Next Generation - will they show up

[neonomad]

A buddy came to visit a few weeks ago, his son is 14. They live on the far east side of Columbus OH, prime time deer hunting region of the state. I asked the son if any classmates hunt or fish… he said nobody he could think of. Maybe 14 is a little young, but this still surprised me. This isn’t an urban middle school. Anyone have similar or different experience to relay? Seems we have a good number of 20 and 30 and 40 somethings in the woods, do you think todays kids will show up, or will sports and video games lead to an inevitable decline in interest in this passion?

 

[Plebe]

A buddy came to visit a few weeks ago, his son is 14. They live on the far east side of Columbus OH, prime time deer hunting region of the state. I asked the son if any classmates hunt or fish… he said nobody he could think of. Maybe 14 is a little young, but this still surprised me. This isn’t an urban middle school. Anyone have similar or different experience to relay? Seems we have a good number of 20 and 30 and 40 somethings in the woods, do you think todays kids will show up, or will sports and video games lead to an inevitable decline in interest in this passion?

I don't disregard the screen culture of recent generations, but the Big Buck culture of 2000s hunting TV has resulted in more limited opportunities and changed deer hunting culture to the detriment of youth interest.

 

[devildog]

In my families situation I hope my kids will develop the passion for hunting later in life. My son and daughter are each playing two sports competitively and between practices, games, and working out I am not surprised they are not very interested in going out in the woods with me on their off time. I end up taking them once or twice a year and they have a blast but that is enough for them. I didn't start getting into hunting till I got out of the military and was in college, so there is still hope.

 

[Nutterbuster]

Everything I read indicates a decline in hunting. Trapping seems to be declining although there's less reporting on it since it's a smaller demographic. Fishing actually seems to be growing.

Many "nonconsumptive" outdoor recreation activities are growing. Camping, hiking, birding, etc. My understanding is that the number of participants generally grows, but as a whole the number of days participating seems to be declining. Most of the literature I've read attributes that trend to reduced opportunity associated with increased urbanization/privatization and downward economic trends in recent years.

I went fishing today in the neighborhood creek and ran into 2 teens fishing and a group of 4 boys on bikes headed to a cold hole. I think kids are naturally attracted to nature, and if we just keep it around and keep barriers low they'll know what to do.

Thoreau did say that he believed he'd have been a fierce hunter if he'd been raised an Indian, but we all know that his interest in nature was of a different bent due to his background. I think the same applies to youth today. Hunting isnt as feasible or appealing as it once was.

To me, hunting increasingly becomes just one of a multitude of ways to enjoy nature. I can live in a world without hunting, or a kid who doesn't hunt. But I can't imagine a life that doesn't involve playing in creeks or watching the birds fly or the sun set.

 

[Ckwilli]

My wife and I are teaching a discover nature class at our kids homeschool cooperative next school year. It does include quite a bit of hunting education. I didn’t think that there would be much interest but to my surprise we had enough kids sign up we were able to offer two classes. On a side note, I think I just hit the 1000 comments mark. Lol

 

[NMSbowhunter]

I grew up hunting and being in the woods and nature but from about 13 or so to my early 30's I was more interested in women than hunting and the outdoors. I got back into hunting later after I got married and I settled down.

One thing I do see as a benefit to modern media is that kids who come from households that don't have any tradition of hunting and fishing can learn about things from people who they otherwise would not have access too. It used to be you had to have a local mentor to learn about hunting. Now you can learn a lot by watching videos and reading articles. It may all balance out.

 

[BTaylor]

A buddy came to visit a few weeks ago, his son is 14. They live on the far east side of Columbus OH, prime time deer hunting region of the state. I asked the son if any classmates hunt or fish… he said nobody he could think of. Maybe 14 is a little young, but this still surprised me. This isn’t an urban middle school. Anyone have similar or different experience to relay? Seems we have a good number of 20 and 30 and 40 somethings in the woods, do you think todays kids will show up, or will sports and video games lead to an inevitable decline in interest in this passion?

When I was 14 the walls of my room were covered in pics of deer and ducks I cut out of the hunting magazines I bought or Dad subscribed too. Literally floor to ceiling. I loved basketball and played more hours than I could possible count year round but it never interfered with a hunt. In fact I got in trouble more than once for showing up late or entirely missing saturday practices because I was hunting. There were only 2 seasons, huntin season and fishin season. Mostly only dated during the week because I was going to be gone on the weekends. Took a good long while to find a woman that found more value in a full freezer than drinkin and clubbin. About the only thing that has changed is I dont play basketball any more.

 

[Reagan H.]

As someone who graduated high school in 2018 (large school of 4,000 students in suburban Indianapolis) I actually had a good number of kids who wanted to hunt/fish but didn't have the means to. I got a couple buddies their first toms, bucks, and deer in general. It's a larger sample size I guess, but still encouraging considering they had 0 exposure to that activity before. They still actively hunt and fish today, and one of them started a Youtube channel on hunting and fishing.

