How old are you?
General Topic
I'm doing some research for a project and am very interested in plotting the age curve of serious bowhunters (vertical bows only for this exercise). Bowsiters tend to be more dedicated than the casual Wal Mart weekend bowhunter included in some of the other surveys, some of which also consider crossbow hunters as "bowhunters".
I'd appreciate your participation and will share the results after the thread ends.
I'm 62.5
70 in March.
God bless, Steve
Thanks guys!
Nick, you're draggin' us down...
;)
I'll pull us back up...a couple weeks shy of 63.
I'll throw in another outlier even farther off than Nicks... 26.
57.... From a kids bow then a recurve BC (before compounds), to around 1975 or 76 (when Bear Whitetail Hunter compound first came out) shot compounds until 1987 and have be strictly traditional stickbows since... Been hunting with a hybrid longbow (or semi-curve, if ya want to call it that) for about the past decade...
45 and still pretty as a girl. :)
59.3 Merry Christmas to all.
49 but my wife says I am still a teenager.
33 but I'm very mature for my age. ;)
56 on 12/23 But the mentality of a 13yr old...lol
53. Plus 1 on New Years Day.
40 years and 240 months.....
67, and after 45 years of bowhunting, I still get too excited to pick a spot on a deer.
Soon to be 53. Sad that we don't see to many in their 20's, I think the youngest so far is 28.
Ill be 53 Jan 5 holy moly time flys
Physically, I am 72.5-years of age. Mentally, maybe 18.
LB shooter I know as many hunters that are under 29 as I do that are older. Most young people are more interested in twitter or insragram than bowsite. Had I not stumbled on the elk scoring fearture 5 years ago I wouldn't be here either.
I will be 55 by spring turkey season.
67 7/12 I still shoot a compound older then some folks.
64 but the dr. say my bones are 84, rough younger yrs.
63 just after the New Year.....
Holy crap. Where did all these guys come from?
Why don't you post more?
Mental age - 11. Actual age - 54
The quick math reveals that 1/4 of us are geezers. not sure what that means entirely. Just throwing it out there.
76 and still climbing trees
44, dang it I'm "middle aged" I thought I was still a young buck
77 on march 7 and i do expect a present paul
41 going on 14 if you ask the lady of the house
43 (with 10 years of experience).
I'm 52,, I only see if I counted right only 7 folks that are in their twenties... Zero teenagers.. Out of 165 posts. For a quick note I read some place that my home state of Pa had 1.3 million deer hunters in the early 90's This year 2016 550K. SAD!
Thanks everyone! Keep it coming. This is valuable. Link is partly correct in that many younger guys are more into active feedback social media (Like me! Love me! Be my friend!). However, many older hunters don't do web stuff at all so I believe it balances out to some degree and will provide a cross-section snapshot.
But what we're seeing here is tracking very close to the USFWS trending data on the overall aging of the hunting population. Which is disturbing.
63.3 but I probably do not count as I cant my bow so it is not vertical :) :)
50 and 12 My 12 year old probably spends more time here than I do.
Happy birthday yooper! Today is mine also. 36
29 next month but I'm 80 in body and 8 in mind lol
77 and still doing it all with a long bow!!!
I turned 75 in Nov. & I joined my 1st archery club in 1956, bowhunted Ill. 1st ever Deer season in 1957 & killed my 1st Deer in 1958 with a Bow. Celebrating my 60th year as a bowhunter. I have Never bought a biggame gun license, so I guess I am a dedicated Bowhunter/Archer.
Others have pointed out how few users are in their 20's; I think at 28 I may still be tied for the youngest in the poll although I only skimmed so I may have missed some.
Here's my take on that and hunter numbers - I also know a lot of people my age that bowhunt that stick to facebook and instagram. I prefer to have more intelligent discourse less focused on the validation aspect so I gravitate toward here and one other hunting forum that meets that criteria. I tried Instagram for sec...holy crap that place is awful, if you think people on here lack humility, it pales in comparison. No respect for the animals or the tradition, just me, me, me....and my potential sponsors.
