Hunters Disapearing

[Foxhound]

Dag gum it I done it again!!! Hit the wrong dang button. I was trying to reply that it would be easier and legal to just shoot a few because of crop damage and you don't even need a license on your own property.


I hope vrai forgives me.

 

[gumby]

There's plenty of places to waterfowl hunt. Sure, the numbers are down on birds, but if you work a little on the decoys and calling, you'll kill birds. We got our limit everytime we went last year. Good ducks too. Cans, black mallards, greenheads, blackheads. I still have 2 dozen dove in my freezer and the season starts again next week.

 

[Drummerob]

Hunters remain a powerful force in American society, as evidenced by the presidential candidates who routinely pay them homage, but their ranks are shrinking dramatically and wildlife agencies worry increasingly about the loss of sorely needed license-fee revenue.

New figures from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service show that the number of hunters 16 and older declined by 10 percent between 1996 and 2006 -- from 14 million to about 12.5 million. The drop was most acute in New England, the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific states, which lost 400,000 hunters in that span.

LINK

heres my 2 cents about younger hunters, and tell me if you all feel the same way:

i think the problem is related to housing development and this thing called urban sprawl. heres what i see, the woods keep shrinking with more and more new homes, the kids that are raised in these homes are growing up in mini cities and they do not have the access to the hunting life/right. they grow up in cities and do not know what lies in the woods. what i am saying is, they don't have the exposure to nature like it was when all next door neighbors were a 1/2 mile away.

then again, you have young people who are interested in hunting but their parents are too overcome by the news and media reports of shootings and gun bans and crap not associated with hunting and the parents get the whole stereotype thing stuck in their heads and the kids again do not get any exposure to hunting and nature. if parents were really concerned about their childs health, they should be letting them eat the deer they killed, its healthier than that burger from safeway and you know whats in it too lol.

and i do agree that gun control is killing the sport as well, i guess that's why blackpowder has gotten to be so popular, no paper work, not invasion of privacy, no problems at all. i also feel that with the lack of shooting ranges in southern maryland kids don't have the exposure to guns period, most adults don't have access to shooting ranges either, we need more shooting ranges in southern maryland so that there are more programs and opportunities for kids to be exposed to shooting sports and hunting. as for the local shooting ranges, you go there only to be overwhelmed with military hoo-rahs with their 10,000 rounds per second autos and egos and its just not a fun for the whole family affair.

dr

 

[dustin]

next thing ya know the state will be paying the hunter to thin out the numbers...

 

[Novus Collectus]

heres my 2 cents about younger hunters, and tell me if you all feel the same way:

i think the problem is related to housing development and this thing called urban sprawl. heres what i see, the woods keep shrinking with more and more new homes, the kids that are raised in these homes are growing up in mini cities and they do not have the access to the hunting life/right. they grow up in cities and do not know what lies in the woods. what i am saying is, they don't have the exposure to nature like it was when all next door neighbors were a 1/2 mile away.

then again, you have young people who are interested in hunting but their parents are too overcome by the news and media reports of shootings and gun bans and crap not associated with hunting and the parents get the whole stereotype thing stuck in their heads and the kids again do not get any exposure to hunting and nature. if parents were really concerned about their childs health, they should be letting them eat the deer they killed, its healthier than that burger from safeway and you know whats in it too lol.

and i do agree that gun control is killing the sport as well, i guess that's why blackpowder has gotten to be so popular, no paper work, not invasion of privacy, no problems at all. i also feel that with the lack of shooting ranges in southern maryland kids don't have the exposure to guns period, most adults don't have access to shooting ranges either, we need more shooting ranges in southern maryland so that there are more programs and opportunities for kids to be exposed to shooting sports and hunting. as for the local shooting ranges, you go there only to be overwhelmed with military hoo-rahs with their 10,000 rounds per second autos and egos and its just not a fun for the whole family affair.

dr

Ya know, you had me until your stereotyping of target shooters.
For every 1,000 target shooters there is one that shoots full auto. Not only is the ammunition too expensive for the common shooter, but a fourteen thousand dollar full auto gun is waaaay out of most people's league financially. Also, of all the full auto shooters I have known, not one was a "military hoo-rah" with a big ego, so your few bad experiences with the ones you encountered were the exception and not the rule.

It has nothing to do with who is at the range, it has to do with there are too few ranges at all. Public ranges are rarer nowadays and private ranges are subject to more and more regulation, noise ordinances, enviromental lawsuits, more expensive insurance requirments and zoning restrictions than ever before. Shooters as well as hunters have to drive long distances in many states just to get to a firinin range.

 

[Bronwyn]

Sport fisherman nos. are declining also. You've got to wonder if it might be all the fees, restrictions and regulations that cause people to just give it up.

The fees for hunting in-state don't seem to be too high. I think the fee for hunting in another state is crazy. We used to live on the MD PA border and hubby liked to hunt both, but hunting out of state is costly.

 

[Drummerob]

Ya know, you had me until your stereotyping of target shooters.
For every 1,000 target shooters there is one that shoots full auto. Not only is the ammunition too expensive for the common shooter, but a fourteen thousand dollar full auto gun is waaaay out of most people's league financially. Also, of all the full auto shooters I have known, not one was a "military hoo-rah" with a big ego, so your few bad experiences with the ones you encountered were the exception and not the rule.

It has nothing to do with who is at the range, it has to do with there are too few ranges at all. Public ranges are rarer nowadays and private ranges are subject to more and more regulation, noise ordinances, enviromental lawsuits, more expensive insurance requirments and zoning restrictions than ever before. Shooters as well as hunters have to drive long distances in many states just to get to a firinin range.

"For every 1,000 target shooters there is one that shoots full auto."

this is probably true, but, with so few ranges in the area, the one i go to is myrtle grove, since I live in la plata, and there is a lot of military guys from indian head base that just waste lead like there's no tomorrow. i apologize for any disenchantment i've caused you, but, like i said, it was my 2 cents from my personal experiences at the ranges I have been to. hopefully it's just a misunderstanding of what i am trying to say. dr

 

[Novus Collectus]

"For every 1,000 target shooters there is one that shoots full auto."

this is probably true, but, with so few ranges in the area, the one i go to is myrtle grove, since I live in la plata, and there is a lot of military guys from indian head base that just waste lead like there's no tomorrow. i apologize for any disenchantment i've caused you, but, like i said, it was my 2 cents from my personal experiences at the ranges I have been to. hopefully it's just a misunderstanding of what i am trying to say. dr

I agree, there needs to be more accessible shooting ranges so the sport doesn't decline further.
If I had a lot of land in SOMD, I would shoot on my own property, but alas, I and most other people don't have that option or a lot of land in the area.

 

[Bronwyn]

Hubby went to get his license this week. I asked him why there are less hunters. He said he thinks there are less and less places to hunt. More down here in southern maryland, we can't speak for the rest of the country!