Originally Posted by
Topgun 3006
Your thoughts are really incorrect because all you have to do is look at the stats that each state puts out to see what we're talking about. A good example is here in MI where at one time almost 800,000 hit the woods for our deer season. Now it's closer to 700,000 and a big part of it is lack of hunter recruitment and all of the private land being leased out, which leaves only public land for many to hunt on. The first couple times a new person has negative experiences with crowding and not seeing any game they go back to their computer and play hunting games they buy at Cabelas.
I think this is very much on point. There are two parts of this: (1) decreasing access to hunting lands and (2) decreasing interest among young. Part #1 will continue to increase in relevance.
With reference to part #2. Population is increasing, generally, within the United States, but populations of some ethnics or cultures are increasing more rapidly than others. Do the more rapidly increasing ethnics or cultures support hunting? is hunting a traditional part of their culture? Something to think about.
I just mentioned the following to a friend in an email today. I said I call elk hunting "fun," but that really is not accurate. It is closer to reality to say that it is far from fun. It is hard work, it entails physical discomfort, it entails physical dangers and psychological stress. It is cold. The bathroom facilities are primitive. Sleeping accommodations are far from luxurious. All of that really doesn't add up to "fun." I find it immensely satisfying but for other reasons that are complex to explain, so I won't try. Fellow hunters will understand.
I think that, more and more, this 'je ne sais quoi' essential satisfaction of hunting is not readily appreciated or anticipated by young people. It is kind of a subtle, meditative, reflective thing. They see the negatives -- hard work, physical discomfort, danger, stress -- and don't see the compensation. They don't see how the negatives amplify or form the basis for the compensation. Hunting to some extent is a trial and discovery of self. If it didn't have those elements of hard work, physical discomfort, danger, stress . . . it wouldn't have quite the same satisfaction, it wouldn't feel so real. I'm not sure I'm articulating this well, but again fellow hunters will read between the lines and understand what I struggle to express. Young people who haven't been on a hunt probably can't see this, however. THus, I expect the numbers of hunters will keep going down.
The best strategy for preserving these numbers is to take young people hunting. Invite a youngster along on a hunt. Make it easy for them -- lend them the gear, hand-hold them through the application process, do whatever you can to get them out on the hunt. Then you hope the tinder catches fire and they get the hunting fever.