Decline of hunters threatens conservation funding

[steelfingers]

No decline in my part of the world but places to hunt is a problem. Too many Texans buying land for controlled hunts and posted.

 

[chadh2o]

No decline in my part of the world but places to hunt is a problem. Too many Texans buying land for controlled hunts and posted.

True that. Part of the decline is reduced hunting areas. Urban sprawl, huggers, P(e)ITA and general regs in more populated areas.

 

[TerryMiller]

I'm calling flagrant foul. Buried in the article.

Meanwhile other wildlife-centered activities, like birdwatching, hiking and photography, are rapidly growing, as American society and attitudes towards wildlife change.

Sorry, but as the population gets fatter, the land whale is NOT going on a hiking trip. Bird (pigeons) watching out the window in the mid level walkup is what they are conveying.

Photographing birds (with an iphone) is not photography.

Whew!!! I was really worried there for a minute. First of all, I don't own an iPeed anything. Secondly, I think that my equipment for photography couldn't be mistaken as "not" photography. Thirdly, I also only hunt with a camera. That way, I can bag the same deer multiple times and look forward to doing it again.

 

[Okie4570]

I can definitely see a decline, both in my own area, as well as where I grew up. Somewhere the "need" to hunt for food ended, and the hunt for population control and enjoyment of outdoors began. I remember my dad telling me that he'd be given 6 .22lr shells on Saturday morning. One was for sighting in, one was for a miss, and the other four, if used should also result in four rabbits/squirrels lol. When we'd go plink around or go to the river to shoot turtles, he'd comment every time about burning through 250-500 rounds of .22lr just playing around, he just about couldn't take it lol.

I know in my kid's classes, there's rarely another student that hunts or even fishes, and we're fairly rural. My sister still lives and teaches where I grew up, she says it's extremely rare to have a student interested in the outdoors.

 

[dennishoddy]

Coming from a non-hunter. for starters I do not know how to clean after I shot a deer or any other game. Secondly I have no idea where to hunt. Those are barriers to entry. I am not willing to chance getting sick because I do not know how to clean the game properly. I do not shoot animals for fun just to leave them there. Yes I understand there are pest like wild pigs, and coyotes, that is understandable.

I didn't either when I started hunting, and there wasn't youtube or forums to gain knowledge.
We relied on old timers on small game, and when I started deer hunting, there was ZERO information out there because there were very few deer.
When I killed my first deer, it was overwhelming what to do with it when walking up on the dead animal. It finally sunk in that it was no different than cleaning a rabbit, just bigger. You gut, skin, and butcher. I learned the different cuts from a Betty Crocker Cookbook that showed what cuts there are on a beef.
Now you can get online and see exactly what needs to be done.

 

[HiredHand]

Besides all the wild game tastes gamey. :rolls eyes: