NRA Says We Must Stop the Decline of Hunting

Does this mean Boddington will stop doing $50,000 hunts where he only takes the pelt and donate that money toward licensing fees for the masses?
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Expensive Safaris have been around forever, I think ...... what's changed is now , such things are televised, blogged, shared on social media, etc. to a much greater extent....... and the Hunting TV industry has exploded.....

In the past, writers like Ruark, Leopold, Hemingway, O'Connor, Cooper..... sold books and magazine articles which inspired people to go and have their own adventures ....... to watch or read what passes for Hunting shows or magazines these days..... they seem to me to be nothing more than info-mercials/ads that are slick enough to be entertaining ....
 
At one time, no one in the lower 48 would pay to hunt, other than to buy a license and equipment. That was something you did when you went to Africa. Nowadays, in many states and areas, it has become the norm, and is steadily increasing. Used to be a way to feed your family and was cheap entertainment. Nowadays in order to hunt in many locals, you better have deep pockets and expect to shoot something domesticated or semi-domesticated, that has been trained to come to the bait pile. Read the hunting forums, folks talking about getting ready for hunting are talking buying bait, filling feeders and putting up trail cams. Nobody goes out looking for sign anymore, much less know how to red it if they did. Sad as it is, it is the future of hunting, and like many other hobbies, at some point will come down to only those that can afford it.
 
I bought my kids lifetime hunting licenses when they were born.I knew the state would price them out one day. Licenses keep going up because government is inefficient. Got to take money from us to pay the rabbit sheriff to aggravate us. I break no game laws but have had several hunts ruined by the rabbit sheriff checking my license.
 
The massive growth of Metro Areas has not helped either. Many areas that are now full of thousands and thousands of cookie cutter houses were once good and easily accessible hunting areas.

When I was young and didn't have a lot of money that mattered.

And the already mentioned issues with the current generation doesn't help either.

But I do think it will come around. I've hunted all my life and even I'm getting more enthusiastic every year. I got my buddy to go for his first time when he turned 40. Now his wife and daughter join us on the second weekend any so far his wife is out hunting him. ;)

That's what we need to do, and it's funner with friends anyways.

Good Luck to you all this season.
 
The biggest threat to public land hunting is in the west. Access to millions of acres of public owned land is blocked by private land owners.

Yep, the NRA supports politicians who would sell off public land.
 
at some point will come down to only those that can afford it.
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"Need" and "poor" are very confusing terms in a country where people with trendy clothes, expensive hair and nails chat on the latest i-phone as they buy out the meat counter of t-bone steaks with an EBT card ......
 
at some point will come down to only those that can afford it.
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but my greatest concern is that if hunting becomes a rich man's game, it will go the way of fox hunting in England: very few could afford to do it, and the "slacktivists" mentioned above outnumbered them immensely..... people that know nothing of the issue and had no skin in the game can be easily swayed....... done.
 
I introduced my boys to deer hunting early, age 6/7
Only went when I thought they had a 50/50 chance of seeing something, never sat more than 3 hours in blind and they had electronics to occupy them.
They each got a deer with a .223 AR15 by the time they were 8 years old.
Subsequent year or the next each got a deer with crossbow.
Two deer each total by ages 10/11

At ages 12/13 they would rather play X-Box and watch youtube than hunt, or even shoot guns for fun; I'm not shoving either down their throat, I mentioned it a couple times and can see they are not interested.

I had fishing shoved down my throat as a kid/teen and now I disdain the thought of sitting in a boat on the lake, over 20 years since I last went and I don't miss it. I'll not make the same mistake with my kids.
 
Like most things it is more complicated.

1. Younger people have a lot of cheaper more exciting entertainment options. Starting in Gen X playing video games doesn't stop when you hit 18.

2. Land access is much more difficult in my area than when I hear it was 50+ years ago. A few people around me had great tracts of land for hunting when I started hunting. All said no and I could understand why except for three. Those three I had babysat their kids or grand-kids. In all cases girls. The idea that they left me alone with their daughters or grand daughters, but didn't trust me hunting on their property absolutely blew my mind. Had done work on their places, watched animals, borrowed vehicles, etc. Still wouldn't let me hunt. Never understood it. All were open enough to guns to own shotguns or 30-30s.

3. I can't hunt for what I can buy decent meat at Aldi's, even after I have bought most of the equipment. I live in an urban area and need to travel to hunt. IRS says that driving my car costs me about $.55 a mile for write offs. Every day I hunt I am driving 40 miles or more, so that is $21. State limits the weapons I can hunt with such that I only use them for hunting. That means I need to check zero each fall, etc. A few bucks there and 20 mile trip to the range. Maybe a day off work thrown in there. More time to scout. Processing the meat yourself is great if you have a barn or garage you can do it in ad understanding neighbors. I've done it. It makes quite a bloody mess.

4. Not many people want to eat the meat. Summer sausage or some really spiced up jerky, sure, but a steak doesn't get much interest. Might as well just use turkey or beef from Aldi's if I they want it so spicy they can't taste the meat.

There are other things. The biggest most exciting group of new hunters prone to growth seems to be women young and old.

I go hunting to relax. I was checked by ranger two years ago on a cold rainy day because he said I was the only one he saw out. I told him I'd taken the day off work and decided I could nap in my chair-blind and relax better than at home with the wife.
 
