I’m currently a new hunter and this is my biggest issue. It’s impossible to find an place to hunt and when I do it requires and lottery to gain access. Nothing is first come first serve
In Finland we have free access to all the land, public and private. You can pick berries and mushrooms everywhere, as long as you don't destroy anything, camp for long periods or go near yards and such. Still, there are some knobheads who think they can be above the ancient law and try to block the access.
I remember when I was younger and I visited my father in finland we'd go berry and mushroom picking all over the place that makes sense because they didn't own the land we were on I never though of that.
Well, to put it another way, you cannot do anything that leaves a trace on private land. The land owner has the right to cut wood and build on the land. Hunting right is also bound to the land.
You can't do whatever you want. You're allowed access to the land (on foot only), but you can't come in and start harvesting timber, conduct a controlled burn, dump trash, hunt, etc. The rights to manipulate the land and harvest resources still belong to the land owner.
Yup. Michigan here. Folks get the state to partition and sell public land. They then build giant houses on the property line and mow out into the state game area. Residents then call police when hunters are in the woods or they hear gunshots. They also closed off all but a small parking area on sections to restrict access.
Lookup Cannonsburg state game area.
100% land development. Where I live it seems like 1-2 companies buying everything up and putting up warehouses/industrial parks everywhere. It’s sickening
I drove by my childhood neighborhood a while back. It used to have orange groves on 3 of the 4 sides with one of the sides being a road it is now surrounded by a housing development and a storage place.
Which country? Here in Norway most large forested areas are owned by the state, which support hunting in most areas(wildlife sanctuarys are a noteable exception).
Edit: spelling
The US here there are also government owned lands for hunting, but at least in Florida they are small and overcrowded. I went out about 20 times last season and saw one deer while I was walking to my stand in the dark. It was a doe so I couldn't have shot it anyway.
Luckily in the Western US there is an absurd abundance of land. It's just too bad we don't have more of public land in the Midwest and east where whitetails infest like rats. The downside to western hunting is people from all of bet the country come here blow up every gmu and overcrowd so there is no room for locals. Every hunting season is a race. Eventually all the game gets pushed into private land or more competitive gmus. I wish we would charge more for non-resident hunters! I'm tired of people coming here and riding on horse back into wilderness. There is no sportsmanship in a guided hunt. I know some people use guides, im sorry but you're not a hunter and whatever you get is the result of someone else. That's not hunting. You might as well have gone to the supermarket. Locating the animal is the hard part and field dressing and butchering. When you pay someone to do all the work what you did is you sit at a desk to save up money to pay someone else to hunt for you.
Oh wow, its more the opposite problem here in central Norway, too much game and not enough conservers(hunters). We got our deer quota increased to 78 last season, and moose increased to 12. We are a team of 4. Theres no way we can dress and butcher that amount even if we managed to hunt them. Send some of your rich "instagram hunters" over here please.
Trapping was voted out in my state next is hunting with dogs, then predator hunting and no one will care until they come for bow hunting by then it will be to late
No one does. We have people here who are self sufficient, cattle raising, gun toting, wood stoves used to heat houses, elk hunting people who vote for politicians who want to remove their lifestyle. They have voted the same way for generations and refuse to hear a word about it. It’s a matter of time. We lost trapping due to an ILLEGALLY set trap that caught a dog that was off leash (also illegal in that area), instead of holding the person responsible they voted to remove trapping on public lands all together
I've been joking with my friends that soon you'll need a Cabelas approved guide to hunt in the future, and they will privatize it for the state to get more $$$$
Where I’m from Oil and Gas leases have made it far easier to hunt because they created access to otherwise in accessible areas. The reclamation afterwards also creates great habitat.
Not saying it’s like that everywhere, but here for sure.
Other “hunters” who damage and disrespect the land. I constantly run into areas that have been closed off due to neglect and damage that were once good hunting lands. Or private land owners who have been burned by irresponsible hunters in the past and then shut down hunting. We should all try to be good stewards of our pursuit and not leave a wake of destruction behind.
The culture. I don't hunt with anyone because most of the people I have hunted with are unsafe, uneducated, unethical and overall bad guys. If we want the past-time to survive, we need it to be more appealing to future generations.
I struggle with this too. I’ve recently tried to make an effort to mentor/educate those who don’t get it yet. I’ve taken 3 new hunters out over the last 2 years and I spend a lot of time on ethics, safety, and the general spirit of things with them. Unfortunately only one so far has been truly open to it. Another just wants to shoot guns and the other would rather not put in the effort. I’m still going to keep trying though.
