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Where are all the Hunters?

I only heard 27 shots yesterday and so far 6 this morning and 4 of those were by the good ole boys before daylight. Either the hunter numbers are done or the deer numbers are down.

I've wondered myself over the last 4 years, hardly ever see a rifle hunter around my place. Doesn't hurt my feelings either other than it means I'm getting old and the new generations don't give a flip about hunting. Like I stated before, I'm not one of those guys who gives a flip whether new hunters are taking my place. I started hunting on my own in 76 and feel no obligation to pass it on. Just means more and bigger deer for my pleasure. Anybody wanting to learn bad enough can help themselves.

Same argument holds true fly fishing, learned it on my own reading books back in 89. Took years to get really good at it. I've taken several guys over the years, but to get really good at it takes self commitment and I have never met anyone with that much tenacity I seem to carry inside me. I don't take up new sports on the spur, but what I have won't let me half-ass it. Probably why nobody follows in my foot steps, I'm fine with that. Read an article several years ago and it goes as so: when we first started hunting we just wanted to take deer and lots of them, then it was we wanted to take a big deer, then it led to method we take them which is where I am now. Not many people take it that far fishing or hunting.

Since they legalized crossbows for everyone, nobody rifle hunts like they used to. Not bashing crossbows just being truthful.

I hear ya Koogie. I am the same way. I always speak my mind and sometimes it goes over like a fart in church. I am the same way you are.. I do my thing and do it hard. I love to bowhunt. Hunting is about dead IMO. Young kids won’t go unless they can sit in a warm blind with their cellphone. And they must have immediate success. They need to kill a big deer like the kids on the outdoor channel. Most of them have never killed their limit of squirrels. Lol I hunt by myself a lot because most of my buddies either quit or are too lazy. Truth. And Jack you are right about the crossbows. I have a guy that has been helping with my new cabin that never bow hunted before. He brags his he got a crossbow and killed two nice bucks. Both over 50 yards. Killed them in one week. He thinks bowhunting is easy. Lol. But that is ok. I have nothing against them for handicapped people but they are too easy. I would hate to say how many nice bucks I could kill with one. Ok I am done. Told ya I speak my mind lol. And by the way. I have not heard a shot this am. More deer foe me hehe

I hear ya Koogie. I am the same way. I always speak my mind and sometimes it goes over like a fart in church. I am the same way you are.. I do my thing and do it hard. I love to bowhunt. Hunting is about dead IMO. Young kids won’t go unless they can sit in a warm blind with their cellphone. And they must have immediate success. They need to kill a big deer like the kids on the outdoor channel. Most of them have never killed their limit of squirrels. Lol I hunt by myself a lot because most of my buddies either quit or are too lazy. Truth. And Jack you are right about the crossbows. I have a guy that has been helping with my new cabin that never bow hunted before. He brags his he got a crossbow and killed two nice bucks. Both over 50 yards. Killed them in one week. He thinks bowhunting is easy. Lol. But that is ok. I have nothing against them for handicapped people but they are too easy. I would hate to say how many nice bucks I could kill with one. Ok I am done. Told ya I speak my mind lol. And by the way. I have not heard a shot this am. More deer foe me hehe

And why should they in my opinion. I got a buddy who bought that Raven bow, 500 ft/sec and 4 grand. Never understood why, he can shoot 70 yards very accurately. Still, the progression of a hunter is being replaced. I believe as a hunter matures, it matters more in the method you hunt. Started with shotgun and rifle, move to archery and now I'm trying to be proficient with the recurve bow. He went from rifle, a little archery and back stepped into a cannon fire cross bow. He started traveling to Kansas with me, with this new bow he boogered up two each shots on a couple nice bucks. One, he took a front on shot, when he texted me I sent a message back we were probably not going to find that deer. Said he was afraid the deer was going to bolt any minute. So he just panicked was my answer, he wounded a deer because he thought he wouldn't get a shot. Still didn't get the deer, but he either killed it or wounded it. Next deer the deer quatering away, hurried the shot with the front leg moving forward and again no deer in the cooler. I told him it's not the end of the world to not get the shot, no need to rush it. One more wounded deer, he can find another partner. You still need to make a good archery shot even with that damn cannon bow. I guess I don't understand it myself, to be a good hunter you need to make the harvest more challenging otherwise you will never trust yourself with any weapon.

