Doc Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 Lately, the hunting community has been focusing on the decline in the number of hunters. While I'm sure that is happening, I have made another observation relative to the participation of those hunters that we have remaining. It seems to me that we are seeing more and more "part-time hunters". By that I mean that it looks like for a lot of hunters, opening day is what their whole season consists of. The local parking lots are flooded on opening day morning and by the time early afternoon rolls around, most of those cars are gone, and there never seems to be a day after the opener that has anywhere near the cars as opening morning. I have also noted that the woods are almost empty on any afternoon. I don't recall seeing that years ago. Guys would come in and put in a full day of hunting. Usually, the Saturdays and thanksgiving morning would be big hunting days with a lot of hunters out for the entire day. Those days don't seem to be all that active anymore. So naturally, the big question that comes to my mind is, Are the hunter numbers that are determined by license sales really showing the true picture of the hunter decline, or is the situation really getting a lot worse than those numbers indicate"? While the numbers may be down slightly, is this lack of actual man-hours a sign of future hunter losses to come? Well, I guess the first question to be asked is, have the rest of you noted this lessening of hunter participation or dedication, or is it just a local abberation in my neck of the woods? The next question is, if you have noticed this lack of active, dedicated hunting, what do you make of it? Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master_Chief Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 Re: Hunter Participation Here is what I have seen. During archery season I am seeing less and less younger hunters. I think us older fellows are using it a not only hunting time but as a major source of relaxation. During gun season I see alot of half-day hunters. If they don't get their deer Monday morning they are on their way home. The number of licenses sold is probably still up but I would say hours in the woods is way down. As to why, I think alot of it is do to loss of public land in some cases, leases eating up private land that used to be available to hunt for a handshake or a couple hours fixing fences. It is starting to be all about the dollar and that is sad. Younger kids (Not all of them, esp those on the forum) are more interested in a mall or video games on a Saturday than they are sitting in a tree. For me I will take the tree anytime. Just my $.02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tominator Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 Re: Hunter Participation I hear that hunter participation is on the decline all the time, but I really doubt that, at least in my area. You can't find a patch of ground that isn't hunted or tresspassed upon anywhere around me. Just read an article in the paper a couple weeks ago that stated bowhunters are on the increase here in Ohio. I don't know, I just don't see a decline here in Ohio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbeck Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 Re: Hunter Participation We are having a decline here in Pa. but to go with that is were declineing drastically on deer numbers. The state would like to see 5 deer per square mile. That's 640 acres, I own 200, lease 400 around us. That means that I'll have something like 4.75 deer on my property. I will definatley save on food plots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master_Chief Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 Re: Hunter Participation 5 deer per seems awfully low to me. What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockefeller66 Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 Re: Hunter Participation I haven't been around long enough to notice any change, been hunting.......let me think..........8 years with a bow now!!! almost forgot, been so much fun and memories I can't hardly keep count now!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mach1 Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 Re: Hunter Participation I think in my area, the number of bow hunters as increased over the last few years. I didn't start until 2000 (I was 19), and since my brother (5 yrs younger than me) and my dad have both started. I also noticed younger hunters bow hunting as well. As for gun hunting, it seems to have dropped off slightly. Come the final day of each of our two shotgun seasons, it seems like we are the only guys out hunting and I know that everybody else hasn't tagged out yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arrow32 Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 Re: Hunter Participation A couple years ago i use to see alot more but still see a good bit. Im an all day hunter alot of the time i love to sit in all day. As to the number of bowhunters there seem to be a good bit of new ones around here. But there are probly good number stopping to. Who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Washi Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 Re: Hunter Participation There are more hunters than ever here in Missouri. I have also noticed there are a lot more people hunting the muzzleloader and late doe seasons than there used to be. If you look at the statistics for Missouri they say the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 Re: Hunter Participation The last time I checked this state's hunting license sales had sort of leveled out after quite a number of years of declining sales. It does seem like the average hunter that just gun hunts for deer is spending less time in the woods now than in past years. There