Nationwide, hunting is in decline
Young adults reject $26 billion national industry
As leaves begin to turn and Colorado heads into the heart of the fall hunting season, recreational hunters and those who make their livelihood off an industry that had a $26 billion annual impact on the American economy a few years ago are wondering why their numbers are declining, especially among millennials.
There were 11.5 million hunters in 2016, according to the most recent figures published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, representing a decline of 2.2 million from 2011.
In 1991, 28 percent of U.S. hunters fell in the 25-34 age group, accounting for the largest share of the hunting population. That number declined to 16 percent in 2016, and there were similar decreases in the 18-24 age group. Meanwhile, there has been a corresponding aging in the group. In 1991, 23 percent of the hunting population were between 45 and 64. That percentage doubled to 46 percent in 2016.
(Data on Colorado’s hunting population was not available as of press time.)
“Kids; we’re losing them,” said Jeff Danker, a hunting personality who hosts the show “Buckventures” on the Sportsman Channel. “If Grandpa don’t hunt or Dad don’t hunt, they ain’t hunting.”
There are studies that suggest millennials are driving a global shift away from eating meat because of sensitivities over animal
and young adults may be less likely to own guns than past generations. But those factors may not fully explain the decrease in hunters.
“We need to be recruiting in a different way than we have for the last 40 years,” said Brian Lynn, vice president of marketing and communications for the Sportsmen’s Alliance, a national hunting advocacy group. “The overall trend is down from 15 million to 11 million or so. There’s a whole bunch of little things going on. Millennials, it’s not that they’re not hunting or don’t have an interest. We actually see a lot of interest, especially in the locavore movements, field-to-table, field-to-fork-type movements -people wanting to know where their food comes from. The bigger issue is urbanization -- people living in big cities, disconnected from their food.”
Danker believes the older generation of hunters needs to do a better job of prying young people away from the screens on their devices and introducing them to the sport.
“People got to step up and start taking some first-timers,” Danker said. “When you go, it gets in your blood. I truly believe there’s a lot of kids with interest. We need to reach out to them and make sure there’s a way for them to get outdoors. Just being out there is good. That generation needs to be saved. We’re all busy. Hunting actually slows that down, if you let it. We’re living in a world that’s too fast.”
Jon Langston, a country musician who is co-hosting seven days of “Deer Week” shows with Danker on the Outdoor Channel and Sportsman Channel beginning Sept. 16, fondly recalls the day he went hunting for the first time at about age 13. He wants kids today to create the same memories.
“I’ll never forget it,” Langston said between stops on a tour with country superstar Luke Bryan. “It was cold and I didn’t see one deer, but I had a blast. It’s about the connection with nature, looking at creation, seeing what God has given us, and having the older generation teach us about conservation and the importance of it. I thought it was just a fun thing to do, but then I found the purpose and the importance of it. You think you’re having a great time, but you’re also learning life lessons. I think it’s something the millennial generation can learn.”
Hunting is an integral part of wildlife management, and hunters fund the work of agencies like Colorado Parks and Wildlife through the purchase of hunting licenses and excise taxes on gear. In Colorado, hunting has a direct economic impact of $843 million annually and supports nearly 8,000 jobs, according to CPW.
“Without hunting, fishing and trapping, conservation in this country collapses,” Lynn said. “Point blank, no argument, because of all the money that is being spent. Every bullet, every gun, piece of camo, trolling motor, fishing rod, fishing lure has a tax on it. That money goes into conservation. I’m going to Idaho this year (to hunt), so I’m paying $600 for a tag and a license. Between license tags and sales and excise taxes, that’s about $3 billion a year that goes into conservation. That funds all of your state wildlife fish and game agencies. That does your biological studies, law enforcement, buying land or opening public land. All of that would go away.
“Then you start running into predator-prey balance issues. Everybody has this idea that nature balances itself,” he added. “That is the greatest myth there is. Nature is never in balance. It’s always in boom and bust cycles.”
Danker wants opponents of hunting to understand that hunters love animals, too.
“If me and Jon are in a pick-up and we’re driving, we see a deer (caught) in a fence, me and him will risk our lives to get that deer (freed),” Danker said. “That’s what people don’t understand. Now, the person saying (hunting) is wrong, are they going to stop and help a deer if they’re
driving through the mountains? No. The conservation behind (hunting), the money put into taking care of these animals that they say they love, then the meat that is feeding all these people, that is what people need to understand.”
Lynn argues that quick death by a bullet is a more humane way for animals to die than by disease or starvation, which would happen on a large scale without wildlife management.
“The greatest irony is that both sides love wildlife,” Lynn said. “For a small group of vegans, they are greatly opposed. They become the squeaky wheel. It creates controversy, it pushes page views, it takes on a life of its own.”
Virtually every hunting organization has some sort of outcruelty,
reach to young people. CPW coordinates mentored hunts for women, novices and youth. It offers basic hunting courses and encourages hunters to take a friend by creating a contest for those mentors with gift cards as prizes.
“A big way Parks and Wildlife gets its funding is through hunting and fishing licenses, but nationwide those numbers are falling,” said CPW spokesman Travis Duncan. ”Lots of fish-andgame agencies across the country are looking at how the funding model works and how we can continue to care for our national resources with the number of hunters declining.”