Hunter numbers I know are declining, but bowhunting I don't think is hurting as bad. I think a much higher % of overall hunters bowhunt than ever before. I would say I personally know or know of about 40 hunters my age...not statistically significant, however all but a handful of them bowhunt. It's consistently perceived as more acceptable by non-hunters due to the challenge aspect. It's actively portrayed as "cool" in film, social media, and occasionally even the mainstream media. That is good for the future of bowhunting and why I consistently advocate that the future of hunting will be determined not by statistics or science, but by how we are perceived by the non-hunting public. Even if we are an incredibly insignificant statistical minority, if we are perceived as compassionate caretakers of America's remaining wilds and hunt for the "right" reasons, we will be held in high favor. If our public image sways toward bloodlusting, chest-thumping, trophy-hunter cavemen, we will lose the battle to antis and rapidly lose opportunities. That is our prerogative how we portray ourselves, we have to individually and collectively make the right choices.
72,,,,,,,, figure I've only got 10 years of elk hunting left in me
My kids that bowhunt. Son 42 (30 years now, does not gun hunt) Daughter 43 (6 years) Grandson 17 (5 years) Grandson 12 (just starting) Brother 68 (bow only 50 years)
Had a 82 yr old,bow hunting,tree climbing machine badass in a camp this season
I'm 63 and due to back surgery this past August I have missed my first year of bow hunting in 59 years. The surgeon has now allowed me to start shooting my bow and there isn't many days that I don't shoot. Hopefully when I see the surgeon in January he will allow me to hit the woods.
Gottoohunt
61.5 and don't mind you askin'
Seeing the numbers of us whom have more days behind us then in front of us is truly impressive. It will be interesting to find out if this is just an anomaly with this site.
Double nickels and not another nickel more!
Just some quick stats so far to help Lou out:
Median age is 50.2 years old
Age #
<30 13
30-40 50
40-50 41
50-60 66
60-70 42
70+ 9
This is great stuff. I haven't started plotting yet, still putting together data points from various credible sources. It's tough to find bowhunting-only data except from trade organizations, which appear to purposely skew the data in an optimistic way. Interesting how marketing groups (ATA, for instance) sort of jack-up numbers by including folks who participate only 1-4 days per year in their "mean age" calculations.
One tidbit: The average age of a P&Y member is 50 this year. Ten years ago (2006) it was 45. Younger members often join to enter an animal, drop out after year one, then rejoin around age 40.
Another tidbit: According to the ATA 2012 study (remember, there was a Hunger Games effect still going on..) 88% of "archers" between age 18-34 do not bowhunt. ATA counts someone who shot a bow for one day as an "archery participant". Of all target shooters who also bowhunt, they show 58% as over 35 years old, but their methodology is a little suspect. Their mean age of people who they reported to have bowhunted for "something" at least one day is 36.5, which conflicts with some other studies. What is clear is that bowhunting participation appears to peak at 45 and drops off very rapidly after that. Recruitment of Millenials who stick with it for more than a year or two is pretty low.
Yet another tidbit: The WI DNR projects that if current trends continue there will be 35% or more fewer hunters in 2030 than today. Rapidly changing social and demographic pressures could increase this drop-off. This includes all weapons because many hunters use multiple weapons there. In 2000 their average age peak was 39. In 2009 it was 49.
Thanks for all the input. Not sure what conclusions we can draw, except that there are a lot of old guys who still seriously bowhunt on the Bowsite. :-)
What is consistent is that bowhunting participation appears to peak at around age 45, then drops-off rapidly after that. This isn't total numbers, but rather the age of participants.
43 years young but my wife still thinks I act like I'm 15
Just celebrated my 17th anniversary of my 29th Birthday (46 for those of you bad at math)
I just turned 31, but I don't think I'm considered a "bowhunter" just yet. This is my first year ever hunting, for anything, with anything, and using a bow is way harder than I thought. Still having a blast waiting for one of the big guys to give me a shot. I've seen lots of deer but haven't found the right one to take my hunting virginity. I want the first one to be something I can put on the wall so it may take a while...
69 and thinking about a big bd party in April.
Great thread Lou.. Very interesting info you posted in your last post.. Ed
I'll be 63 on January 5th***1978 till Spring 2008 Compound Bow*** Summer 2008 till now Longbow and Recurve
I feel 25. I look 45.
But I'm 35
Looks like in 20 years Hunter numbers will be cut in half or minimum 33%.
A young 61 in a couple months..... Coach says downright childish......
