a remington 700 30-06. he is truely a blessing to me and i couldnt be any more thankful to him for getting me involved in deer hunting. colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strut10 Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics [ QUOTE ] I think alot of it has to do with the rising cost of our sport. [/ QUOTE ] IMHO.............I think it has a lot to do with the idiot policy-makers in the game comissions and DNR's. Seems that they stay up late at night making up regulations that will alienate as many hunters as possible. Prime example: Pennsylvania Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics Kind of wonder where TN ranks. Last time I checked stats, there had been a rise in numbers of hunters here pretty well every year as far as I checked back. New law allowing youth to qualify kids from 6-16 instead of 10-16 should make for a good jump here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iron buck Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] I think alot of it has to do with the rising cost of our sport. [/ QUOTE ] IMHO.............I think it has a lot to do with the idiot policy-makers in the game comissions and DNR's. Seems that they stay up late at night making up regulations that will alienate as many hunters as possible. Prime example: Pennsylvania [/ QUOTE ] I agree with this. Money is an issue. LAnd leases are another thing that is becoming more common here in PA. In the past this was never a problem. Access was free for the asking in most cases. Then $$$ came intoi the mix and things have changed. Another factor playing into this is: TIME Limited vacation time & longer work hours are a reality for myself & most of the people I hunt with. Just getting opening day of rifle season off is no longer a "giveme" here in PA like it once was. And many people only hunt opening day of deer and then they are done for the. It is hard to justify cost of tags, rifle, ammo & vacation time in this situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Xen Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics well, i'm not sure what my state ratio is, it seems like every year there are more people out, at least in the area i hunt. the problem with utah, is that you have to "draw out" for even a general season tag for a deer. most of the time, the northern and north-eastern regions have tags left over, but they limit the amount of hunters in each area. the other problem, is that most of the really good areas are limited entry (meaning less than 10 permits) or they are now called CWMU (cooperative wildlife management units, which are basically all private property) the kicker about the cwmu areas, is that a lot of them try to sell you a guided hunt on top of what you paid for the tag, and being that they are private land, you either pay for the guided hunt, or they don't give you permission to hunt the private land. I haven't hunted elk in almost 10 years, due to the fact that I haven't been able to draw out for a good area. the bulls that were taken here last year in the general season areas were small. a lot of spikes and not many with more than 4 points on each side. i'm getting to the point of feeling that if i want to be able to hunt a good area, i'll have to start my own big-game reserve. just need to save up a little money and buy about 100 acres of good land... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horst Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics Well, heres a look at what it costs to take kids hunting.Ive got my hunting license sitting here in front of me. Resident hunting $17.50 Resident fishing 17.50 Migratory bird fee 8.50 Habitat fee 8.50 Federal stamp 15.00 total $70.00 One paid bow license 26.00 one paid gun license 26.00 First extra doe tag 26.00 Total for deer tags 78.00 So Ive got 148$ tied up in just my licenses, Ive got 3 kids that want to hunt everything daddy does.Even cutting back on a few tags here and there I can still tie up well over 500$ just in license fees every year.Thats before I buy them shells, arrows, broadheads, guns, bows, clothing, stands, gas, find a place for all of us to hunt etc...With the new steel shot laws it costs anywhere from 12 to 18$ a box just for shells.It all adds up in a hurry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeygirl Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics I heard that in NY, the average age of a hunter is around 50 years old and that fewer youth are taking up the sport of hunting..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics I read it somewhere that Mississippi has had declining hunter numbers too but I can't find the data. Our license cost for residents is relatively cheap compared to most states. My sportsmans license (including state waterfowl stamp, freshwater, and saltwater fishing license) is $48.00. That cost allows me to hunt anything here with any weapon during any season. We don't pay extra for tags either because this state doesn't have a tagging system but I wish it did. One of the biggest problems I see for the future is access to hunting lands. Public land is just too crowded to me and there are just too many self centered people I've run into in the past that leave a bad taste in your mouth about going back to public hunting areas. Leasing lands and hunting clubs have been the norm here for over 25 years on private property. The cost is getting to the point where the average hunter can't hardly afford