 

[Empostarr]

I think the proliferation of social media hunting content that mostly just show success has also not helped. During the pandemic MI was showing record level of hunting license purchases, most likely because people wanted to get outside and do something. If you spend all day watching YouTube I could see how someone might think they're gonna get a big buck on the first day if they set up over this fresh scrape. In reality, I've known a lot of hunters that go years before their first harvest, myself included. And that takes a special type of person to do all that prep, practice shooting, practice climbing (if you hunt elevated), spending time scouting, spending time actually hunting, and then come up with nothing. Not to mention the cost of everything someone might think they need.

Prior to the pandemic, hunting numbers were in decline across the country overall. It feels like it's gone back to that now. I hunted a little bit in my teens, but I didn't get hit with the hunting bug I have now until I was in my late 20's. My son wanted to hunt, but he didn't want to do the dirty work that came after the shot, so he doesn't hunt. It feels more and more people want the action and success without the other work, and the way we're such a now, now, now short attention span society, it makes sense. It probably won't change until there's some catastrophe that decimates livestock and we have to start hunting for food again.

 

[Nutterbuster]

t probably won't change until there's some catastrophe that decimates livestock and we have to start hunting for food again.

300 million US citizens arent hunting for sustenance if something decimates crops and livestock. Unless you're thinking of doing what Irish potato farmers or Russians did and clubbing the mice in your attic.

Even during the "country boy can survive" days, the bulk of the calories for the bulk of the people came from ag, and we still almost wiped out several species and did wipe out a few. Heck, Lewis and Clark packed a lot of supplies and resupplied at every Indian town they encountered, most of which had some form of ag.

Even real-deal hunter/gatherer tribes get more food from the gathering part of the equation.

 

[kbetts]

Very much in decline around here. If you don't have tower blinds or heated pits, you're forced to suffer....lol. Public marsh is desolate except for certain days. The age is getting older as well.

I'm enjoying growing and harvesting just as much as killing. Maybe more as I age.

 

[Jammintree]

I think kids are naturally attracted to nature, and if we just keep it around and keep barriers low they'll know what to do.

This conversation has been in my thoughts for a few days now. And while I’ve pondered why hunting is “aging out”, I can only really speak about my own experience. I didn’t have any interest in hunting until I was an adult. I grew up in a rural setting in the 80’s. There were a lot of guys that hunted in those days and not a lot of deer. There were about 10-14 days every year when you’d see pick ups parked everywhere and guys walking around in orange or red plaid with shotguns. As a kid my feelings about it were neutral; it was just something that happened. My parents and grandparents didn’t hunt, we didn’t have cable tv so there was little to no hunting media. Until my late 20’s the only images I had of hunting were all those guys walking around or sitting all day coming home empty handed and the little bits I did glimpse in hunting stores, magazines and TV. Those impressions were of trophy hunters putting heads on the wall and of all the gadgets and gear that were being promoted.

It wasn’t until my 30s that I even considered hunting as something I might be interested in. The curiosity really came from gardening and wildcrafting and my pursuit of others skills of self reliance. During those years I increasingly felt the desire, but doing it seemed beyond my reach. It seemed like an activity that required all kinds of gadgets or secret knowledge. It wasn’t till I was 40 when my brother in law asked if I wanted go on a hunt; I responded “yes, but…”. He said don’t overthink it, you fish so you already get it. He gave me his muzzleloader, showed me how to load it and sent me off. He said: “you’re good at being in the woods, just go be in the woods. You’ll figure it out.” 5 minutes after I left the door I was 100% hooked. I’d been a woodsman and naturalist since birth and the instant realization was that hunting was a way of feeding one’s self through their knowledge, connection and understanding of nature.

I’m not sure what I thought hunting was before I actually did it - but clearly many of the images I had came from seeing an incomplete picture. It didn’t seem relevant for a long time. What I’ve come to value about hunting the most is of course all the meat in the freezer and a sense that I don’t require a grocery store, which is so empowering. But I also value the challenge and joy of the continuum of riddles. I value my ever deepening connection with nature and all of the skills that I can cultivate to become more successful. And on a most basic level, it feels really good to succeed at something that on one hand is extremely challenging and on the other hand is so primal and intrinsically human.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

300 million US citizens arent hunting for sustenance if something decimates crops and livestock. Unless you're thinking of doing what Irish potato farmers or Russians did and clubbing the mice in your attic.

Even during the "country boy can survive" days, the bulk of the calories for the bulk of the people came from ag, and we still almost wiped out several species and did wipe out a few. Heck, Lewis and Clark packed a lot of supplies and resupplied at every Indian town they encountered, most of which had some form of ag.

Even real-deal hunter/gatherer tribes get more food from the gathering part of the equation.

If something truly decimates crops and livestock, you won't have 300 million people (or nearly 8 billion globally) to compete with for long.

 

[elk yinzer]

I don't know, there's a big gap between my youngest cousins and my kids and the only thing I know about them is what I read on the internet. Fortunately I've learned how reliable that is.

