Hunting numbers down?

[Turkeyman]

I havent run in to another turkey hunter in about 3 yrs in my area of NY. Matter of fact last yr I never heard another hunter even shoot. Mike

I've got a pretty good idea where you're located. N 40* 46.298' W 73* 58.489'  I'll have to give it a try.

[fallhnt]

True. I wasn't able to hunt at all ,in 3 states, this spring.

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[Marc]

I do believe that the percentage of people that hunt is way down...

There are probably more hunters than when your grandfather was around, but as a percentage, there is less pecentage of the total population hunting.

As stated, more hunters hunting, and less land to hunt on as well.   Less publicly available land, as well as less privately available land...  In the not so distant past, if you wanted to hunt on private land, you tracked down the owner and simply asked...

Also, there are less casual hunters...  A good percentage of hunters used to buy a license and shoot doves on opening day, or go out once for deer.  Now most people that purchase a license are fairly avid (and frequent) hunters... 

I believe that hunting is becoming an elitist sport, where there is less available public land, and any degree of success will require being a member of some hunting club with rights on private lands (much as duck hunting in California is becoming).  Overly crowded hunt areas and pricey clubs...  Guys and gals will look for a different hobby.

[fallhnt]

No mention of squirrel season. How many hunters take kids small game hunting? Kids don't need to start out hunting  deer and turkey.

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[Turkeyman]

No mention of squirrel season. How many hunters take kids small game hunting? Kids don't need to start out hunting  deer and turkey.

True...back in the day I'd get home from school and either grab the .22 and sit for squirrels or grab the shotgun and dog for a rabbit hunt.

[owlhoot]

No mention of squirrel season. How many hunters take kids small game hunting? Kids don't need to start out hunting  deer and turkey.

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That is very true for most . Not much for small game videos on u tube to keep kids interested. Kids can start turkey and deer hunting at a very early age. Also that's what dads like the most . With limited time and expenses at stake most will not drive to hunt a squirrel. Deer and turkey hunting videos have been going on for 30+ years. How many dads going small game hunting now? 

[Longshanks]

The line of (NWTF) thinking that we don't have enough turkey hunters is a thing of the past. There are so many turkeys hunters here in the south that the hunting will never be what it was. We hunt on private ground and spend most of the season trying to keep people off of the land. If you have gobbling turkeys on your land you can believe that some one is hunting them if you aren't there. That has become standard language down here. There were arrests of people, won't call them hunters, arrested for killing in excess of 100 gobblers. They were going in and feeding on private ground and 4-6 were shooting every turkey they could when the turkeys would come into feed. If you don't think there are enough turkey hunters just go hunt Mark Twain National Forest and see how many people you see from the South. It's ridiculous and I'm from the South. Hunters down here hunt for a month and a half and then travel to harvest turkeys in as many places as they can get to. Check out The Hunting Public and The Pinhoti Project. I know a whole lot of turkey hunters that hunt just like that but don't have a camera man following them around.
The God given right to hunt is not going anywhere, people need to get over their fear. There are people with a whole lot of money and power that will make sure it doesn't. For the next four years, namely Trump and his oldest son that is an avid hunter . Turkey hunting resources are dwindling because of too many hunters. Believe it. Trapping and transporting is a practice used to try and combat over harvest. We are there again in many areas. We used to hear 30-40 turkeys gobble in a morning in the 80's and 90's. Struggle to find one now and lucky to hear two or three. That isn't because there aren't enough hunters.
To the poster in NY. Where do you hunt in NY? You have turkeys? You need some more turkey hunters? We can send them that way next spring. I see there are some coordinates up there. We will drop them right into OnXhunt. See you in the Spring.

Tom Kelly/ 10th Legion: Great book for the turkey hunter.

[nativeks]

Kind of nice this year I didnt have one instance of poaching to deal with and I was home alot more...coincidence I think not.

[ThunderChickenHunter21]

Yeah I completely feel like everyone else is coming o
In on my place. If I give permission that's one thing, but had someone break my chain sometime in the last few weeks and help themselves to the farm. Sad world we live in honestly

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[CT Spur Collector]

Yep....sad. Big yellow posters everywhere.....places I hunted forty years ago bought up or leased for hunting... "ask and thou do NOT receive"  Tough...... and all the "hunting shows' and NWTF promoting taking a kid hunting......love to....Where!?

Dying sport boys and girls....

[Hoot 000]

Live in south Mississippi, been hunting for 40 seasons last two or three years on public land I have seen more people than ever , would love to find a place where number of hunters are down LOL.

[ThunderChickenHunter21]

Yep....sad. Big yellow posters everywhere.....places I hunted forty years ago bought up or leased for hunting... "ask and thou do NOT receive"  Tough...... and all the "hunting shows' and NWTF promoting taking a kid hunting......love to....Where!?

Dying sport boys and girls....

So its wrong for someone to lease or buy property , post it and hunt it and want others to keep out? I don't understand your angle on this one.

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[Meadow Valley Man]

29th year in Missouri, ran into guys every day where I have never seen anyone.  Same here in Pa hunters everywhere, cant find a place without a man track.

35th year in Missouri and I found the same thing. I thought the license increase would have had a negative effect, but the Covid-19 put a lot of people in the turkey woods.

[Jstocks]

  I keep seeing people post about hunter numbers being down , how we need hunter recruitment and some on hunting shows are doing good for the sport by recruiting more hunters. I dont get it. Where are the folks that repeat these things over and over getting their info or that impression? If you are not over ran with hunters in your area , then I envy you. I hunt in MS. And I can tell you that I have absolutely seen the opposite. What makes me laugh is how people always give this tip , "Hunt during the week and hunt later in the morning when".... wait for it ... Its less people in the woods. How can this sound advice limit the number of people hunting during the week and later in the morning remain completely true? Now I get people working and prior engagements do not allow everyone that luxury but also at the same time , more hunters start following that advice and before its over , the advice is no longer true. I started this thread just to hear other peoples thoughts . Feel free to voice your opinion on this topic but keep in mind that we all have different ones and no one persons opinion is right and wrong.

Mississippi was already one of the toughest places to get away from pressure before this year. There are very few private leases that aren't like hunting public land. I know of one lease that had close to 30 hunters at camp one weekend! Now, they all weren't hunting separately, but still that's a lot of folks, even spread out over 10k acres that's a lot.

One thing that added to Mississippi pressure this season was the fact that Alabama decided to mess their season up and start a week later than normal. This tremendously increased pressure in Mississippi.

Obviously Covid added to that.

To make matters worse, the bird numbers in some areas of South Mississippi were as good as they've been in a long time. A lot of people had early success and to be honest, in recent years they wouldn't of found turkeys where they killed them this year.

The only exception I know of where populations have been overall low, it's been the case the past few years along the Pearl River from Columbia south. The population in that area really needs to see a closed season west of hwy 43.

Definitely more pressure than ever before in Mississippi this season.

In my opinion, they are behind in management practices, need to close the season in some areas, increase out of state licenses to equate the neighboring states, and go to a hard tag system with a reduced limit.

[Old Gobbler]

Not in Florida thier not.... and the new breed of florida  hunters are very pushy and careless