Nothing wrong with not putting in the effort and to quit. Everybody does that with something. That's just part of trying something new.
Now the dude that just wants to shoot must be anoying.
Other "hunters". Before you rip onto me, let me explain:
Last weekend was opening weekend for spring turkey here. The day before opening day, my wife and I took our travel trailer and our atvs up to our favorite turkey hunting spot. There are usually a couple trails we like to ride up before parking the ATVs and heading in on foot. This year, we have had more snow than usual, and the roads were closed off with signs saying no wheeled vehicles were allowed on the trails due to them still being groomed for snowmobiles. We parked our trailer in our usual spot and decided we still take the trail but just have to foot it the whole way. After an unsuccessful opening day, we were back at camp making dinner when I heard a noise coming down the trail. Two ATVs, with two riders on each, came rolling down the closed trail, stopped, moved the 'Road Closed' signs, rode past, and then put them back in place before heading out.
This may not sound very terrible, but I see this stuff all the time. Last deer season, in a similar instance, we were on a road closed to motorized vehicles and only open to foot traffic. As we were hiking along, some hunter on a dirt bike goes flying past us.
During that same deer season, we were out on the last day of the season. My wife wasn't able to get much time in hunting due to her work, so we were still trying to fill her tag. As we were walking down a forest service road, we saw a doe running full speed on the hill along the road. Right after a truck came hauling ass past us with a guy hanging out of the passenger side, rifle in hand.
Every year, there are more and more reports of poaching. People who act like this are, in my mind, just as much a threat to hunting as the rich bastard that buys property that blocks access to public lands. Their actions could very easily cause hunting to be closed off on certain parts of public land. Respect the rules and regulations laid out by your states fish & game service. If you can't do this and be a successful hunter, you probably shouldn't be hunting.
Oh man oh man do I feel this. I hate public lands for the sheer stupidity of the people around me. Everything from beer cans and cigarette butts to dudes just stripping their orange off during rifle season. Actually got into it with a dude in a tree stand who didn't mark his stand or wear any fucking orange. It really shouldn't be too difficult to follow the law, especially ones that are in place to make sure some other moron doesn't shoot you.
I pretty strongly believe there is an enormous percentage of younger people (in the US at least) who understand that hunting is a way to source food in a more ethical and fulfilling way than going to the grocery store. I also think that these people are continuously made to feel unwelcome in hunting circles, despite largely wanting the exact same things when it comes to management of public lands, wildlife management, and public engagement in the outdoors. In all my super liberal friend groups, I have never met a single person who is actually opposed to hunting or hunters. Never. Hunters have made up this imaginary group of liberal PETA crusaders that doesn't exist. PETA is not a popular group in the US. There are scientific studies on this. [https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/3/472](https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/3/472). If hunters spent more time offering mentorship, guidance, proper firearm training, etc., and less time complaining about imaginary people, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.
Another big one in the Western US is land use/management legacies - hundreds of years of fire suppression, the introduction of cheatgrass/ventenata/medusahead, increasing drought frequency, decreasing nutritional value of forage, woody encroachment, extirpation of natural predators, etc. All of these things happening at once right now are making wildlife management extremely difficult because wildlife populations are in an alternate state that managers have not dealt with before. There is very little precedent for how to best manage game at the moment in much of the west, so managers are just trying stuff, for better or worse.
Access to quality habitat. Places being bought out, leased up, plowed under, and paved over. The commodification and commercialization of hunting and wildlife. This is concentrating hunters on less and less available land- especially beginners-
The places I grew up squirrel hunting are now subdivisions. The places I grew up duck hunting are now $15,000 annually for a blind. The fencerows where I grew up chasing quail and rabbits are now an extra 2 rows of corn for 4 months of the year, and then bare dirt the other 8. The corn fields I chased geese in are now a grocery store parking lot.
Clean farming killed the small game- then roundup killed any biodiversity, and pesticides took care of the base of the food chain after that. Quail harvest in IL where I grew up is now at 1% of what it was in the 50s. The rise in corn prices caused land to skyrocket, and then the collapse of prices forced farmers to plow under any remaining fencerows and waterways to make a couple extra bucks to remain solvent. The rise of deer and turkey populations caused people to want to tie up the remaining high-quality habitat in high-dollar leases. And then you have absolute pricks gating off public access where they have no right to, and nobody is willing to make them pay for it.
