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outdoortexas
Member Posts: 4,780
hunt and or fish?
Read any fish or fur magazine and you'll find statistics showing fewer people buying license each year. Even though the population is growing, sportsmen are growing older.
Almost every state is raising license fees, related costs go up as well. Land to hunt, even access to lakes and rivers is shrinking.
Too, limits on fish species is spirialling downward. Many game species(not all) have tighter limits as well although some are expanding.
Like all of our man made laws, there are more every year. Has this given you a negative outlook on the future of hunting and fishing?
Do you participate less than you did say a few years ago?
Read any fish or fur magazine and you'll find statistics showing fewer people buying license each year. Even though the population is growing, sportsmen are growing older.
Almost every state is raising license fees, related costs go up as well. Land to hunt, even access to lakes and rivers is shrinking.
Too, limits on fish species is spirialling downward. Many game species(not all) have tighter limits as well although some are expanding.
Like all of our man made laws, there are more every year. Has this given you a negative outlook on the future of hunting and fishing?
Do you participate less than you did say a few years ago?
Comments
The biggest reasons I see a downfall in the hunting population is,
#1 City folks buying good land and posting it, we have a lot of public land but it is crowded.
#2 City folks coming out and shooting everything that moves.
#3 Cost of license
#4 Cost of guns and ammo.
#5 New deer regs in Penn devoted to trophy hunters and lowering the chances of nontrophy hunters of bagging game.
#6 Our busy lifestyles have taken away the time needed to hunt.
The list can go on and on and there may be a few reasons that do more damage then what I posted but those are the ones I see more often. We are a dying breed.
Politicians are like diapers, every so often you need to change them, for obvious reasons.
At one time I would hunt 6-7 states each year, but increasing non-resident fees have limited that. Now only hunt 1-3 states...$300-to-$600 for tags makes it cost prohibitive.
Spending more time teaching family members and others about the sport...trying to pass the addiction around. [:)]
I also feel that the decline in those who hunt, can bear some witness to the fact of the availability of food and the higher class of living today. When us kids were growing up, money was tight, and we were pot hunters. We hunted for the meat, not the antlers, we relied on it for food.
Not usually the case now a days!
To Ride, shoot straight,and speak the truth
This was the Ancient law of Youth
Old times are past, old times are done:
But the Law runs true, O little son!
Is this not the case???
Btw; I fish 200+ days a year and hunt as many as I can in the rest. May as well spend all my money on me and the Mrs. rather than leave it to the kids who will just whistle it away.
More and more, my students are "lost" when it comes to basic knowledge. I feel a lot of it is the lack of adult males in the core family. Too, most of us that do hunt and fish grew up in the country or had parents who grew up on a farm or ranch.
Knowledge of the outdoors is no doubt becoming a lost art for many reasons.
Mark T. Christian
Sorry for the rant but this is a sore subject for me. I hate trophy hunters who inflict their beliefs on the rest of the state.
Politicians are like diapers, every so often you need to change them, for obvious reasons.
SEMPER FI
Tried some freshwater fishin, but mostly liked the bigger saltwater stuff. Will probably get into a little freshwater soon.
My back don't like that pounding you get in the rough water anymore.
Might try a little goose huntin with a couple of guys from the club this fall. You know, those Canadian turd burds.
To Ride, shoot straight,and speak the truth
This was the Ancient law of Youth
Old times are past, old times are done:
But the Law runs true, O little son!
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once"
-David Hume
To Ride, shoot straight,and speak the truth
This was the Ancient law of Youth
Old times are past, old times are done:
But the Law runs true, O little son!
"Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, not liberty to purchase power."
Benjamin Franklin, 1785
The game lands that I took the kids to last year on the first day looked lie a firefly nest with all the flashlights in the moring from folks letting lthers know where they was sitting. Alot of the good ground here is being posted and the farms I hunt on are crowded just so the deer get killed asap, not the kind of hunting I want to take my kids to, I don't mind going to a deer slaughter for the farmers sake but I don't want my kids involved in it.
Politicians are like diapers, every so often you need to change them, for obvious reasons.