it anymore. I can remember it being around $2/acre about 15 to 20 years ago. Now the average cost is about $12 to $15 per acre and I've seen it going for over $30/acre in choice areas. As for introducing youth hunters I'm all for that. We do everything we can in our hunting club to encourage our members to take their children and their friends children to hunting camp. I started taking my son with me when he was 4. He didn't hunt but he either sat with me or we just enjoyed being out there until he started hunting himself and developed the patience to sit for longer periods of time. Our camp facilities are geared toward providing other activities for youngsters to enjoy while they are at deer camp so they will want to come back. Before my son discovered girls he always bugged me about when we were going to the deer camp again. That went on for 12 months out of the year. There's always something to find that's fun for the youngsters to do any time of the year. It could be anything from fishing to ATV riding. Without a doubt, I sure miss those days now with my son going off to college this fall. At least I'll get the opportunity to spoil some other peoples children though. I can only do my part to pass it on and try to encourage others to do the same. Just my opinion but just about anything else youngsters do today cost $ too but it usually doesn't offer you the opportunity to spend some quality time with your children like hunting and fishing does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarvDog Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics UGH! That stinks. What incident do you have to treat your kids and continue the sport? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest foulmouthfool Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics OK, I call BS. Number one, nobody can show me where these numbers come from other than license sales, which are not broken down into resident and non-resident...............just total numbers. I hunt several states, and I have close friends that hunt several states................None of us hunted as many as we normally do this year mainly due to gas prices being so dang high. I didn't buy a license in MS, and I didn't buy one for MO. My friends were in the same boat. The small drop that they saw can be completely attributed to less out of staters.......it COULD be............but nobody knows for sure because the numbers aren't broken down like that. ALSO, look at the organizations that you listed..........they are ALL expansive by design and feed off of membership numbers and continually increasing those numbers. Would it do them ANY good to advertise that the number of hunters are growing rapidly? No, they want you to think that This sport is dieing off and that you have to get your neighbors, cousins, co-workers and strangers into the sport........Of course they do, they want MORE members. Have you ever seen public hunting so crowded? Have you ever seen it so hard to find quality private land to hunt? Have you noticed that lease prices are going through the roof? Why supply and demand, not only is the supply of good hunting land slowly shrinking but......and I firmly believe this......the number of hunters is increasing. When someone can show me truly accurate, verifiable data proving that the number of hunters are decreasing, THATS when I'll believe it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted July 5, 2005 Report Share Posted July 5, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics [ QUOTE ] When someone can show me truly accurate, verifiable data proving that the number of hunters are decreasing, THATS when I'll believe it. [/ QUOTE ] OK fmf here ya go for MS. The latest data available on line is from the 2002-2003 Deer Program Report. Here is a link to where you can find the report if you would like to review it. http://www.mdwfp.com/deerDataBook/ Go to the last item listed under the pull downs that says "PDF Files for 2002-2003 Deer Program Report". You will start finding the data on page 28. There are charts for both resident and nonresident hunters. From what I see in the report there is a marked decrease of about 50,000 resident gun hunters since 1987. That's a 25% decrease in gun hunters since 1987. There's a very slight increase of bowhunters and a decrease in muzzleloader hunters. By the way, everyone I know that bowhunts in this state is also a gun hunter too. As for nonresidents there is actually an increase of approximately 7,000 nonresident hunters since 1994 (1st year they show records) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest foulmouthfool Posted July 6, 2005 Report Share Posted July 6, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics rhino, I appreciate you taking the time to post that link and a summarization of the data. After reading your summary I was almost ready to wave the white flag and say, "hey you guys are right".......until I read the report in detail and realized that their data on hunter numbers are derived solely from MAIL IN SURVEYS!!! That is about the least accurate way that I could imagine them doing it. Granted, the state has to start somewhere and needs a baseline average of everything for comparison and analysis. I applaud them for the effor that they are making and I believe that MS has a very FINE wildlife and fisheries program. HOWEVER, I think that the mail in survey could EASILY meet or exceed a margin of error to cover close to the 