How can we make hunting more popular among young people?
 

Sometimes I wonder if hunting will ever grow in popularity to any significant degree. What would it take? How can hunting be "sold" to today's young person? Are there any ways hunting itself can be changed in order to appeal to them?

My 3.5 year old loves to hunt. They either like it or don't. Start changing something to "appeal" to the ones who don't like it and there goes the sport right down the drain.

Its up to the seasoned hunters to take a child by the hand and show them what its all about.

Sums it up pretty good. I will add that you need to take them out when they are willing and curious but be ready to leave when they become too bored or cold/hot/uncomfortable. You have to make the experiences and memories enjoyable. You need to plant that seed so to speak, and hope it will grow inside them.

Many avid hunters I know today drifted away for a while but came back in to the sport after they started to settle down. I have fond memories of deer hunting with my dad as a young teenager in the early 80's. After getting out of the military and finishing college I began to gravitate back towards hunting.

I'm now trying to do the same thing with my son. He shot his first deer at 9 years old. He is now a 14 year old freshman in high school and is involved with high school football. He does not have much time to hunt anymore as his school work, practice, and organized work outs take much of his time. Hopefully one day he will gravitate back towards those memories and experiences.

Sometimes I think the states have handicapped themselves by putting age requirements on hunting. Some states won't let them hunt until they are 12-14 years old. By then, it is probably too late. The younger they get involved, the better.

Parents that hunt will be able to take their own children hunting but what about all those kids being raised by single mothers that don't hunt? No exposure to it before the teen years means they will probably not be interested. The various game departments of the states need to find a way to reach these kids.

Keep electronic devices out of their hands!!! You would be surprised at how much time that would afford them to get involved in other activities, like hunting and fishing.

Think there has been plenty of good answers here. I hunted and fished as a kid but once i hit high school i drifted away. After school i went back to fishing and it wasn't till after the military i went back to hunting. Just take the kids out and if they have a friend that wants to come get permission and take them along. Those day are meant for the kids not the adult. Also if you get the opportunity take the nieces and nephews and grand kids take anyone that wants to go. Thats how you keep the sport alive.

I understand alot of people want recruitment into hunting to grow. I would like to the acceptance to grow not the number of hunters to grow. To be honest you already hear about it now. You cant continue to have less land available to hunt and continue to increase the amount of hunters, you cant sustain populations of animals while increasing the amount being harvested. If we continue to increase our numbers we will end up losing more then you will ever know. So i would say we need to increase our acceptance and improve our image so we are viewed in better light then what most think we are.

I believe hunting will never be as popular as it used to be. In my younger years most boys hunted because it was a family tradition passed down from fathers and grandfathers.
As the older generation dies off and kids become more and more infatuated with high tech fun instead of a good time afield with the old man the traditions fade away. Not to mention the anti hunting propaganda today's kids are fed in government schools.

Blessed are those families that keep the traditions alive and take the time to talk to their kids about what is real and what is BS fed to them by teachers.

Great post! And I couldn't agree more.

As others have said, plant a seed & hope it grows. I have 2 boys that I took with me, both dropped out after a few years, one still likes to fish. Hoping some day they'll get back into it.

They'll come back. Video games and other distractions are the main culprits for kids/ young adults not wanting to outdoor activities.