Why do I keep reading that the amount of licensed hunters is going down each year, but I keep seeing more and more hunters in the woods? I speak generically, but it seems most articles I read are that we need to get more people involved in hunting so it's not a lost sport. Need to introduce youth to the sport, teach women to hunt, take a friend, all to show them how to hunt and share the sport so it's not lost as the older generations stop hunting. At the same time, I see more and more hunters in the woods and less and less game. Even more so, my state of Colorado wants to raise tag fees significantly. I can literally pay double the fee and see half the game - what gives????

with the INCREASING population and DECREASING amount of hunting land it just seems like there are more people hunting

Like the game your pursuing, it all comes down to loss of habitat for both game and hunter in many cases. It used to be my thoughts about hunting were when and for how long on a particular day, never where. I could head east, west, north, or south until my legs gave out or my vehicle ran out of gas. Now where I'm going to hunt is at the top of the thought process on any given day because options on private land is increasingly limited.

Good leases are hard to find in Texas. Lot of guys cry about having to pay for hunting, but that's the way it is in Texas. At least you know who you are hunting with. If you see someone you don't know. Shoot them, they are trespassing.

You boys in the Western states are going to continue to see more and more hunters....from the Midwest and East. First, the whole western/backpack hunting trend is the new cool thing to do. It has really picked up in the last 5 years or so. Secondly, as both access and opportunities decline in some of the Midwest and East, guys are realizing how nice it is to go West and hunt the big tracts of public land. It has gotten tougher to get on land. It has gotten tougher to get tags in some areas as deer numbers drop. MT sold out of NR big game combo tags in the initial lottery this year, first time since 2011 that has happened, when they jacked the prices up. It's only going to get worse.

Well I hope hunting all that public land will be enough, for nonresidents, to justify the cost. We got some horrific winter kill this past winter in Wyoming. The antler point restrictions have gone up in several areas for deer, and some areas, a shortened season. I'm just grateful to get out in the National Forest 40min away, whether I put game in the freezer or not.

We can thank scripted shows like Duck Dynasty and others for dragging more and more of the idiot factor out into the woods. Honestly, I can't stand other hunters, especially the ones the border my family property. Most are game pigs and trespassing scum.

And to the OP's observation, yes!!! I, too have seen the same for years. All we hear is "wahhhh less people are enjoying the outdoors" bullchit, there's 7 fold the number of people seems like in the last 20 years around here. I think this is propaganda pumped out by wildlife agencies to feed bloated administrative salaries. Notice I didn't say enforcement salaries or personnel.

a lot less small game license sold more deer permits.i think polls are on the overall numbers of license sold than what kind .

where i hunt in PA the numbers are waay down from where they were even 15 years ago. i hunt almost all public land and the areas that are easy to hunt are still loaded the first day of each season but after that i have the woods to myself. i avoid the spots popular with the casual hunter and hit the mountains. it used to be even the mountain ridges were packed but with the combined deer seasons (antlered and antlerless) starting 15 or so years ago, the deer herd got the schit shot out of it so the casual hunters got discouraged. ok by me. i see very few deer but i see the occasional big buck and the buck sign is prevalent in my area. if i was a serious as i was 25 years ago, i'd have a wall hanger every year. but i just like to get out and spend the day in the woods. these days in the remote areas i hunt, i really am selective and hold off on shooting a doe until the last day or so.

dont see hardly anyone small game hunting, around here, 3000 acres of Nat. Forest land, 1st weekend of bow, is heavy, as the rifle opener, but 3 days into the gun season the woods are empty. but theres alot fewer deer than there was 5-6 years ago too!

There is a fraction of hunters in northern WIs. compared to 15 yrs ago. Even grouse hunters are way down and grouse numbers are up. We used to have a lot of out of state hunters . Kentucky for some reason was most common. Ohio, Indiana , Tennessee were the most common. I even seen Georgia plates. I asked a guy from Kentucky, " why do you come all the way here for a dumb old grouse."? I was not complaining in any way. He said he can flush ten grouse in the time he flushes one down home. The deer numbers are so dismal you are hard pressed to see a deer or two on an opening gun season. Hunting is so poor there Skane and his dad gave up the ghost . They had a cabin a few miles from me. It is getting a bit better now though cause of 3 mild winters and few doe tags. There are so few hunters that on a quiet day , you will hear about 20 - 30 shots, and you can hear a shot 3 or 4 miles away. I like it that way and dont go hunting to get meat , just love seeing deer. I dont believe we will see hunter numbers there like 20 yrs ago. The avr. age hunter is about 50 yrs old and many just won't sit all day to see one deer a weekend.

