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Discuss and Analyze the USFWS report

For the most part I agree with most of the report. Finding the time to hunt is increasingly harder. My kids and their kids who like to hunt but have not had time this year to do more than a couple of days of bird hunting. This is due to working long hours, and kids have activities from Football, Cheerleading, Volleyball, Wrestling, etc. My wife and I have hunted quite a bit, and we've increased the average expenditures.

Yep, hunting as a part of the family activities has definitely changed from one generation two another. More one parent families making it hard to get the next generation involved. Like you saw the sprawl of cities and other ways of tying up hunting land makes it harder to easily find accessible hunting grounds. City people have the kids in sports and other things that their friends are involved with. Younger kids don't get outside as much as in the past even. They stay fixed to computer games. So, it is kind of self-perpetuating in a way. I can remember when October came around in the 50s and 60s the majority of the boys and some girls were out of school for a week hunting with their dads, brothers, and grandfathers. Sometimes whole families would go together. The brainwashing of people to think of hunting as a cruel activity plays into it also. We have become so far removed from where we actually get meat, the thought of killing an animal doesn't even come to mind for some people. Anything we can do to expose people by example we should. I am looking forward to hearing from others.

Im personally think that there is so much out there for the younger people to stimulate them,(computer games, internet, 100 channels of t.v. etc. etc.) Hunting and fishing seems like so much work when they can sit down and be mentally stimulated without having to get up early in the morning and work hard.

When my older boys were younger they wanted to hunt and fish with me, but by the time they 12 they no longer had an interest in it, it was to much work and not enough reward.

I think if they would lower the age to even 10 yrs. old to hunt they could pull a few more kids into the circle.

The legal age for hunting in Montana where I live is 12.

SD

Leasing kills hunting! I agree.

Our best friends hunt a piece of land known as the "scandia Woods" it's about 100 acres of hardwoods with a few ponds. It's split up by about six different land owners. The poeple next to our friends used to let a family from town hunt there for $200. Next year they won't be able to because a guy from the Twin Cities leased it for $4,000 next year. Sad.

Our comunity is about as far from any urban areas as you can get in MN. Yet there is more hunting land owned and leased by metro hunters than there is by locals. And this isn't even close to prime hunting land(mostly flat farm land).

Around here, if your dad doesn't own huntable land you'll never get to hunt as a kid, period. And since the average income in these parts is much less than 35k, I don't see any kids or their parents affording any lease. I know I can't.

I agree 100%! Leasing Kills hunting. Why else would the amount of money spent per hunter be so high, and the number of participants continue to decrease? I know that time is an issue, but you can always make time, not everyone can afford to compete with money.

SD, good point about the kids. I also think that kids watch these hunting shows on TV and see how easy it is to go shoot a 160" deer. The kids have these expectations and when they don't succeed they give up. It's not realistic.

As a HTE instructor in NE Pennsylvania, I've seen the trend of more girls/women taking the class. Between the two classes I have per year (100-120 students), about 20 are female. Compared to five years ago when not even 10 were female. I always encourage the mom's to stay with the kids and take the class. Even if they don't ever decide to go hunting, they at least have the knowledge and understand why the rest of us do. Then they can tell their non-hunting friends that it's not as bad as some portray it to be.

Wars were not won by single battles. I think if we are to win the fight against the anti's, as our numbers decline, we need to educate as many people as possible about our hunting heritage.

The attached picture shows one of our students when the local WCO trapped a problem bear (+- 200 lbs.) and brought it over to process it. Even the non-hunting people were very interested in the process and all were amazed at the speed/agility of the bear when it woke up and we let it loose.

Very interesting report. I am surprised at the indication that "not enough time" would be such a big contributor.

I feel for you folks that can't compete with the big dollar boys buying or leasing up all the ground around you. I don't have much experience with this but it sounds like a bad situation & getting worse.

I also agree that leasing is killing the sport, and am surprised that "not enough time" tops the list. I would have tought cost would have been higher to, I know so many people who have quit deer hunting and will never take their kids because the cost it is to lease a property and along with the cost of fuel and corn going up, they just can no longer justify the cost

Now where I am at there is hardly any leasing and a lot of public land for hunting. One of the biggest issues is time since there is no Sunday hunting here. I can't tell you how many people have told me that they don't hunt anymore since they don't have enough time due to their kids sports.

I also think cost is a big contributor since everything is going up from gas to bullets. I think the 2016 report is going to be a lot worse since I do not see any of these things changing.

Assigning the blame to any one factor is counterproductive. Lack of access to hunting spots certainly hurts but it isn't the main cause. It's not all doom-n-gloom. Take a kid hunting or at least out to the woods. We are lucky to have lots of public land. Fewer hunters means more opportunity there even if leasing means a shift of pressure. If you are willing to drive a couple hours, you should be able to find a place to hunt. Setting up unrealistic expectations by watching videos might not be the best way to motivate kids. Hunting is hard. Kids should know that up front. Small game should be the preference for starting them out.

In the Mountain region, the results are sharply skewed downward by the states at the South end of the region. It makes me wonder as to the makeup of the sample group.