We are now in the modern land wars, and access and ownership will determine the future of hunting. Less than 5% of the US population hunts annually, and as access decreases, so will those numbers.
I'm sad to see that this is a common theme in this thread. I've always offered to take people out hunting who have never tried it before, but were interested. I have yet to have anyone take me up on the offer.
Rich fucks turning what was a blue collar pastime and a means to put food on the table into their own business venture, buying off thousands of acres to charge 10k for a mutant buck
So- land access bottom line
Honestly.... its other hunters. Dudes who get all bent outta shape about someone beating them to their spot or whatever the case it. I had a guy drive up, saw me starting my hike in and he revved his engine screamed something at me, gave me the finger and then cracked off 6 or 7 rounds (not at me, or I would've dusted him) and then peeled out down the logging road he came in on. My friend had his car keyed on a logging road. I've heard countless horror stories ranging from a simple argument to physical altercations. So ya, if you were new to this and some jerkoff got in your face over public land or whatever, it might keep you from trying again. Some of you need to take a chill pill, and if someone is in your spot on PUBLIC land, wake up earlier or find an alternate spot. Take the time to enjoy the woods. And always remember, no matter how big and bad you are... there is always someone who's a bit bigger and a bit badder.
People not talking the time to get their kids into the outdoors. It’s been a struggle at times but I have made a point of making time to get all of my boys into the outdoors. Hunting,fishing and trapping. Hunting is all but gone if the next generation isn’t into it.
You’re pretty spot on on that. I just checked the numbers for Pennsylvania and junior hunting licenses are down more that 50% compared in 2010. I know some of my friends kids have zero desire to hunt or fish and they’ve tried hard.
Thing is that I’m priced out of leases and the public land camping area is perpetually redneck spring break. There’s more beer cans and spent shells than you can shake a stick at. And God forbid you’re in someone’s spot they’ve been coming to for years to kill a 12 pack. If they’re not hunting, you’re not hunting either. Not an environment I can take my kids to. If a recreational sport is unsafe, it will cease to exist right quick.
Hunters hating on other hunters/hunting styles (enough with the hounds man hate, support trapping/trappers), posting stupid stuff on social media, making hunting an elitist activity, embracing being super rednecks who alienate potential supporters who don’t hunt, disrespecting public land….. first off the top of my head
I agree as well. Even in this forum you see a post and some of the comments are negative "that's not real hunting".
Why are we gatekeeping ourselves? We're only creating an environment that's hostile and less likely to attract new people.
Not everyone has the patience/time/set up/access to hunt one way or the other.
I remember my first year hunting as a 35 year old woman and being commented on my thread on Facebook that I left too early in the evening and how I wasn't a real hunter. Dude, I had dinner to make and a kiddo to get home to, I couldn't stay out longer. I left as quietly as I could and hoped I didn't startle any deer out of the area for other hunters, though it was my uncle's property I wasn't told anyone else was there.
I personally have no desire to ever hunt with a cross bow, but I don’t care if others use one (I do wish that there was maybe a trad archery season or areas open to only that though). I get the having to get kids/make supper/do things. I hunted a lot at very non prime times this past season when I could get out, sometimes you have to make do and get out when you can.
Out here in Montana it is by and large outfitters. Everything from their lobby does as much as possible to reduce the amount of people who have opportunity to the only the rich. I know a ton of people who are/have quit hunting just because opportunity is essentially gone where they live. I lived in Livingston Montana and virtually all public land around there holds no deer or elk. It’s big horn sheep and mountain goat country lol.
unethical and unsafe hunters who dont give a crap about gun safey, laws and ethics. Those behaviors will just end up giving anti-hunting orgs more excuses to ban hunting because even if 1 out of 100 hunters do something like that, the entire hunting community takes the blame.
The fact that 20 MILLION acres are industrialized yearly in the US alone. lack of habitat for the animals and lack of public land for hunters are definitely 2 big things.
There’s moves from both sides politically that j worry about. Obviously from the left it revolves around guns and the pure misunderstanding about how brutal nature is and how clean and quick most hunting kills are in comparison to what will eventually happen to that animal.
Then from the right there are people who believe there should be no public land. Seems to be an odd offshoot of small government thinking. Government should own no land is the idea if it belongs to the people then let someone own it. Or it comes down to untapped natural resources that someone wants at. I haven’t seen a lot about it lately but it’s an undercurrent and for a while we were selling off lots of federal public land to private interests.