And speaking of public land hunting in the west, you had better be vigilant, lest a certain class of politicians sell it all off to the highest bidder.
Any sob running for any office that advocates this schit doesn't get my vote, even if they pay for it!!!

I notice less hunters than say 20 years ago....

Woods?

I notice less hunters. I hunt in the national forest in ohio. The area I hunt is circled by a few roads I would guess 8-10 miles around.
When I started hunting there 25 yeas ago I would guess there was 100 guys hunting in that area. The last 5 years I either been alone in there or one or two other guys. There used to be about 40 guys from the area I grew up who would travel down there and hunt but now there are 5 of us going down.

On the other hand I see signs of more bow hunters being in the woods before the general gun. Many guys are hunting closer to where they live taking advantage of the longer bow season rather than the week long general gun season.

With less hunters in the woods keeping deer moving we see less deer and take less deer. By the time general gun comes around there has been enough bow hunter traffic in the woods to have the deer nocturnal.

Boarmaster, when it come to bow hunting I see the same thing in southern WIs. , but up north there is hardly a bow hunter. I all but gave up bow hunting northern WIs for good reason and started hunting inside 15 mi. of home. I had very little success cause of so many people in the woods. Small game hunters, gun scouter, bow hunters, mushroom pickers, horseback riders, photographers ,and who knows what else. I decided to try a whole different method and gave up on nice looking woods hunting and started hunting big marshes with high grass, cattails, Red Dogwood and of course WATER. Water keeps more guys out of an area than going back in 1/2 mi. If I didn't walk in water at least half way up to my knees, It aint wet enough. When I started hunting like this my deer sightings went up several hundred percent.

I think the biggest problem we have here (Indiana) isn't the amount of hunters in the woods, but the amount of woods for the hunters. Every little chunk of woods on private property is leased out and what little public ground there is is packed with hunters to the point where it really isn't safe to be in the woods, honestly. Are there more hunters than there used to be? Maybe, but most all of them are casual "weekend warriors" who spend more time buying designer camo clothes and putting stickers and lift kits on their pickups than they do actually hunting.

Designer camo and lift kits. . . Snicker.

I know the woods aren't as crowded as they were 20 years ago, but I am not sure it is from fewer hunters. Most of the properties are now leased, so unless I am on that lease I won't be seeing much sign of them. Also, our seasons have gotten so much longer than they were. Used to be we had a two week season and the diehards took vacation time off to hunt. Some public hunting areas almost needed parking valets. Now we have so many days open that most hunters tag out or wear out well before the end of the season. During the week the woods are almost empty.

I hunt public and private land here in North Florida, and in Georgia. I don't see very many hunters at all in the Osceola NF or the Ocala NF. Even fewer on the local State run WMAs.

it's my observation that each autumn at the beginning of the opening of deer season, i see fewer and fewer "carloads of hunters" headed south from atlanta to middle and south georgia. i could be wrong on that, but don't think so. there's more people in the metro, but fewer cars & trucks of hunters headed south before the season opens. it used to be a convoy of folks, not anymore. maybe they're traveling sooner, or taking other routes, or?

hunting has become expensive no matter how one looks at it. our state just raised hunting fees. they needed the revenue. we were behind other southern states, so we're playing catch-up.

still lot's of hunters out there, but fewer available tracts to hunt, and the lease fees do indicate strong demand.

I hunt public land here in N. GA. Almost never see any hunters. Same for deer, guess that is why no one else hunts on public land anymore. Baiting used to be illegal statewide. It is legal in the southern half of the state, but the law is almost never enforced on private property even in the northern half where I hunt. The deer have become more like cattle that can jump the fence. They are fed year round and stay on or near the property where the feeders are. Landowners and guys who pay for the leases ride their ATV to the elevated stands and grocery shop. Not what I call hunting.

There are more black bear and hogs on the public land in the northern half of the state than deer.

I haven't seen another hunter in the woods in 15 years.

They've all come to Montana to hunt. I see almost as many Wisconsin license plates during the season as I do Montana license plates.

Good too see them getting some use out of their lands.