66..........I can't always be young, but I can always be immature.
Three of my grandsons are avid bowhunters, only one has posted here. One is 20, one is 17, and one 14. They have each taken at least one deer this year with their bow.
69 and still continue to get ID'd !!
45. I must be one of the few hunters that don't mind seeing hunter numbers going down. Helps keep the riff raff out.
52 tomorrow, been hunting big game with a bow for 40 years and actually hunting with a bow for 47 years. Scooby
72 years old. First went bowhunting for deer in 1957. Tagged first bow buck in 1964. Still a serious bowhunter. Vertical bow. Still put up my own stands & climb into them. Admit that I am slowing down now. Hate the thought of it & someday quitting bowhunting. Have probably killed about 100 whitetails with bow.
60 ... Merry Christmas to All
Just recently made 39. I feet 49, cant wait till I'm 50. I always thought guys in the early to mid 50's were about as good as one could get in a hunting career. Old enough to have learned how to be a really good hunter, and young enough to still get around well.
17, There's an outlier for ya :)
41. Not far from 42. Bad about just saying 42. Good Lord might take me before then. God Bless
Seventy in March. I don't know if you would call me a serious bowhunter, but when I bowhunt, I'm serious.
61 1/2 & Pert as a Rut'n Buck
Almost 56, but but like rock50 said, I'm very immature for my age.
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of me turning 29 this week!
Yes, I'll be 49!
Thanks, all for the input. Thanks Brotsky for tabulating the first half. We're getting a large enough sample to have some relevance now.
Novemberforever, I'll address your question when I write a summary based upon hypotheses from various sources who are desperate to try to turn it around. But lack of access is part of it. So are societal pressures among younger urban folks, an evolving expectation of instant gratification, kids raised by single moms, general detachment from the natural world, financial constraints, etc, etc..
Can't really measure hunting license sales against fishing license sales because there's only one fishing license per state, while a hunter may purchase multiple licenses. This can be used to skew the data by marketing types.
But here's a staggering statistic: In 1970 40 million Americans bought a hunting license within the previous 5 years. Today it's somewhere between 12-16 M depending upon the metrics used. The annual constant appears to be around 12.6 million. 50% of those are over the age of 47.
I will also start a thread to discuss what everyone thinks we should do about this, if anything CAN be done. The "take a kid hunting" programs have proven to have a high failure rate unless the kid has access to good places to hunt and peer support (or more important, parental support). But we all know how many kids exposed to hunting by fathers lose interest in their teenage years. So do we accept that hunting is dying an accelerating death? That's what the big ARA groups believe, which is why they aren't devoting a lot of money and effort to stop hunting. But maybe it will just taper off so that serious hunters will have awesome hunting with lower pressure?
Man you guys are old.... Lol But that's why there's so much wisdom on this site. 19 years old here, 20 soon.
I'm 65. My knees are 6 and I have several teeth ranging from 1 to 10. I've been told I have the mind of a child, so add it all up and I'm not sure of my real age, but for your survey I think you have to go with 65.
75 in couple weeks. (FWIW- I'm the third to mention Jan 5 BD)
Are there any Excel wizards who can provide some pointers on how to convert this data into a linear graph? If so please PM me. When I took "computer science" in college, we used punch cards and the university computer was as big as my house.
71 Terry Got my first bow at 17.
I'd like to add one comment you might consider. I think the the guys who have the time to sit around and read this stuff, as well as answer tend to be an older crowd, and I believe this will skew your results a bit. I shoot mostly at a public range near a ski town, and the average age I meet there is much younger than the numbers you are getting. I would guess that guys in their 50's and 60's only make up about 10-15% of the hunters I meet. I think there are large number of very serious, but very busy young bowhunters that simply don't have the time to spend on Bowsite. Just my two cents, so consider it or not, and good luck with your survey.
Brun, good points. However, I'm also cross-referencing data from USFWS, NSSF, P&Y, ATA, and several different state DNRs, all of which tends to reinforce data from the others. I was just curious to see how the Bowsite average correlates with overall national demographics. What we won't have on Bowsite is any info from those younger folks who used to bowhunt but quit. If you live near a ski town, you'll undoubtedly have a younger age curve. If you go down to Loveland CO, for instance, the age curve bends the other direction. And you're correct that there are a large number of young, avid bowhunters. But for various reasons they are dropping out.