There was just an article today in the Minneapolis paper that said that MN leads the nation in kids enjoying hunting and fishing. Something like 75% of kids went hunting and or fishing last year.

Leasing is the #1 cause I would bet for hunter declining in the midwest. Unfortunately a lot of those that are leasing this ground advertise on this site. Just look at some of the advertisers on here and see what they charge for a 5-7 day deer hunt. Here is a question By frequenting this site, are we contributing to more leasing?

Leasing seems to be a regional issue. We have a ton of public land in Colorado so I couldn’t say it is number one here.

Lack of time I can see though. Kids today seem to be more involved in extracurricular activities than when I was a kid. They also seem to start MUCH younger. I wasn’t able to get into football until I was a freshman in High School. Now they start in second or third grade! That means a much greater time commitment for parents and kids alike.

I don't think fishing is near as threaten as hunting. It doesn't take much to throw a worm in the water and stick the pole in a kid's hand. Hunting is much different.

If you look at the actual report this report is a clear attempt to show that non-hunters are the main user and contributor for the care of our wildlife and monies generated. This falls right in with conservationists printing their sister stamp to our Duck Stamp. When the Duck Stamp out sold their conservation stamp 3000 to 1 they just renamed the Duck Stamp the Duck and Conservation Stamp.

I had a USFWS Manager tell me one time he's seen a host of reports slanted towards a pre-determined out come and I've seen it first hand. I hunt a Refuge where it has two sides, one for hunting and the other for touring. All the hunters that travel the tour side several times during the year checking on the Refuge have to sign in and are counted each trip as a "new bird watchers" slanting their numbers/report.

[quote]I don't think fishing is near as threaten as hunting.[/quote]

I can totally see that, along with the catch and release mentality, and big professional tours like FLW and BASS fishing will be in much better shape 10 years down the road. Texas parks and wildlife has already mandated antler restrictions for 61 counties because too many young bucks are being killed, (hurting the population) unfortunately, eventually most deer will be behind a high fence with a price tag in their ear.

I think if you did a survey on food gardening it would show similar trends, right down to why folks give it up. No time, too much work, etc. Heck they even hire out much of basic landscaping now. Fewer people doing it, spending more while doing it too. (More toys!) And youth recruitment low also for the reasons given.

I think the increasing urban population (including subdivisions) is outpacing and overwhelming the rural population. Urban folks do different things, have different priorities and don't see the enjoyment and satisfaction of hunting or growing your own. They want things set up and planned for them. Soccer games, Disneyland, etc. Just having to go outdoors is looked at as "roughing" it. God forbid your house and car don't have AC.

Interesting survey. And I'm not sure what can be done to improve recruitment. Just taking your own kids out hunting isn't enough anymore. I've done that with very mixed results. Some kind of big brother mentoring programs are needed?

I thank God for leasing. It has kept me hunting after family land was sold off.

The largest perceivable threats I see to hunting is the changing culture and loss of habitat. I use the marked decline in small game hunting as an example of the cultural shift. When I was growing up small game hunting was a staple of activity. Now its Nintendo or whatever.

When I was younger, if a kid wanted adventure, he had to go outside and was usually welcome to do so. Even toting a gun. Heck, we were turned out after breakfast and not expected back for dinner unless the weather was bad.

Now, a kid gets more (albeit shallower) mental stimulation from games and sitting on their asses. Besides, momma won't let them out of her sight anymore for fear of everything. So, instead of industrious children, we raise greenhouse plants that have to push buttons for entertainment. Its sad.

Habitat loss is another stake in our collective hearts. This summer, my local paper ran an article basically stating that hunting was 'endangered' because of development. Its absolutely true. We have local clubs fold and people permanently rack their guns because their grounds have been bulldozed into cul-de-sacs.

VA DGIF is currently "studying" the practice the use of hounds to hunt deer. It is a very contaversial subject here mainly because formerly large, contiguous blocks of land are being parceled off and the smaller owners have property rights issues with the use of dogs (rightfully so). Again, its sad.

Cultural shifts and demographics are snuffing out hunting. That's my take.

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Is it an important factor that participation in all shooting sports activities and clubs is also declining?

Would enabling greater participation in sportsman clubs of all varieties help involve potential hunters and their families, such as lowering costs for new members and active membership recruitment?

I had a Graduate School statistics professor tell us (the class) one day that you don't necessarily need to believe every poll and survey you read.

"It is compiled from data collected by the US bureau of Census which interviewed 85,000 households in April and May of 2006. 31,500 active and potential anglers are selected from the initial households to be interviewed in detail on their participation and expenditures regarding hunting, fishing and wildlife watching."

The lead to the article said itself that it only interviewed just 85,000 households ... that is not much of a sample across the entire US to draw reliable info on. And why did they choose only active and potential ANGLERS to respond to questions about hunting??? That in itself would throw up a heck of a red-flag for any rookie scientist looking to rebuke any conculsions drawn from the survey about hunting.

I know the USFWS posted this survey, but I don't think I will put much stock in any conclusions drawn from it. Somebody somewhere had a budget to spend, and they decided to hire a few folks to randomly call a few households and ask a few questions. They decided to express some gathered data in pretty graphs and it looked good to someone's supervisor and it caught on... that's about all I got out of this report.