I sat and conversed with the last of his generation, my 86 year old uncle. He was old, legally blind, and on oxygen, but still sharp as a new scalpel. Every year he guided and outfitted from the 1950s until he got too old to guide. He still hosted hunters, allowing them to use the cabin, and having hot meals ready for them, right up until the day he died. We spoke at length about the weekend warrior modern trophy hunters. Charles had a tobacco stain running down his chin, as he said, "Yep, yearling, non-lactating doe, or cow, lactating doe or cow, then buck or bull, for the best meat to the worst." Since he was no longer guiding, and I was, I ask him, "So, how are this years wannabes doing?" He replied, "They wandered all around the meadows, long after the deer have taken to the deep brush for cover." I took a dip from his Copenhagen, and said, "Yeah, most of the clowns I drove past down south had way too much crap with them, to get back where the mule deer were. It was a really dry year, so all the deer were down by the river. My party had their tags filled before 3:00 PM and we all got back before dark. Utah had such an infestation of deer in one area they had two doe for $90 out of state license! That was my trip." Finding private or BLM land is getting harder and harder. Urban sprawl, and rural developments are making it harder each year. I am glad my best years are behind me. Now ranchers want $4000 to hunt on their land. Charles and my father fished & hunted to eat and survive. No one blocked access or demanded money back then, or if they did, it was a short lived endeavor. Kind of a FU see what happens the next time you are broke down on the roadside in winter, or need some help. Jicarilla wants a $40,000 minimum bid for trophy hunting on tribal lands. Bighorn sheep is also a $50,000+ bid to be drawn. WHT? $50,000 starting bid, just to get a tag? Better yet, how about $50,000 to be entered in a drawing?
 
Time is a big factor. I have a lot of pressure on me to provide for my family. That means going to work where I know I'll get paid for my time. I love the outdoors and experiencing nature and wildlife, but scouting for game, tracking sign, and spending the time in the wild does not pay and doesn't guarantee anything. Then there is the cost of equipment and the time needed to be proficient with it. My 13 year old has expressed interest and I'm trying to get him out there, but, honestly, we are ill equipped. He is an athlete which cuts into time. I don't let him miss games or practices. Sports are a commitment. When he and I do have time, there are other things he'd rather be doing. I could ramble on and on about my personal challenges that prevent me from hunting or being able to mentor my own children in hunting.

In the end, time, money, access, and living in our modern world with all of it's demands are why I don't hunt like my dad did and why my kids are getting even less exposure. I'm doing what I can to get them out there, but it is a real struggle. Also because of my afformentioned limitations, success will be questionable.
 
I should be in the woods waiting for the sun to come up and a turkey to come down from roost with my son, but fall turkey snuck up on me, I'll have to cash in my change jar for hunting licenses and a box of shells. Meanwhile my boss is on vacation to hunt while I make half as much money to cover for him while he's gone.

Sorry for going off on a tangent. Stress has me losing sleep...life is hard, the struggle is real.
 
Thurs at the barber shop I heard on the radio about the use of cyanide bombs for coyote control here. Well duh of course those bombs will indiscriminantly wipe out other wildlife. Why not have a good old fashioned coyote shoot???
 
For many state wildlife agencies, there is little funding from the states' general revenue. The majority comes from hunting/fishing license sales and from the federal excise tax on firearms.

The federal money is distributed among the states based on the number of hunting licenses sold in each state.

A decline in the sale of hunting licenses can reduce the funds available for enforcement of hunting laws and for the research into the various wildlife matters such as health and census.
 
Hunting these days has become a preppy sport. Some of my cousins from Atlanta came down and were hunting a few weeks ago. It looked like the Cabellas store got drug into the woods. They were telling me all about their new scent control camo, face nets, deer lures, deer calls, and all kind of other Crap. As always, I went hunting in my blue jeans, plaid shirt, and work boots. I saw a pile of deer. Passed up some real nice bucks (they will be nicer next year). They didn't see anything.
 
Thurs at the barber shop I heard on the radio about the use of cyanide bombs for coyote control here. Well duh of course those bombs will indiscriminantly wipe out other wildlife. Why not have a good old fashioned coyote shoot???
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Having just recently moved from a northern suburb of Denver I have to ask: did they get the rabbit and prairie dog population under control first?
 
Reasons I don't hunt anymore:

I’m a boomer, and as a kid went bird, deer and small animal hunting with relatives.

I love the outdoors, am an avid hiker / backpacker, but haven’t been a hunter in decades. But I love to go to the range and shoot .22's to .50 BMG's.

Some of my reasons:

Safety practices of many (mainly deer) hunters using rifles is scary, regardless of required safety classes
- Too many hunters in close proximity
- Drinking and hunting seems common, but the woods / hunting camps seem to have a measurable share of the impaired
- Shooting at game in areas where it’s hard to see what’s behind the game is common, and how 'accidents' happen
- Using high capacity mags and unloading them at distances they have little chance of hitting the intended game but likely will wiz over other's heads

Siting in a blind in the cold doesn’t excite me anymore

Finding someone in your (lawfully placed) stand and not willing to move

The total cost per pound is very expensive if you try to justify ‘putting meat on the table’
- If you like venison, there are many places to buy it

Removing / finding bird shot in birds is a pain and hard on the teeth if you cook the shot :)

The gear can get pretty expensive

Just informational, I know I’m not alone, not trying to start a fight.
 
Usually I'm more concerned about the outdoor cat population, but there certainly are a lot of bunnies and prairie rats all over the place still. I personally prefer foxes do that control, coyotes can sometimes be agressive towards people.
 
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