Yep. I outgrew the rifle in the mid nineties. I hunted with my dad every year during rifle season. He did not bow hunt I was kind of worried about telling him that I wanted to hunt with my bow. When I asked him he said he didn’t care if I used a switch. I have never looked back.

I have heard two shots all day. Saw a nice 8 point but no shot.

Just read an article thAt said gun shops in WV have been slow. Cited the economy and the younger generation not hunting as much S previous generations. Sad

All right, for once the truth and I agree with the younger generation just isn't interested. Citing the economy, I grew up in a large family and we were poor as dirt. How do we change that? I'm not sure we should waste time and money figuring it. I told my son when he was 8 or 10, dad enjoys fishing and hunting and I'd love to spend as much time together as possible. And if he ever wanted to go I'd love to have him along, just ask. Well he hunted from 12 to 17 and has never gone again and not because he wasn't successful. Now I've got his mounts on my wall, his guns and bows in my closet and his gear in my tote. It's a shame, he was really getting good.

It is the way it is these days. Hard to explain. I have been noticing all the kids on the outdoor channel that kill deer in a blind with 2-3 camera guys and their dad doing everything but pull the trigger. I applaud them for trying to get their kids interested but they are too young. Saw one today that was 5 or 6. I could tell by her missing teeth. LOL. They later lose interest in it. Too many other things to get into. When I was young we had sports and hunting and fishing.. That is what I did. Now its electronics and video games. Real sad.

My thoughts exactly, and I think the DNR also dumps too much money into useless programs to promote hunting for kids and women. I always believed that money should be spent more wisely on wardens and land improvements instead. I started hunting in the mid 70's, on my own (with my brother) without the influence of the DNR. Guess the game Pong didn't hold that much over me, lol. But you know, hunting is not for everyone so we just need to face it. It wasn't in the 70's either, as I remember I don't believe more that a dozen boys hunted or fished in my school of 800, and maybe 5 who hunted seriously. So why waste DNR dollars changing something not meant to be changed.

Good point. Lots of money is wasted to include people that done even want to be included. Same with me Koogie . I started with my dad in the late 60’s squirrel hunting. When I was in HS I was a squirrel killing machine. Then started deer hunting. Hunted with rifle and bow. My dad didn’t bow hunt but in the early 80’s I started hunting with him but I used my trad bow. The in the 90’s the trad thing took hold of hunters here. We would have 50-60 trad shooters at shoots. Now we have 3. And if those 3 I am the only one to hunt with trad. The other two are using crossbows to hunt with and now make fun of my deer I kill with my trad bow. Oh well funny how things change. It’s getting to be an old guys game as younger hunters are not hunting or at least not staying with it. It is very hard work to be successful at it. My take

Good point. Lots of money is wasted to include people that done even want to be included. Same with me Koogie . I started with my dad in the late 60’s squirrel hunting. When I was in HS I was a squirrel killing machine. Then started deer hunting. Hunted with rifle and bow. My dad didn’t bow hunt but in the early 80’s I started hunting with him but I used my trad bow. The in the 90’s the trad thing took hold of hunters here. We would have 50-60 trad shooters at shoots. Now we have 3. And if those 3 I am the only one to hunt with trad. The other two are using crossbows to hunt with and now make fun of my deer I kill with my trad bow. Oh well funny how things change. It’s getting to be an old guys game as younger hunters are not hunting or at least not staying with it. It is very hard work to be successful at it. My take

I hunt a neighbor's property some and a nephew starting hunting this small tract because " Jack Kills deer" and I knew he wouldn't last long because as JR said "It is very hard work to be successful at it." He Won't get out of bed to go :)

The Archery in School program is a great program. It takes a lot of time , money, and effort from a lot of people to pull that off. But I’ve been told that there isn’t a lot of return on investment as far as recruiting license buying hunters from the archers. I wish I were wrong and if someone has data to contradict that I’d love to see it. At least the good thing is I believe that most if not all DNR funding for AIS is grant money, at least that’s what Johansen told me.