I won't preach on about immigration and large families as they affect the countries booming population. I won't go on about how important a growing population is to big business as it provides cheap labor and increased consumers. But, I will say that as we become more urbanized we become more of what so many of the people here do not find appealing.

Also, if it were not for leasing, my family would have stopped hunting. I can leave my daughter and wife without any real concerns of others who might bother them. The hunt isn't interrupted by others. No one steals my stands. I do not know how long that we can afford our lease, but it sure has provided great family time.

You know my children have done the youth sports thing. I have even coached football, baseball, etc. But, it always bothered me that the leagues were more a babysitting service so that parents could claim to spend time with their children without actually getting involved. In fact the travel teams seemed to be more of an opportunity for parents to socialize than spend time with the kids.

Did you know that it is cheaper for us to lease and spend time actually together hunting than getting overly involved in all of those youth sports leagues. Believe me those leagues are out of control in so many ways it is crazy.

Good hunting.

I don't care what the survey says...Its the costs of hunting and the land available thats sending everyone home. Unless you want to only hunt deer in your home state, and probably only Saturday, prepare to second mortgage your home. In Connecticut you need to spend to much to hunt deer,ducks,turkey,phesant,and if you want to bowhunt its like a whole new licence. 20 here 10 here 10 there, next thing you know its 150 dollars...Now you want to trap...fork over another 25 + 60 more for state land...Plus equipment.Now their going to charge for salt wtaer fishing, I hunt in another state now. Cost the same, Better hunting. Don't ask me how I will get my twin sons into it in another 4 years....Can't afford me.....nevermind them.

Trends, analysts? While some are accurate remember the 2004 elections. Lots of people with there finger on the pulse of American politics blew that. Time will tell if this is long term trend based on accurate infomation. Bad news rules for any organization that is funded by the government. When was the last time you heard from any of them that things are fantastic?

Many good points here, it's clear that many moms and dads are electing to put their kids into other sports and activities, as the hunters themselves drop off further I fear that at some point people are going to question why our Federal Gov. spends money on those wasted open spaces, the State and National parks that have also have lost most of their visitors. From there, it's sell them off one at a time. There is no interest (by the majority) in involvement with the out of doors at several levels. As an older hunter/fishman, I find it sad. It's now taking a great deal of time just to research the states and areas to be able to get out an hunt, even fish and to see if you can afford it. Only if you have money, and lots of it can you just drive to your outfitters lease and have better odds. While leasing has helped some, it's a means of keeping the middle, or average man out of the picture.

Pat, I remember growing up as a kid in the 1950s in northern Ohio, and after school in the Fall, I would grab my shotgun, ride my bike across a major highway to start hunting rabbits or birds in any farmer's field. No one called 911 to report a threat to the local high school or called the local game warden to report a poacher. This was rural life and kids were free to roam. Even the kids that lived in the towns and cities had connections with rural class mates and friends and a place to hunt and fish or to just live the rural life. This still may exist today in some parts of the country, thank God, but as stated above, more and more land is being locked up and so many kids never see and enjoy the rural life or even care to do so. Passive activity seems to be the norm in may cases today.

It seems that every aspect of socitey today is so structured and parents and kids feel they must act accordingly. Changing social values, social issues, social constraints have negitively affected the youth and their mentors, to partipate in hunting and for a lesser degree, fishing. Add to this, the competition for the young people's time. And speaking of competition, some schools have banned any form of competition or keeping score, so what are we teaching the youth? That work is too hard and that many aspects of life are not worth competing for. Many forms of hunting are hard and as we all know, bow hunting may be at the top of the list.

In the 1950s and even into the 1960s, there were no shopping malls as we know them today, no hand phones, no computers, no video games, no DVD/CD or players, yes black and white TV and if you were lucky, it was on a 14 inch screen and you only got 4 channels that actually went off around 11 pm. There were fewer broken families and one parent families back then and now, the majority of the population live in cities and are removed from the out of doors.

All of the guys I knew, had a bike, a dog, a 22 rifle or shotgun and places to roam. As stated above, we left at 6am and come home for dinner, sometimes. Our dads and uncles would take us hunting and sometimes we would go in groups.

I have seem some stats that show for every 100 of us that retire from hunting, only 64 will now take our place in the field. This is disturbing to me and also to the various state wildlife agencies that rely on 75 -90% of their funding that comes from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses. Many of the places the average sportsman can hunt is on State Wildlife Areas, paid for by hunters and fisherman. Where will this funding come from in the future. Yes, I know there are a few states that actually have a state tax for funding the state agency. We are lucky here in Colorado to have a lot of National Forest and other federal lands.

Many of the responses to this thread have nailed the reasons for a declining hunter population, on the head.

I do not believe this trend can be stopped but maybe it can be slowed nation-wide. A lot will depend on the existing sportsmen groups, the state and federal wildlife agencies, and even individual hunter mentors. Teach a kid the enjoyment of the out-of-doors and the shooting sports.

Thanks for posting. Paul

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