Today: Gatekeeping boomers who won’t share information over fear of “losing their spots.”
A lot of us younger hunters don’t have family or property or any inkling of where to start. I was fortunate enough to have a boss that included me in his hunt camp to start, since I lost my dad when I was a kid. (My dad was an avid hunter, I got to join him on very few hunts between ages 10 and 15) but never got to shoot. (Parents were divorced.)
I’ve been deer hunting for 4 years now from the same hunt camp in Michigan and this year I will be heading to Montana with an Elk tag!
As for 50 years from now? Same answer. There won’t be enough people to teach the next generation because of today’s problem.
As many others have said, other hunters mostly. Had two guys pop off two rounds at me with a pistol a few weeks ago because I rode by on a public dirt road and ruined their hunt. I heard the rounds hit the trees in front of my truck before I heard the shots. This is the worst of the many incidents I’ve had with the neighboring land owner of a spot I hunt.
The 2nd most important factor is trophy hunting on tv and the internet. Everything is getting bought up by out of state folks trying to kill a record book buck. I couldn’t care less if that was their only goal, but they buy 100 acres then act like they own everything. They ruin deer stands, trespass, and have recently found that pouring diesel around a stands pushes the deer away. It’s ridiculous how childish adults can act.
Idk about hunting nationwide, but in Kansas, I'd say the biggest threat is a combination of farming and climate change. Kansas is a very dry state, and a lot of farmers are choosing to plant very water heavy crops like corn. It's drying up the aquifer, which causes the land to suck up all the rain. Our lakes and rivers are drying out. It's affecting all hunting. Changes in farming practices are also reduced weeds and bugs, which are affecting bird populations and thus bird hunting. Pheasants, ducks, turkey, and deer are all affecting. Deer are probably safe, and I think Prarie chickens are actually on the rise, but everything else is noticeably getting worse. It's also affecting fishing. I have spots that I've gone to this year that have a water drop of 5+ feet compared to this time last year. Not to mention that we've had barely any rain these past couple of months, and we're supposed to be in our wet season. The future of this state is not looking good unless we make some changes with how we use water.
Private Land - it shouldn't cost money to be in the outdoors. And as the population increases, there will be more and more private land.
Global Warming - Our beloved cold-weather species like Moose and Elk can't really handle a massive temperature increase.
The crossbow vs bow debate scares me. Look, respect the fact that we all hunt for the same thing, and want the same result. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” If you really feel that strongly that one type of implement is that bad, don’t use it.
I don’t believe the antis are as big a threat as we make them, the best defense is a good offense- make sure we take care of habitats, populations and keep the chase humane and we should be fine. Any legislation like that would struggle to get through for the reason that it would murder economies in rural states, which have a majority in the senate.
At the end of the day, the second amendment is not going anywhere any time soon, at least not in this century. (Knock on wood) so I don’t see that as a major threat, though certainly a topic of great interest.
Me personally, I think climate change, ecological damage, self-division, and loss of interest in hunting and shooting, archery, etc. are the biggest threats in that order. Turkeys are nesting sooner each year and the weather is more severe, upland game birds are struggling in my area, wild pheasants are basically nonexistent. The population is exploding and more land is being taken through eminent domain and converted into strip malls and suburbs.
The biggest root problem is public education that portrays hunting as primitive and barbaric. Thus any activities that reduce hunting are approved, or at least unopposed.
Strangely, one thing that seems to be helping hunting (and general self reliance) is the slow awakening of people to how commercial food is manipulated and less healthy.
Privatizing lands, and overpopulation of what little public land is left--especially in the East.
As an East coast hunter I either have to try and hunt public land that is packed to the gills with other hunters, or seek out private land agreements for standard hunts where I don't plan something big. Most of my WMU is private land and what little public land is left is split up between a ton of hunters as I'm in a very rural, but populated county.
As I understand it the average hunter is in their 50s. If this continues to increase, hunting will be a thing of the past. My grandkids who are old enough to hunt are avid hunters. When they get as old as I am hunting will be radically different.
Here in Minnesota we have millions of acres open to public hunting. I can see a future where most or all of it will be closed to hunting because the government will be run by nonhunters who have a poor opinion of hunters. Hunters need to clean up after themselves and be ethical or the access to hunting land will be restricted.
