Interesting article - Hunters and Anglers in decline

[BentRod]

m.startribune.com/anderson-will-millennials-step-up-as-hunting-and-angling-continues-decline/468820183/

[hillbilly]

If the next generation (millenniums) don't fish and hunt, then pressure on game will decrease. Aside from ecological and environmental cycles, wildgame will flourish. And for those that continue to hunt and fish - it will be a productive period. May not be a popular statement to make, but just stop all this human intervention and attempts to control nature, just let it happen.

[hillbilly]

BentRod - you posted this without any comment. You are in the millennial age category. What are your opinions?

[hillbilly]

BR - realized I have the generational categories confused, you r not in this age class - my bad.
Still be interested to hear your opinion as you are somewhat younger than a lot of of us on here, as well as opinions of others.

[bushwacker]

I am 32 and have a 5 year old son and a 1 year old daughter. I believe with how technology has taken over it has to start with the parents. My son loves hunting and fishing at age 5. He was with me this fall in the stand a good bit. I killed a nice buck that he was able to be apart of the whole thing. Right away he wanted to mount the deer for his room. He had his mind set on getting an iPod for xmas as well. I gave him a no pressure option of either getting the deer mount of an iPod. I about cried the next day when he came to me on his own and said Daddy I really want that deer mounted. ( I was going to mount the buck regardless ). I do see a big decline in hunters and fishermen. Back when I was young there were camps set up everywhere with people hunting. Now you go to the same areas and see no one. I have also seen a big decline in game population. It’s had to get a child in to hunting if you can’t find a place to hunt and a lot of National forest is non-productive. It has to be fun for the child. I think we need help from the game commission on this too. There is a lot that can be done to improve the public lands. I know this takes money. Adults need to really need to step up now more than ever. We can’t be lazy. We need to also focus on taking kids who’s parents do not hunt or fish and get them out or they will never get a start in it.

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2018 0:05:52 GMT -5 hillbilly said:

May not be a popular statement to make.

  
   Hillbilly, as I have gotten older, I learned that pleasing everyone is impossible but pissing everyone of is a piece off cake..  

[hilljack198]

I'll have to disagree, at least for around southwest Virginia. I'm 22 and yes I grew up hunting/fishing thanks to my dad and grandpaw. Almost all my friends hunt or fish or both. Get on facebook and check out Virginia Whitetails many many young people on that site. I think its just a little different as for how we introduce it to kids. Yes cell phones and technology have are to much involved in our lives now a days but its here to stay but we can use that. My little cousin Ive been taking striper fishing loves to go, he's thirteen and loves videogames/computers but if you ask to go fishing hes the first one out the door now. I dont think theres as much of a problem as this article says, but there is room for improvement on sparking the interest for the outdoors at a young age. And yes I hate being called a "meliniell" or however you spell it!

[greywalls]

Jan 13, 2018 15:18:03 GMT -5 hilljack198 said:

I'll have to disagree, at least for around southwest Virginia. I'm 22 and yes I grew up hunting/fishing thanks to my dad and grandpaw. Almost all my friends hunt or fish or both. Get on facebook and check out Virginia Whitetails many many young people on that site. I think its just a little different as for how we introduce it to kids. Yes cell phones and technology have are to much involved in our lives now a days but its here to stay but we can use that. My little cousin Ive been taking striper fishing loves to go, he's thirteen and loves videogames/computers but if you ask to go fishing hes the first one out the door now. I dont think theres as much of a problem as this article says, but there is room for improvement on sparking the interest for the outdoors at a young age. And yes I hate being called a "meliniell" or however you spell it!

Well said, my man!

[fokromix]

Interesting discussion.  I am a teacher and recall the time when kids missed school on opening day, gun racks in the parking lot etc.  Much has changed since then.  Let's set aside the Technology issue...that's a whole other thing,  how about shifts in the nature of families, society, urbanization, um...no guns at school...all playing a role and everyone just seems busier.  Most students I teach just don't hunt and fish much and aren't brought up with it. They might fish as part of some sort of outing or trip...but not very often.  While they fish, even my own kids don't much care for hunting,...they actually seem to like the hunt ...but not the killing so much.  I'm OK with that.  I fished growing up and didn't really hunt until I got older.  I run a few retreats a year for students and one thing stands out...young people still seem to appreciate getting outside and slowing down.    That's pretty much what hunting and fishing is to me.  The HS kids I work with usually spend far less time outdoors in general...especially outdoors in the "woods" or on the water but it is harder for them to do.  They really enjoy just sitting and doing nothing, no phones, outside, around a campfire or just slowing down a decompressing.   Much of their time is now structured and planned out in leagues, activities or just sitting in front of a screen.  I can't speak to numbers specifically but here in central VA, part of that is far less people are willing to let you use their land to hunt and fish.  Maybe because  more folks move growing up and as a result you know less people in a community.  I don't own much land and it can be tough to find a productive, accessible, convenient, safe place to take kids out to hunt...fishing is still much easier but I have to drive past lots of big loaded farm ponds when I go with my kids to somewhere we are allowed.  I think the kayak fishing movement has held the fishing numbers pretty steady around here...but hunting...another story IMHO. 


BTW.  I am as tech savvy as just about anyone but make a conscious choice to still use this phone.

[mwardncsu]

I think there are a lot of reasons for the decline - perhaps less about "snowflake millennials" as many other factors mentioned above. And, fundamentally kids do what their parents introduce them to.....

My concern with it all is what it means to the future of the sport - I posted this over of Facebook and had a number of comments to the effect of "good, more for us to catch" - but that's a short-sighted view in my opinion. With fewer using the resource it means fewer paying for hunting & fishing licenses - which means fewer $$$ coming in to be spent on the resource - through stocking, or habitat upkeep, or maintaining public lands, etc, etc. For the inland striper fisheries, this is a very material concern given these are stocked fish. Same goes for the trout fisheries - and really, perhaps to a lesser degree, all the fisheries. I see the less about controlling nature as ensuring the availability of a viable resource.

[hilljack198]

We had gun racks, we didnt run around telling everyone of course. Skipped school so much several years to hunt/fish I almost had to repeat a couple grades and I wasnt the only one. I remember my senior year of football I was pissed to go to the playoffs because that cut into bow season and oct. Striper fishing. Mind you this was only 5 years ago. Maybe Im just old school or brought up that way. I definitely see your point though, Is there something us sportsmen can do better to help preserve the future of wildlife conservation? Maybe so maybe not. My grandad was a game warden in the 70's and he talks about going to schools and teaching about hunting and saftey. He always took a group of boys trout fishing every year. Things like this you dont hear about going on anymore. Maybe it is our society (aka liberals) not wanting anything to do with it or anyone else for that matter.