While I'm sure there is some truth in that, I seriously doubt that many kids, especially those in more urbanized areas, have the opportunity to enjoy a youth like yours. Like others have pointed out, the land available for hunting and fishing, simply isn't as easily accessible as it once was, nor as prevalent.
Typos and profanity, oh my! http://www.funky-town.org
To Ride, shoot straight,and speak the truth
This was the Ancient law of Youth
Old times are past, old times are done:
But the Law runs true, O little son!
AlleninAlaska
Delta Firearms & Supplies
http://canadianfirearmsexchange.com
Buy firearms on the installment plan and Play while you Pay.
aglore@gci.net
To Ride, shoot straight,and speak the truth
This was the Ancient law of Youth
Old times are past, old times are done:
But the Law runs true, O little son!
On the trips where I take family units it seems the kids who are not used to fishing with their parent have a good time if the fish are biting. If it's slow they get bored quickly. Just being on the river in a canoe or even camping out doesn't turn them all on. All enjoy themselves before it's over, but it doesn't give them a rush like it does those of us who truly love the outdoors.
Worse yet, once the trip is over they go back to the city life as if the outdoor experience was the same as going to Disneyland. Been there, done that, what are we going to do different on the next vacation.
As a youngster, I could sit for hours without a bite and it didn't matter. I enjoyed wading in creeks, snooping through the woods, exploring by itself was enough for me. But like a couple here stated, we didn't have all the distractions kids do now. We learned these simple pleasures at a young age.
Sure, we have kids on some trips that are fascinated with all the wondrous things along the river from birds they never see in the city to deer and turkey up close. Same for some of the adults, many have never seen a turkey "in the wild". Problem is, many feel like they can go to the zoo and see it all in a couple of hours.
My thoughts are that we have seen the glory days for both freshwater fishing and hunting as a sport, times are really changing, and fast. Sure, the same can be said for the difference between us and say our grandparents who lived so close to nature. But the future now comes at us at warp speed.
My heros have always killed cowboys.
Kirk's a hoot, I will find an excuse one of these days.
Trinity +++
"Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it."(Proverbs 22:6)
Hunting is a different story. I am out there as much as my scedual/wife allows.[:D] Unfortunately with all the radical tree hugging types and polititions with no stones, I am scared to think about the future of something I love and want to pass on to my son. [:(]
SALLY
Committee member-Ducks Unlimited
SALLY
Committee member-Ducks Unlimited
"I know Everything because
my Wife is a Hair Stylist"
"Go over,go under,go around,or go through.But never give up."
Set lines on the river and such for years,
but little by little,properties sell,or are
left to the "kid's and access goes away.Those
places that are accessable are usually so crowded
that it's no fun anyway.[:(]Started deer and turkey
hunting about 20 years ago.I've basicly "lived" for
the hunt ever since.My vacation time is mostly saved
for hunting season.Over the last few years however,
leases here in Texas have gotten so expensive that I
just can't justify hanging on to a lease anymore.I've
spent many days and weekends "in the woods" with the guys
and never loaded a gun.I enjoy "being there",killing something
isn't that high on my list of priorities.So now I'm
limited to a few "buddy" hunts,and if I kill,fine,if
I don't,that's fine too.I was there to enjoy the woods
and for the comradery.
Mowhawk600,
I forgot to mention that that "stock pond" of mine that
we may be looking for doves at in a couple weeks is full of
channel cat(some will go 10-15 lb).[;)][;)][;)][;)]
Ever fish and hunt at the same time[?][?][?]
IT'S WHAT PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THEMSELVES THAT MAKES THEM AFRAID.
As for me, I'm past trying to take the meanest, biggest buck in the woods, but do need a sausage deer every year.
Let's bounce the idea around.
Sounds good to me! ($$$$$$$$$$permitting)
Let's see what we can find(cheap).[:p][:p]
IT'S WHAT PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THEMSELVES THAT MAKES THEM AFRAID.
Regards,
It's a dog-eat-dog world...and nine times out of ten I have on Milk-Bone underwear.
ATF<P><br>
Sigh...seems the bureacrats are always needing more, more, more. Same old story, IMO, if they would hire a housewife to manage their pot of gold it would be better spent instead of wasted.