DNR was just getting their 3-R program up and going when Covid hit and pretty much shut it down. I’m told it’s beginning to restart .

A big part of recruiting, retaining, and reactivating hunters is giving them what they want.

It is. That is what they do on the outhouse channel. They get 2 camera guys, mom and dad and lil sis, a laptop, iPad and phone and can play video games until their dad says shoot this 160 inch buck. LOL. JK of course but not too far off.

LOL. Why worry about it, we should just hunt and the hell with everything else. My history is much like yours Jack except I didn't have a mentor when I started my hunting. By the 90s I've pretty much hunted by myself. Started bow hunting in the early 80s, bow only by 96. Read some posts from guys on here and wanted to start trad hunting too. Though I've never met you guys, as time passes and your time passes too, I will drink a toast and mumble a prayer for each one of you and, head back out to the stand.

I have kept my kids involved and interested while checking cameras, hanging stands and including them on all track jobs they were home to help with whether any real tracking was needed or not. I started both of them gun hunting when they were 8. This was my youngest’s first year.

My 11 year old was finally pulling enough draw weight to begin bowhunting last year. We were unsuccessful but he continued to hunt every chance he had around his basketball schedule right up until the last day.

He continued to practice all summer and killed a spike on opening morning this year while we sat in a double treestand together. He continued to hunt every chance we had right up until gun season opened. Then, he was up by 5:30 every morning, practice during midday and back to the woods until dark. He was able to fill his doe tag and take another spike last week.

My youngest son was unsuccessful during the early youth season but filled his doe tag the following weekend during the early general doe season. He too was up early every morning last week, killing his first buck (a 6pt) on opening morning and then a small 10 pt I had a few pics of that was now busted up later in the week.

I will admit that my Dad has built small gun hunting blinds around our property that make it nice for the kids when it is below freezing. While my kids may take a nap, we do not take electronics to keep them occupied. They have been taught the proper way to handle their firearm and are able to do everything on their own with only coaching from whomever is with them.

I did carry my bow when we hunted together. There were days I wanted to hunt by myself but if he wanted to go, I never told him no. These are days I cannot get back and I don’t want to do anything to discourage his passion to hunt. During the rifle season, I only carried my own gun one time. I try my best to make it their hunt and do all I can to help them. I hope I am doing it the right way and instilling the right values and helping build a love for the entire process just like I have that will last their lifetime. Regardless if they continue to hunt as they get older, I have memories that will last my lifetime.

Tip my had to that post. I only got about 6 years of memories and I can't say I didn't enjoy them though. When he was the youngest, I'd stop and explain why and where of what we were doing. It almost worked out according to plan every time, I must have looked like a king of the hunt to him at the time, as if I read the playbook of deer moves. And, he retained the knowledge. When my brother started back hunting with us in 16, he knew the mistakes my brother was making right off, and I was so proud of him. Time has a funny way of changing things though, college, girls, mind drifts away to untruths. I just hope God shines his light down on him and keeps him safe.

I should also add that they both love to squirrel hunt and we are looking forward to deer season winding down and getting after a few bushy tails in the late season.

Nice Wv hunter. That is the way to do it. Enjoy them. They grow up fad St

Nice WV hunter. And even when they are in school and may not be able to hunt all the time they will come back yo it. If I had a son I would do it like you are. And I love Squirrel hunting. I don’t do it much because I am always bowhunting. Then in the late season I never get into them

Hunting started dying out as deer became prolific. No one small game hunts anymore. No Ione takes their 10 year old kids squirrel hunting. No one bothers with raising and running rabbit dogs anymore. No one takes a weekend hunting trip involving Rustic camping anymore. Where kids were expected to contribute to camp chores, etc…. There is something about a tent and campfire on an October night that draws interest from kids.