The Fort Collins Archery club has 500 families as members. I've been a member for decades. I can count on two hands the current members who were members 15 years ago. Virtually none of the younger guys with whom I shot 3-D leagues 15 years ago are still members, and most that I've kept in touch with don't bowhunt anymore. Families, jobs, marriage, lost their hunting spots, are the reasons they give.
One very detailed study put it bluntly - younger hunters are dropping out between the ages of 25-44 at a high rate. This is a relatively recent development. So the 18-25 hunting demographic may be fairly strong in rural and non-metropolitan areas (very weak in metro areas), but once they hit 25 they start to leave hunting, especially bowhunting. Of those bowhunters who make it to 40, half of them drop out before reaching age 50. What we're getting on the Bowsite is a lot of hangers-on.
November, virtually all of the studies allude to social pressure as being a strong factor against recruitment of young folks. Young city chicks don't like hunting or hunters. Lib public schools teach that it's wrong. Single moms don't generally raise hunters. "Urban culture" isn't conducive to encouraging hunting for young guys unless they have strong family / peer group support.
As far as CO, the accelerated urbanization and huge loss of access to quality hunting near urban areas is a HUGE factor. I grew up in Fort Collins. All the nearby places I hunted in the 70's and 80's are either developed, closed to hunting (open space, etc..), or leased to $$$$$ outfitters. As for weed, I don't know. Back in the '70's and early '80s many of the serious young hunters and bowhunters I knew were also tokers. They hunted hard and often and killed a lot of stuff.
How do you explain an hour wait to get an autograph from Michael Waddell at the ATA show? He's around 40 and almost everyone in line for an autograph is younger. The same holds for those watching hunting shows. Younger crowd for sure following Levi Morgan. Maybe these youngins are just not serious bow hunters like us wiser/older guys:) I am not going to short change the younger crowd and I'm confident the "next" generation will do just fine! C
PS: Remember only 3% of those reading threads EVER post!
Jaquomo, did the excel thing for ya and put together a histogram in about 5 minutes. Just pasted the thread into excel and sorted out the numbers. Tried to grab a few numbers that were within longer responses but may have missed a few of those. Ended up with 286 responses. Mean and median were both 50. Youngest was 17, oldest 79.
I'm 34 but my wife says I act like a twelve yr old.
45...Hunting requires to much work/money/bs for most of the younger generation. Gratification is just not easy or cheap enough to enjoy? The old mighty $ has a lot to do with the decline.
I think Bowsite is just a small factor in the data gathering.
On Instagram Im seeing A LOT of younger hunters on there compared to the data collected here.
Who on here has an Instagram account?
Sorry, but Bowsite type of online chat forums are antiquated, and the age data posted above reflects that.
cnelk, I also have an Instagram account and follow quite a few young guys in their early 20s or so that hunt a ton. At my school about 25% of the school hunts (just a estimation) and out of those roughly 150 kids I would say there are less than 5 that I would call "serious bowhunters" the rest of them are just in the orange army.
47 still love the hunt. More serious of an archer and bowhunter than ever... both my boys hunt, 19 and 15. I also have an instagram account.
X-2 Paul, 77 June 27. 1940, seems long ago!
If you think about it, what young hunters would feel comfortable coming on here and posting a lot in the presence of a bunch of highly experienced, wise old hunters. I'm almost 54 and feel like I need to just shut my mouth sometimes. I have two teenagers and a 10 year old, all boys, and a lot of their friends are hunters. I live in a rural town of 7-8000 people in central MN. Hunting is alive and well here it seems. In my neck of the woods, it seems if there are good numbers of deer, participation is not a problem. When deer get scarce is when my kids have lost interest. Hard to get them to go when they don't see anything.
And it is hard to believe that hunting has declined in participation so much (although I believe it has). Our public lands still seem to be overrun. Is it because access to private land is far less? I suppose so.
Blacktail Bob wins with the reference to Josey Wales.