Costs and lack of access have taken their toll. Plus, people who actually work, have to work a lot more these days than they did 50 years ago to make ends meet. It just leaves lots less time and money for hunting. And if becoming a lifelong hunter is the goal, then starting out kids deer hunting is about the worst thing you can do. For the most part, it is boring as hell. But no one squirrel hunts or anything like that anymore, so kids don't really learn how to hunt. They learn to sit in a box and shoot an unsuspecting deer a hundred yards off. If they don't actually see a deer in front of them, they are bored to tears or texting their friends until one actually does appear.

All the kids around where I live completely drop deer hunting, if they do it at all, once duck season starts.

If I learned to deer hunt by sitting in a blind/stand, I'd likely be a golfer.

Exactly.

I got sick and tired of seeing other hunters on a farm that supposedly no one else had permission to hunt. Turned out the land lord couldn't say "no" to everyone else. So, after a close scrape that involved me pointing a loaded shot gun at someone, I decided to buy my own place. Was it a lot of money? Did it involve some personal sacrifice to achieve? You bet. But I'm a whole lot happier walking my own ground- even when its not hunting season.

Very true. I don't begrudge them one bit. If I could afford it, I would be hunting some of my land in various other states too (to for the morons).

Up here in North MO the day before rifle season there must be a mass exodus out of the city to here.

Every pickup is pulling a trailer with a couple of 4 wheelers or side x sides on it.

Every piece of public land is a sea of orange. Thankful I don't have to set foot in it.

Almost unlimited public hunting land where I live. I may see 50% of the trucks compared to 10 years ago, then it gets really sparse. Camps are empty for the most part, very shocking. The majority of hunters are older and stay near a road, and given their age, that is reasonable. Lucky I still have a bit of youth in my bones, and hunt with other guys that can help drag. Licenses are down probably 20% from 10/15 years ago, but man-hours in the woods is probably 30%. I guess it is good for me personally, but it is a bit depressing to see participation die. I think my state has 800,000-900,000 licensed hunters.

That is so spot on, I can't disagree with any of it. Target shooting is more entertaining to them.

The amount of people who hunt is a declining number. If Colorado is raising fees significantly it is probably a sign that revenues are way down (fewer hunters buying tags and licenses) and they are scrambling to keep their current infrastructure. Maybe the hunters you are seeing are out of state folks. Less and less oportunities to hunt here in the east for those who still go hunting. Most of the young people I see don't have the passion for it. They go out on youth day or only shoot what they don't have to field dress. It's sad.

The rural lifestyle kept the hunting culture alive. It's gone now. Even most really rural kids live what could more accurately be called a suburban lifestyle. Hunting is at its heart for those who don't have to hunt to live, a hobby, a form of entertainment. There is lots of competition today for the time and the dollar. Dads working fifty and sixty hours a week don't have time to take kids out and when they do, it is to a sterile box more likely than not. Kids don't roam the woods with .22s anymore. If they did, they would likely get called in for trespassing and their parents turned in to CPS.

My dad worked a lot and didn't have the interest for hunting when I was a kid. He took me just enough to get it started and I did the rest. Kids don't have that opportunity anymore.

that's it JB, it's a myriad of factors. human population increase, you name it. it's there and it's a factor. my son owns the basics, rimfire, shotgun, .308. and a ton of Kimber pistols. shooting is what he does, not hunting. shooting is more fun than hunting, and probably no more expensive. he hunted while growing up, and a lot of kids chastised him for it in his classes. he hunted anyways. but now shooting is the thing. it's action, it's a challenge. and he doesn't need to kill anything. i needed to bring meat home for the freezer. hunting was a manly action, and i wanted to be manly, and help provide food for the larder. now i can buy prime beef from kroger for less money than what i can drag in a deer and have processed, all in. so, times change. but, we're still human. we have the urge to hunt. it's in our genetics. and traditions die hard. it's sad on the one hand, but reality on the other. rural humans now are but a version of suburban and urban humans. and so it is.

It is sad. But the bright side is that as long as I am able and interested, I'm going to enjoy the increasingly empty woods.

I think they all come to Idaho for the opener - hard to find a rock without somebody wearing orange.

It is sad. But the bright side is that as long as I am able and interested, I'm going to enjoy the increasingly empty woods.
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yes. one might even get a chance to shoot a feral hog. they're increasing in supply around here. the trappers, dog hunters, and others are working hard, but plenty left for us gun hunters. and coyotes, they're pretty invasive as well.

the public loves the idea that lyme disease is being minimized as a risk. and rabies, too. but that's an aside.