Hunting has so many obstacles. So many distractions now. And so few draws in comparison to two-three decades ago. Everyone is worried about the next big buck their neighbor is killing versus the hunt. It’s been inevitable for a while. With everything against it, it was bound to loose participation.

Well said Mountaineer. I have heard stories of people not hunting because “nothing worth shooting on their cameras”. It has become all about the size of antlers and a thought they have to meet social media/outdoor tv expectations than about the hunt.

Also know of new hunters who haven’t killed a lot of deer that hold out for a bigger buck instead of shooting smaller 1 1/2 year olds. I personally think young/new hunters can gain a lot from killing deer. Some may be content with passing deer and not killing one but every few years, but I imagine the majority will loose interest with the lack of success. Also, if it is about the antlers, how much do you really enjoy the hunt and entire process like Mountaineer pointed out.

Very well said mtneer. I’d rather kill a doe hunting with my trad bow. I love it. Hope I never lose the drive to get out of bed and hunt. I remember squirrel hunting then raising beagles when I was in college. It’s a shame kids don’t do that anymore

True WV bowhunter. I have a buddy that never kills a deer. He is holding out for a big buck. Lol

So many reasons why it looks like hunting participation is dwindling - everyone here has hit on some of them. Yes I think some kids are more captivated by technology - but I really do think that is a small percentage. I do think that anymore everyone is just to busy and occupied with jobs and lack of time and being in debt so deep that it's hard to do anything but work to pay everything off.

It's just my opinion but a lot of us grew up doing what some believe to be the best of times for hunting. When I first started hunting deer numbers were ok - saw deer when I was young but then in my late teens the population just started to explode and we saw deer all over the place. Hunting was exciting and fun - we saw the people we looked up to like Fred Bear or whoever killing 4 and 6 point bucks just like we did. Now its not so much like that - some areas such as here in Berkeley County there are still plenty of deer but in other pats of the state I keep hearing how some are not seeing many deer as well as on our public lands people are not seeing much. It's no fun when that is happening! Plus most of the people you look up to - have a TV hunting show and kill monster bucks every week it seems! In reality that just doesn't happen no matter which state you hunt in because big bucks are a tough animal to kill. I can remember a year or 2 ago - Director McDaniel being all giddy about the number of bear stamps being sold - was it because we have hunters shooting big bear or the fact we have a lot of bear anymore? Myself I think hunter participation numbers will reflect off of hunter success rate - let's face it we went from shooting almost 100,000 bucks a year back around 2003 to shooting about 40,000 some now. Did the herd need reduced - yea it probably did - anymore I wonder if doing a better job of land and timber management would have made it so the numbers would not have been reduced so much?

There are many factors though in why participation seems to be lacking - I think everyone has come up with some answers that have some truth to them. It's anyone's guess on how to help. The archery in schools seems like a good cause but I think it just hits a sliver of the kids out there today. I do think there are other things that can be done. Back when I was in elementary school - one of my teachers was a retired forest fighter - one day he had our district Wildlife Biologist (Gary Strawn) and the Fish Biologist ( Gerald Lewis) come to talk to several classes. Those guys lit a fire in me. Gary came back one day and picked me up to go on a restocking of some wild turkeys! My father at the time pretty much hunted one day a year and that was for rabbits on Thanksgiving - well my interest got him interested and one of my Uncle's as well. Several other boys in my class got interested in hunting as well. I think the archery in the schools is good but I think it may be reaching some kids a little too late - I think some programs aimed at elementary school children might be a better approach.

Well good luck with the rest of the seasons folks - stay safe and good luck to all!

I agree. Everyone is in debt. That is the first problem. LOL. People work too much IMO. Life is short.

Yea times are different. I remember hunting in Berkeley county in the 70's. It is not like it is now. The best years for me were the 90's. I could go to my camp in the Mtn and walk with my recurve till I got a shot. Not like that now. I still enjoy the hunt and did not get caught up in the big buck thing. I just like to hunt and kill deer. Now if one wonders near me then that is different. I don't have to kill a huge buck to be successful

“ A true sportsman account their trophies by the amount of effort to attain that trophy “ Dr. Saxton Pope

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