Charlie, glad you're so confident in the younger generation. You must know something the that all of the various agencies who are scientifically measuring this stuff across a wide scale don't know. You should let them know that their trending data is flawed and they have nothing to be concerned about! ;-)
Yinzer, thanks a bunch! This is about what I expected from the Bowsite, partly for reasons Cnelk mentioned. Your histogram is almost a perfect representation of the "all-weapon" hunter aging data from the broader surveys. I wish I knew how to post graphs from PDFs on here. May try a print-scan-save to JPEG
Here's a hunter age graph done by the U of W Applied Population Laboratory. The numbers on the left are as a percentage of the overall population. It stops in 2009 but if you extrapolate across by another 7 years, it looks very similar to the Bowsite age histogram. The folks I've been talking with in the various DNRs are afraid it may be accelerating even more than what can be extrapolated because of the increased dropout rates at either end.
What if I were to assert that the majority of lost hunters over the past two decades were casual first day type guys? Would it not be correct to assume that one obsessed 25 year old hunter is better for our socio-political-economic representation than a half dozen 50 year olds that hunt 3 days per year? Is there any data that tries to account for these factors?
Yinzer, there is, and when I start a summary thread later I'll post data and sources. Actually it's often the opposite. The casual young people between 15-22 who rapidly drop out after they leave home, get involved with other stuff, etc.. are the bigger concern because they don't appear to be returning.
I agree with you on the obsessed 25 year olds. But they don't have the disposable income of Boomers and their license revenue is the same as the lost revenue from the older hunter who dropped out. When that "hump" reaches the age 65 range is when the researchers are predicting a 35% drop-off in hunter numbers overall. Great for those remaining hunters. Not so much for departments that count on hunter revenue to fund the operation.
Another for the 60-70 group.....63.
72 today.
Using data from "vertical bow" users only would seem to me to a major factor in the numbers of us older survivors still creeping around in the woods. I know at the archery shoots the numbers of guys my age have dropped pretty seriously since the x-bows have become legal here. Before that, there were a number of old-timers at the shoots, half-drawing some low-poundage recurves, but still having a good time with their old shooting buddies. Most of them are hunting out of ground blinds now with x-bows.
I spent a lot of hours this spring and summer regaining strength and accuracy to stay with it another year, but my next "bow" will likely have a stock and a trigger as well.
The hills get steeper and the cold wind blows colder, as the years slide past.
33... In the process of raising 3 more hunters to add to the list!
26
Interesting look. I would also make the argument that simple economics of the matter will force more of the younger generation/opening day type guys out. As CPW and other G&F agencies look to fund by increasing license fees, the function of the market will be to ration the supply and demand will suffer because of it. For example, think about the guy that goes to elk camp for opening weekend just to get away. He may be okay with giving $45 to the state to try and hunt opening morning. For sake of example that fee doubles to $90 and it no longer makes sense for that guy to pay and he simply chooses to enjoy a camping trip.
I know we all want to stay away from it but it is time that we start looking at the general fund to support the financials.
"What we're getting on the Bowsite is a lot of hangers-on." Or maybe "bitter clingers......" =D
The population as a whole is older, that wave of baby boomers are leaving the work force daily are not being replaced, my understanding is the US population on a whole is declining but for immigration. Few immigrants in my neighborhood hunt, legal or illegal. Even if a relatively level percentage of hunter recruitment were happening (which I don't think it is) the hunter numbers would likely go down. In many of the rural "hunting culture" communities, my understanding those areas are depressed and in decline, small towns "drying up" in many places. Older folks dying away, younger folks not moving in to replace them, in fact the opposite, younger people moving away. Urban centers with an urban culture and suburbs (sub-urban) expanding.
Hunter numbers declining..... in many ways are simply an effect of a greater cause?
57. I am beyond the curve...but that is ok...As long as certain parts continues to curve upward!
I'm 57 but will be 58 in 4 weeks
TD, on the graph I posted on the follow-up thread, you can see how overall hunter numbers are declining as a percentage of the population. So while some agencies like to promote the total numbers as "flat" (temporarily, although hunters have declined from 40M in 1970 to fewer than 13M today), as a percentage of the population we're dwindling.
This is partly why the national ARA organizations believe hunting is dying a slow death on its own, with no need to spend money against us except on targeted issues like predator hunting, for example. Someday, like with the last dinosaur, there may be a "Last Hunter" unless a "meteor" (law) takes out the remaining few hundred thousand all at once.
Chronicological age is 70, mental age, iffy.
