We were having a discussion among fellows who love to hunt.One is worried about getting his son interested in hunting and the other is grandson.We were talking about the days we hunted when there were rabbits and pheasants everywhere.Land open to hunting was not a problem in those days.There were plenty of grouse in the woodlands and you would see plenty of deer on stateland.One guy hunted in Perry county and the other in Potter for rifle this year.Between the two of them they saw one tail.These guys are good experienced hunters.
The point I'm getting to is this.Some say hunting today is better then the "good old days" but I disagree.The pheasants are gone,deer numbers pathetically low on public hunting grounds,rabbits are down in numbers,grouse continue to decline,and there's alot less land open to hunting.I can understand how today's hunter is worried about getting their kids involved in the sport.
The only game animals up in populations are turkey and bear.Then again they are now questioning whether or not too many bears were killed this year.And turkeys aren't the ideal game to start a kid out in hunting.
We're bucking the trend in PA.While license sales saw a big drop this year nationwide hunting license sales actually increased.