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I'm amazed that so few hunt small game any more , when i was growing up in the late 50's and 60's every kid i knew was chopping at the bits waiting for squirrel and rabbit season to open, but not today , kid have little interest in small game hunting

If there are fewer and fewer hunters, then why does it seem like more and more of them end up on the land I hunt. It's more crowded out there than ever before from my perspective.

Gettin down to the nitty gritty, ALL leases lead to less overall hunters.

I'm sure the Texas boys will come in and call me a clueless commie prick. It be ok, my skin be thick.

Gettin down to the nitty gritty, ALL leases lead to less overall hunters.

Hunter numbers continue to increase in Texas, nation


By STEVE KNIGHT
outdoortylerpaper.com

Another report continues to put hunting in a good light, and that is important these days when most of the nation probably can�t understand its relevance.

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation and Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies� Hunting in America report hunter numbers are on the upswing nationwide and along with an increase in the numbers of hunters comes economic growth.

Hunter expenditures are up 55 percent since 2006.

Numbers used for the study go back to 2011, but are probably a little better now based on the state of the economy two years back. However, looking back there were 13.7 million hunters in the United States. Collectively they spent $36 billion, which in chamber of commerce dollars represents an economic output of $87 billion. Hunters, through their purchases, leasing and other expenditures support 681,000 jobs.

The important news to lawmakers is that hunting creates $5.4 billion in local and state taxes and $6.4 billion in federal tax dollars. This is important during this era of gun control because it shows urban politicians who will never understand the tradition that there is an economic value to hunting.

After a downward trend that began in the mid-1990s, hunter numbers bottomed in 2006, but have been moving upwards since. Hunter numbers are nearing the level they were in the early 1990s.

While Texas is the 600-pound gorilla when it comes to hunting license sales (already 1.1 million this season) we are rather frugal compared to hunters elsewhere. Wisconsin and New York, which rank Nos. 2 and 3 in license sales, but almost 300,000 short of Texas�) have hunting retail sales totaling more than $2.2 and $2.1 billion, respectively. Texas, where it seems every hunter has every toy, has sales below $1.95 billion. Michigan, which sells half the licenses Texas does and ranks sixth nationally, leads in related retail sales at $2.3 billion.

Most Texas hunters tend to think the best hunting in the country is located within the Lone Star State. Not surprisingly our pride isn�t shared universally. Texas doesn�t even rank in the top 10 when it comes to attracting out-of-state hunters. South Dakota, according to the report, leads that list with 144,000 out-of-state license sales. Comparatively, Texas sold just 56,000 last fall. That is a bit of an apple and oranges comparison. South Dakota is predominately attracting pheasant hunters and a limited number of deer hunters. Some of Texas� out-of-state hunters are coming to hunt dove, turkey and maybe ducks or geese, but most of the 24,000 buying the general non-resident hunting licenses ($315) are deer hunters and most of the 32,000 buying the non-resident five-day special license ($48) are coming to hunt wild pigs, bless their souls.

There is no doubt Texas� hunting license sales were hurt by the economy and drought in recent years. Sales dipped to a 10-year low of 1.039 million in 2005, but have steadily climbed back to about 1.1 million the last two years. This year Super Combo license sales exploded by 20,000, topping the 400,000 mark for the first time.

Youth license sales continued to increase to more than 145,000 this year. Significantly, the number of new youth license sales increased more than the number of senior licenses decreased, although just barely.

Weather and finance certainly have something to do with the improved license sales. Although much of the state is still dry, it is certainly better than it has been. Texas� economy is also much better than other locations thanks in a big part to the Eagle Ford oil boom in South Texas.

One downside, however, is landowners earning royalties from the oil and gas production aren�t as needing of lease hunters as they have been in the past. Only time will tell how that plays out.

The continued growth in youth hunters can be tied to two things, mothers who are getting involved and a generation of Texas men who skipped hunting in their youth are coming back to it and bringing their kids along.

Texas could be seeing a decrease in out-of-state license sales as other states catch up in the trophy deer category. Although they may not produce the numbers of big deer Texas does, there are probably operations offering hunts at a price point more attractive to those who can�t afford higher-priced hunts here.

The state still has room to increase hunter numbers, although it may not be in deer hunting. The number of minorities hunting is still low, but there seems to be an interest there especially among the Hispanic population.