Hunter Recruitment-Women, Minorities?
General Topic
Back in the early 2000's when I taught HE/BHE, there was an emphasis on growing our ranks by recruiting more women and minorities.
Is this emphasis still occurring?
What have the results been? Have the ranks of women and minorities swelled?
Curiosity regarding this was tickled while reading P&Y Ethic magazine and seeing an ad for BP/Cabela's with a female bow hunter.
Just anecdotal evidence Frank, but from what I see on TexasBowhunter there are lots more women hunting now than ever before. I think it’s self defense, guys get their gals involved so that the gals don’t complain about too much hunting. ;-)
I couldn’t say about minorities, but I suspect not.
If women are the fastest growing group of hunters, why is there very little gear available to them for their specific physique?
Try finding it. Most of all of it is tailored to guys. I know, I've recruited three over the last few years.
Fifty percent of the new first time gun buyers are female. That's encouraging.
From what I have seen and after speaking with many women who are rather new to hunting is that they feel the need to provide wholesome, nutrient rich, non-GMO, organic meat for their families, AND, to be more like Catniss and Merida, Those 2 characters really gave a big push for introducing women to archery. There is also the BOW, Becoming and Outdoors Woman, that has introduced a lot of women to the shooting sports. Regarding minorities, I do not know of many, other than a small handful that I have met. Again, for the first reason, to provide natural meat for their families. COVID lockdown had a hand in it as well, when the threat of meat supplies drying up was mentioned.
Here in NM one of the biggest reasons for women increase is husbands/boyfriends putting their wives/girlfriends into the draw to get a tag. Very common for the gal to not even be in the field, or only be at camp. I'm all for ACTIVE hunting by women, but the system gets abused here, I've heard it firsthand on several occasions.
Dave,
That 50% is probably more for self-defense? Are they mainly handguns or hunting firearms? Granted, it is good women are purchasing firearms, but if it doesn't help grow our hunting ranks it probably does minimal good for us hunters?
HDE
Fastest growing doesn’t mean there’s a large population it’s easier to grow small populations faster than large population so that’s why you’re not seeing any more clothes for women
Frank" so what its still encouraging to second amendment supporters.
I agree Dave, and said as much above, but I was asking about hunting, not second Amendment support.
According to matt rinella and a few others, hunter recruitment is the downfall of hunting.
Bou'bound -
As demand goes up, normally, supply increases to match. That's not the case. Increase in nose count going into the field is irrelevant as a certain threshold doesn't have to be met for an offering of gear to be available. The lady hunters (and just any backcountry hiker/backpacker in general) just have to settle for the very few offerings available. Yeah, female hunters want to look just as cool in their sitka, kuiu, and whatever else garb as the next guy...
Some on this board claim the downfall of hunting is places to hunt. If that is correct, do we need more net numbers of hunters, or simply recruitment for replacement of those leaving ? What should be the realistic goal?
^^^^ Bob, I know you are speaking of the podcast and although I didn’t listen to it, I think I got the gist of it from the thread. I think it’s a double edged sword. If we don’t grow our ranks, especially kids and moms, we are gonna be a bunch of grumpy old farts clinging to an ancient practice in the eyes of most non-hunters. On the other hand, more hunters means more competition for ground, tags, etc. I don’t have the answer, just an observation.
Dry Creek, not in my experience. Both of my daughters were hunters before they were ten and hunting elk and deer as soon as legal age. Both of their husbands never hunted before meeting them.
And my wife doesn't hunt. But camps with us.
And yes they complain about the lack of women's clothing, and hate the pink added to women's camo. But it's better than it was when they started. There was no women's clothing then
We have a few groups of New Canadians coming to our camp now for deer hunting. Great people. Most are new to hunting. Next year the group pictured has doubled in size.
CPW folks told us they've basically given up on meaningful youth recruitment because few stick with it. They are instead focusing on 30 something men who have established careers and are curious about hunting, locavores who want organic meat, and women.
Jaq…. organic women ? Like hippy chicks ;)
100 plus pounds 4 miles in - still got a smile - not even his elk - not many of todays soft young guys could handle it.
100 plus pounds 4 miles in - still got a smile - not even his elk - not many of todays soft young guys could handle it.
Jaq - could be most of todays "kids" can not handle what it takes to hunt out west. Much easier to get kids involved and stick with it hunting out of box blinds in the east where they are almost assured success with crossbows. Out west hunting is not like hunting in the east.
Hunting doesn't need recruitment, Frank. It needs support from non-hunters, who aren't opposed to what we do, it's just not their thing. They'll ultimately decide the future of hunting after all.
Matt
Grey Ghost said - " It needs support from non-hunters, who aren't opposed to what we do, it's just not their thing" Pretty good evaluation of our current situation!
Grey Ghost you are spot on. Just as in politics both the Dems and the Republicans are after the non-committed voters. They are the one who ultimately decide and election. If we apply this same principle to hunting- the non-hunters will ultimate decide the direction of hunting. As hunters, we need to be seeking their friendship, support and vote for hunting related matters.
Manufactures make what sells to the masses. Shoe manufacturers make very few narrow width shoes, mostly medium and wide because this is the common size of men's feet. I have great difficulty finding shoe that will fit me. The same is true of women's hunting apparel. I have seen women's hunting apparel increase over the last 10 yrs, but the volume of women hunters does not compare to the volume of male hunters. The same is also true for youth hunting apparel.
I see more male minority bowhunters frequenting the bow shops and box stores today than I did see 10 yrs ago. Most that I have met a sincere about hunting and eager to learn about the sport. Many own or have inherited land and are not eager to sell their land. They appreciate and understand land value.
I agree to an extent, but recruitment is critical for continued funding. Demographics! Hunters are predominately older white males. They will be purchasing licenses and gear for only so much longer.
Willieboat, absolutely! Like the cute younger hippie/yoga chick I met while hiking down a gravel road. Her come-on line when she rolled down her window was, "Are you Lou? We need to get together for a beer and talk about hunting." Is that the hottest pickup line ever used on a hunter??!! We tell everyone that story.
So we did have that beer, and talked about hunting and other important stuff. And I married her a year ago. And as soon as this storm lifts she's going to put a couple does in the freezer with her Tikka .308, with which she shoots MOA groups at 200 yards. All she needed was a mentor to help her along.
HDE it's not about looking cool in our Kuiu or whatever. It's about being warm and comfortable while we're hunting. Many of us have the same drive as the guys when it comes to hunting, we just weren't welcome on camp and in some places still are not.
The CajunAsian and her mom kill lots of deer and know how to cook them. They use .308 rifles when rife hunting and drop deer quite often. I see their deer kills on Twitter. They also show some great deer cooking recipes.