also seems to be a decline in overall hunter skills with these hunters around here too. Too many are looking for the easiest way to hunt without doing much preparation, if any at all. That's not the case with bowhunters though. Seems like there's more bowhunters now than there were and they put a lot of time in both hunting and preparing to deer hunt around my neck of the woods. I've noticed a steady increase in turkey hunters for a long time. When I started turkey hunting in the 70's there weren't that many turkey hunters around at all. Seems like most of the hunters I know either turkey hunt at least on an occasional basis now. I guess I can thank all our local gurus Will Primos, Preston Pittman, the MossyOak crew, and a few others. I need to smack them all right in the kisser. JK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted February 10, 2006 Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 Re: Hunter Participation Just not so around here Doc. We have seen hunter numbers on the rise in this state and limits have gotten more and more liberal. Especially in this particular area it has become overcrowded with deer hunters here in the past couple years, however many of them do switch over to waterfowl hunting at some point in the season after the deer have all seemed to become nocturnal. We have a problem here though in that I believe that a lot of the land around is being poached off of and not hunted off of. I mean that several properties around us there are people slipping in where they either do not have permission or they are not where they think they are supposed to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted February 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 Re: Hunter Participation I'm going to make an exception for bowhunters. What I have seen here in my area is a marked increase in bowhunters. And I'm not sure that even the official hunter counts include bowhunters in that decrease. I have never actually seen the bowhunter numbers broken out separately. The observations that I was talking about in the initial message was strictly about gun hunting season. I certainly believe that there are pockets across the country that are bucking the trends somewhat, but there seems to be universal agreement that hunting in the U.S. has taken a substantial downturn in terms of licensed hunters. However, this topic relates more to the issue of actual participation of those hunters that are licensed. More specifically, I am wondering if even the decreases in hunting license sales are truly and realistically reflecting the actual downturn in hunting participation. I personally know of several people who annually trot down to the town clerk's office and purchase a big game hunting license and then never set foot in the woods. I'm not sure how prevalent this is, but I do know that it happens. I also know spouses and other friends and relatives who buy licenses strictly for the purpose of supplying antlerless permits to others (legal in NYS). Further as I commented originally, There appears to be just a general lack of dedicated participation even among the hunters who do hunt. When we talk about the health of hunting, participation would be a greater factor than license sales. I find this kind of curious and was just curious as to how many others have taken note of the same thing. You see, my concern is that even the decreases being reported in the papers may still under-play the actual dire situation that hunting may actually be in. And, while this may not be a problem in all parts of all states, it is the national trend that concerns me because I think it is just possible that those states that have not experienced may just be lagging behind a bit. Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted February 11, 2006 Report Share Posted February 11, 2006 Re: Hunter Participation License sales in this state are not broken down by types of weapons, however they do give numbers of harvests per season(weapon) type. License sales in this state have risen. Have not seen results from this year yet, but I am sure the number of hunters in the woods with guns throughout the season here has not decreased in the past several years if at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doughboy1956 Posted February 11, 2006 Report Share Posted February 11, 2006 Re: Hunter Participation I find the number of hunters are declining. Its a shame but the young folks these days would rather use a computer hunt. They have to much to do at home. If they don,t see a deer in the first 1/2 hour, they want to leave. But not all are like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elkoholic Posted February 11, 2006 Report Share Posted February 11, 2006 Re: Hunter Participation There has been an incredible increase in the number of hunters here, both rifle and archery. Most of this increase has been the result of the large number of people moving into western Montana from other states. From my observations, I would have to concur that there is more of a part-time hunter evolving. Fewer hunters are spending a whole day pursuing game. Also, "road hunting" appears to be an accepted thing here and that allows for a couple of hours driving Forest Service roads, while putting little real effort into hunting. I am not sure where this is all headed, but I do not think it is a good thing for hunting in general, although for me, I can get back off the roads and spend a whole day hunting and seldom see another human being. That I like, but on the other hand as our society pushes forward with the quick fix, fast results at any cost with the least effort, I see a definite decline in the serious hunter, or for that matter, the serious anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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