77- 1/2 Got my first license in 1961 and haven't missed a year since (except for the military).
Looks like I'll be the 4th one claiming Jan 5th as our birthday, when I'll be 64 Merry Christmas to all !!
54. Been trying to figure this bowhunting thing out since I was 16, though.
I'd be interested in a similar study that listed professions of serious bowhunters. Maybe if I go to grad school again someday...
47 But sure don't feel like it... "Thank God"
All the new additions since Yinzer made the histogram are fitting right into the bell curve. You 30-40 somethings are going to have great hunting opportunities and way less crowding in about 20 years!
74 Shot first buck with bow in 1957.
Less crowding?? I hope so Lou! Seems like more and more people out there in the woods because "it's the cool thing"
Like stated before there is a lot of younger hunters out there but they get their kicks off other forms of social media. I honestly believe the woods will become more and more crowded in years to come. That is fine because it is what we all strive for getting youth into the out doors right? All in all this was a great piece of not so informative information.
43 this month. I'm better looking now than I've ever been and a whole heck of a lot funnier.
Michael
Ghost30, your thoughts directly contradict the hard data from the DNRs. Did you read the accompanying thread? There may be a bunch of young hunters out there but they aren't buying licenses. The DNRs and other agencies use birth dates from actual license buyers to build the age curves.
67 3/4. I don't even own a rifle.
It ain't the years...it's the miles. 53 of em...
Sorry. Double post, from iphone.
54, will be 55 in 2 weeks.
I turned 84 in Nov. while bowhunting in Kansas How you doing TD?
Here's the biggest outlier... 20 haha
52 and I only started bow hunting about 6 years ago ....Wish I would've sooner !!!!
49, turning the big 50 in April. Wow, time sure flies...
If you are including family, my boy is 17 and pretty serious about bowhunting. Pretty sure he is hooked...
This thread is getting into Rowdy Dowdy territory now. Lots of 5's and 6's in there, which corresponds to the Boomer Bubble. In 15 years when the major age drop off has happened, you younger guys should have The Best Of Times.
"Deep inside the soul of every aging man is a little boy just aching to go outside. If that spirit of the little boy dies, thus follows the man. "
Quoted by an old bowhunter in his few months of life as he knew he wouldn't bowhunt again after the surgeries and lung complications that ultimately killed him. Age 67.
I will be 56 this month.., still missing that aging bowhunter who passed 24 years ago.
Old enough to know better but to stupid to change as in well over 70 decades.
Jaquemo are you saying it really isn't pointless to build points in Colorado? At 33 I just need to wait for all you old geezers to die off and I'll be in tag paradise?
Link, at your age i think its definitely worth it for a NR. Colorado has a slightly skewed age curve with younger resident bowhunters, but not by much. In the past three seasons since I started studying this it is stunning how many CO bowhunters are gray-hairs, except for the Sitka Army way-backers. And remember, PPs aren't weapon-specific. I have max points for sheep and moose and may take them to my grave.
No matter what, there's going to be a serious drop-off in hunter numbers in 15 years unless something happens to change the sociodemographic trend with recruitment of 18-34 year olds.
I'm still waiting for my first bow elk kill at 55. Man there are some old dudes out there still hunting. I feel much better! Jk
64...been bowhunting since 14. My son's 29 and started at 12.
60. Bow hunting for about 35 years now. Fell in love and can't put it down. Raised two sons here in the south. Hunting & the outdoors were always a part of our lives. Both sons are consumed with their careers now. I'm hoping they'll come back to hunt & fish with Dad again one day. If not, I'm at least hoping I can recruit my 2 year old grandson to the wonderful outdoors one day if I'm still around!
58. Hoping I am still at it at 86 like my Dad. He had to switch to a crossbow at 80 due to shoulder problems, but still gets after them!
33 years old, first time in a tree stand, my dad carried me up in a basinet.
54 chronologically , look like 64, act like 24, feel like 74 some days...
62.5 years old.... been bowhunting 42 years. Hoping for many more!
Old enough to have been actively bowhunting now for 40 yrs....never missed a season or a season opener.....and the fire never died just got stronger.
64.9 My dad took me to an archery shoot when I was 5 where I received an award for the youngest archer.
50 and there's a bunch of old fellas on here..
68...fifty some years and still loving it every time I climb a tree..