50k..........especially in this day of I I I and me me me, nobody wants to take the time to fill out a survey. Heck I never do..........ever. I don't believe for one second that there are 50k less gun hunters now than there were in 87. No way no how. Now there could be less, but not that number. If I saw each states resident and non resident license sales seperately.......NOT JUST DEER HUNTERS, ALL BASIC HUNTING LICENSE SALES............and looked at resident hunters only........just because I don't personally know many people that ONLY hunt out of state. I think that percentage would be low enough not to affect the data either way. I don't think we would see this huge decrease that everyone wants us as hunter to believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted July 6, 2005 Report Share Posted July 6, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics That's the only data I could find so far fmf. I'll put in a request via email to the MDWF&P for information leading to where actual sales numbers, per year can be obtained. If I get a response that leads me to those numbers, I'll post it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCH Posted July 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics [ QUOTE ] OK, I call BS. [/ QUOTE ] Call BS if you want. If you really think that hunting is a growing sport, then fine. I'm not trying to disprove you. When I read something that might be interesting to other members, I have a tendancy to post it. Do I feel the need to research and pull up statistics to show you....NO. Son I've got better things to do with my time. Go to google and search hunter replacement ratio... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stsi36 Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics i bet it is growing just the kids who want to hunt arent old enough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lilcrackshot Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics I think that is a shame. As a 13 year old I think it is about the funnest thing a kid can do is to go hunting. My dad didn't hunt but when I was 8 I got REALLY interested in hunting and guns and my dad just kinda' followed me and now we both hunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics One thing that does NOT successfully refute these statistics is someone's personal observations. You talk about basing conclusions on insufficient data, personal observations epitomizes that. There are so many things that can impact a persons minute area of observations that such comments are fairly worthless. Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horst Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics [ QUOTE ] One thing that does NOT successfully refute these statistics is someone's personal observations. [/ QUOTE ] Well Doc, if he wants to deal in personal observations heres mine.Shotgun deer season here used to be a big deal when I was a kid, everyone went.Now you can drive around all over the country and not run into more than a few parties of deer hunters during this season. Bowhunters and ML hunters may be up a little, but these guys arent new hunters, they are the ones that used to be shotgun hunting. The area I live in is a prime pheasant hunting area, we attract people from all over the country and lots of them.Last year I ran into a grand total of 2 groups of hunters that had kids with them, by kids im talking people under 16.Any idea how many thousand pheasant hunters I run into on a yearly basis, its a lot. Small game hunters, rabbiitts, squirrels, the things most of us hunted when we first started.Ive ran into 0.No kids out plinking rabbitts, no dads taking thier sons out to try to shoot a few squirrels. Waterfowl, I gotta admitt, I dont do enough of that to form an opinion on new hunter numbers. Numbers are not growing here.Theres no sign of much new blood being brought into the sport.Older hunters are dying, or quitting the sport every year.A lotta younger guys are having to work much harder to provide for thier families, and dont have the time to hunt themselves anymore, much less introduce thier kids to it. These are all personal observations, all I have to base them on is over 20 years of hunting the same area and paying attention to what other people are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest foulmouthfool Posted July 7, 2005 Report Share Posted July 7, 2005 Re: Disturbing Statistics [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] OK, I call BS. [/ QUOTE ] Call BS if you want. If you really think that hunting is a growing sport, then fine. I'm not trying to disprove you. When I read something that might be interesting to other members, I have a tendancy to post it. Do I feel the need to research and pull up statistics to show you....NO. Son I've got better things to do with my time. Go to google and search hunter replacement ratio... [/ QUOTE ] What is your problem there cowboy? I didn't call BS on you or your post, I call BS on the "fact" that the number of hunters are declining. Why you would take that personally I don't know. I just find it funny how all the mindless drones follow anything they read in a rag. Especially when its touted by organizations that will do or say anything to scare you into giving them money. The only number thats declining is the number of hunters who can think for themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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