Yes, you are right. It got so bad in northern WIs. where the public land is vast that many said to heck with it and now just go for a week to a western state. My BIL has been going to Colorado to bow hunt for elk for 4 yrs now. No elk yet but likes it so much that he is starting to forget bow hunting in Wisconsin and is all but done hunting in WIs. with a gun for deer.

Have not noticed any more or any less up here.

One year we will be almost alone in the same area. (Deep Lake CO), then the next year it will be wall to wall. Our group is old, so it is as much a camping trip as hunt. As for Colorado raising fees, they merged the parks and wildlife to cover over misuse of Pitman Bowes, and to "streamline" the gov. The parks never have enough money, game did until the merger.

If they raise fees, I will have to consider whether it is worth it. I feel for the out of staters who come, and I have even met a few who also had a bear license just in case. The traffic is worse every year if you have to leave from the front range. The high trespass fees, and probably salting on private land moves animals, too.

Antelope takes 5 years to draw for my area, and the local contact is gone to boot.

Spot on JB. Kids today have so many things they can do that hunting isn't a big draw anymore.

I work with about a dozen younger guys and while many of them love to shoot and know firearms, very few would be considered hunters. Most don't even go during the season.

because city people read where to go on fourms like this

In Colorado,all that don't draw a tag in other states l wind up here.CPW advertises they have more elk than any other state to draw in those nonresidents so CPW can sell all the unlimited tags they want to.Of course it is never mentioned that a lot of those elk are on private land and a lot more head to private land the first day of hunting season.

This big increase of back packing archery hunters is a big thing now. A lot of those foot hunters take up the closer to the road hunting areas within 3miles , further back in you don't see as many. Most of them know they can't hump an elk out on their back for 6-8 miles with out the meat spoiling so I think you see more of them concentrated.Same thing with 1st season foot hunters. I see very few hunters in the 2nd season and a lot more archery hunters during muzzle loader season

Appreciate everyone's comments. I'm seeing a trend that the east and midwest hunter populations might be declining a little, and the western states are becoming a popular destination for archery and rifle hunts. That explains the seemingly increasing population of hunters here. Whatever the reason, it's seriously getting out of control in CO.

I do have to disagree though about the age of hunters, well at least in Colorado elk seasons. Very seldom do I see grey-haired anybody outside of camp. In the woods it's 20's to early 50s mostly. And more and more so, it's younger hunters, especially bow season. Walking miles a day up and down mountains at 10,000' isn't an old man sport. In fact, I'd say it's becoming more and more of an athletic event which I think is adding to the appeal. It's not a box-stand, on a lease, overlooking a feeder. In some cases, it can be a real physical challenge and adventure. Despite all the bad things I can see about millennials, they do tend to like organic food. I've noticed that gardening and hunting (though to a lesser degree) are appealing to them for that reason.

I am strongly considering getting back to my childhood roots and pulled out the recurve this last weekend. Definitely not a permanent skill like riding a bike. Talk about rusty. Worst case I resort to the Matthews DXT. In any case an over-the-counter, archery B-tag is on the radar for this year - literally for the single purpose of enjoying the woods with less hunters.

Come to think of it Mountain10MM , most of the guys that go to Co. are younger guys. Seems right on, they use it as a camping, hiking, bow hunting trip.

[quote=Mountain10mm Very seldom do I see grey-haired anybody outside of camp. In the woods it's 20's to early 50s mostly.
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You don't hunt where I do then You just can't see us old farts from the road

You don't hunt where I do then You just can't see us old farts from the road
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Good for you! I'm not in old fart category yet, but not far away, that's for sure.

We have one guy under 50 that goes with us. He is 27. He is the son on one of the regulars. He has been coming since he was 17.
I urged him to get a group of guys his age to start coming but he claims he has tried and there is little interest. I look for him to drop out as he has started a family and has access to hunting ground where he lives. Younger guys are not taking up deer hunting and many older guys are looking for a easier hunt than walking in the big timber and then dragging game out.

This^^. I started seeing a lot of hunters, more than usual in mountains about 10-12 years ago. Then a LOT of 'em started using those damned quads, making more noise in the country. Too many new "hunters" for me. It's why I stopped big game hunting and just chase the upland birds now. Way more relaxing. Until I go after Chukar!