I grew up influenced by the earlyish days of hunting forums back when bowsite.com was worth visiting. I remember way back then, talking 20-25 years ago, all the grumpy old people that found their way to the internet were saying the exact same things as they are now. That all my generation does is play video games and they worship satan and yada yada. Well, it seems they were pretty well wrong about that, and tags are harder than ever to get and access gets harder to come by each year, so basically I'm saying you can go either way when you get old and grumpy. I guess I selfishly wish more of my fellow millenials turned out as badly as predicted.

 

[BackSpasm]

Hunters: I can't get tags anywhere anymore and everywhere is leased up and public land is just full these days

Also hunters: yea there just isn't anyone who wants to go outside with all the vidya games and meth

 

[Exhumis]

Northern Virginia here. Steep decline is what I’ve seen due to a few issues local to my area but I suspect others are experts well.
Huntable land is disappearing at an exponential rate. What land remains is almost impossible to get permission to hunt even when leasing is offered(believe me I’ve tried). Many land owners are holding out for the next offer from Amazon, a land developer or data center. Or the land has been trespassed on by hunters so many times they messed it up for you.
The stigma. Around here it’s seen as killing a poor defenseless animal until it mangles your BMW at 60mph at 6am. Then it’s an inconvenience. Gun hunting is very frowned upon unless you’re of a certain accepted class IE gun or hunt club with lots of money then it’s back slaps and multi million dollar deals around the campfire at hunt camp.
I’ve tried the archery route which has been met with mixed success but better than gun success.
And then finally as others have mentioned lack of interest. Vast majority of younger folks don’t wanna wake up at the butt crack of dawn or stay out late, be hot and sweaty and contest with bugs, snakes, spiders and the like to sit motionless for hours on the off chance they might get 2 minutes of action. It’s just not appealing to them.
There is a bit of hope tho. There is still some interest and surprisingly I see it from cultures or classes who weren’t exposed to it before IE city kids or kids from other countries who didn’t experience it and now want to try it. My son has some Korean friends and a friend who’s parents are from Afghanistan who are excited to get in the woods so I’m gonna nurture that desire as best I can. One thing is for sure we gotta get folks interested. It’s annoying to me just how disconnected folks are when it comes to funding and not realizing where much of their park money comes from.

 

[Nutterbuster]

I don't know, there's a big gap between my youngest cousins and my kids and the only thing I know about them is what I read on the internet. Fortunately I've learned how reliable that is.

I grew up influenced by the earlyish days of hunting forums back when bowsite.com was worth visiting. I remember way back then, talking 20-25 years ago, all the grumpy old people that found their way to the internet were saying the exact same things as they are now. That all my generation does is play video games and they worship satan and yada yada. Well, it seems they were pretty well wrong about that, and tags are harder than ever to get and access gets harder to come by each year, so basically I'm saying you can go either way when you get old and grumpy. I guess I selfishly wish more of my fellow millenials turned out as badly as predicted.

When people started writing things, about the first thing they wrote was "kids these days." Then and now, they get mighty upset when you ask who raised the pesky hooligans. Give it a couple hundred years and nobody can tell the difference between the 2 generations. How much difference was there between kids born in the 1860s vs the 1880s? But read sermons and newspapers from that time and everybody was upset about the tophats the kids were wearing...

 

[BTaylor]

When people started writing things, about the first thing they wrote was "kids these days." Then and now, they get mighty upset when you ask who raised the pesky hooligans. Give it a couple hundred years and nobody can tell the difference between the 2 generations. How much difference was there between kids born in the 1860s vs the 1880s? But read sermons and newspapers from that time and everybody was upset about the tophats the kids were wearing...

Kids aint been raised proper that cant write in cursive, havent been whipped with a willow switch or at a certain age been asked by their Dad if they want to get their azz beat like the grown man they think they are, havent been made to work hard outside all day doing something that benefits the family, etc. My generation did plenty of stuff that my parents generation didnt approve of but we werent soft, lazy or lacking in respect for our elders.

 

[Nutterbuster]

Kids aint been raised proper that cant write in cursive, havent been whipped with a willow switch or at a certain age been asked by their Dad if they want to get their azz beat like the grown man they think they are, havent been made to work hard outside all day doing something that benefits the family, etc. My generation did plenty of stuff that my parents generation didnt approve of but we werent soft, lazy or lacking in respect for our elders.

When were you born?

 

[Weldabeast]

I got the kids interested in fishing and nature in general....hunting can come later. I invite them every time but skeeters/ticks/yellow flys are a lot to handle and can make for a very not fun time. I'll push a little harder as they get into upper teens when they got a little more mental fortitude....it can easily turn them off totally if I force a hunt and they get torn up with chiggers or bunch of yellow fly bites....Ive seen grown men get run outta the woods so I don't wanna over do it.

They love to nature walk and fish and can tell u the name.of the birds in the sky and I'm very happy with that....killing stuff can come later.