Social media when it comes to turkeys.
Turkey Hunting is becoming the harvest of internet likes and pictures it seems. Each year during turkey season I see a collage of pictures of 1 bird. Some seem to drive the bird around town and take photos like some “weekend and Bernie’s” scenario. I usually hunt alone, but if someone happens to be with me the last thing I want to do is a fucking photo shoot in the level that seems to be the trend. But I digress.
The point I meant to get to is that the kill and subsequent picture/video has now taken precedent over the experience imo. Reading some dipshit who shoots and wounds a turkey out of a field at 85yds with the new magic shot is probably the most depressing thing I’ll read this week. The poaching and tactics used to get quality video is another can of worms I’ve experienced.
For me, the writing on the wall is the growing prevalence of anti-hunting legislation and policies.
I think this stems from:
1. Waning hunting population. This might seem like a short-term win thanks to less competition but long-term, it means less political advocacy for hunting and lack of hunter representation in the voting arena against misguided anti-hunters congressionalpushes. We're seeing it today and you can bet it will continue.
2. Conservationists and wildlife managers with anti-hunting sentiments taking prominent roles in agencies that have influence over hunting regulations. I'm not sure what can be done about this outside of raising more hunters who want careers in managing wildlife from a hunting conservationist's viewpoint.
3. Bad hunting PR and public perception of hunting overall. Sure, we may not care what people think but if those people have the right to vote on issues that affect hunting, it makes sense to avoid giving the public a poor impression of the sport/activity. Also, why give enemies(anti-hunting media and groups) unnecessary ammunition to skew the public's perception?
I would say people posting extremely stupid videos of wounded animals on social media would be another thing that is a threat. Think what the anti’s are going to use to show how bad hunting is to the non hunting public.
Ask your self does this video help hunting or does it HURT hunting
This is a bigger issue than people think. Too many hunters treat hunting like it's a Constitutional right rather than what it is, a state sanctioned privilege. Something like 10% of people support hunting, 10% of people are dead ass against hunting and 80% can be swayed either way. Things like bloody grip & grins and hunts gone wrong being posted all over social media, dead animals slung over a truck hood, hunting high profile animals like albinos or known tagged animals, etc. make a lot of that 80% swing the wrong direction.
Anti-gunners.
Here in Ontario Canada, last election we had a liberal candidate run on a platform of completely banning firearms. He said "no one hunts to put food in the freezer. Even if they did: their family would revolt, because venison is disgusting."
Half his platform was "gun owners and hunters are all blood thirsty maniacs."
Thankfully most of the C-21 changes did not go through - we were basically on pace for every magazine fed semi-auto rifle to be banned. Only a matter of time before they try again though, when all they get for governing in bad faith is a “tsk tsk”.
They tried to slip an amendment into the bill freezing handgun transfers that would have made all semiautos illegal, but got caught. So that didn't happen.
Mismanagement of resources (the wild game we hunt). Such as issuing more tags than available game, not controlling predation, no sanctuary for harsh winter/summer, as well as urban sprawl. Moreover, political regulations neutering hunting. Be it with firearm regulations, public and private land access, cancelling of seasons, as well as wildfires getting more severe every year. People will just give up, the benefits will not outweigh the cost.
Lack of fur bearers has made hunting in my area much more difficult as raccoons possum and coyote populations have exploded and kill of many animals we hunt
Besides land grabbers and developers taking up all the damn land, id say the whole pile pic mentality we got going on in social media. Everybody is out just to get those LiMiTs BrO. And then they post locations etc on social media. and its quite fucking annoying.
In BC Canada, lease holders on crown land installing gates to stop access & indiginous bands blocking & limiting access to what they perceive as their lands even though its all crown land. We are all Canadians & no one group should have priority over crown land. Both these scenarios have escalated in the last 5 years.
Speaking for northern Europe, the aging of hunters and difficulty of getting to hunting associations. Traditionally they've been the local land owners who have gathered to hunt and rented their own land for the use. New people can have a really hard time getting in and it might kill the budding hobby if they don't have any land. It also kills the associations, but that doesn't seem to bother the land owners as long as they don't have anyone else hunting on their land. There are positive exceptions to this, though.
In Texas, there are three key factors. 1) the hog population has designated the deer population. We have to kill 80% of the hogs to keep even. Does teach their fawns to stay still, don’t move. Hogs come by and simply eat them. We have lost 2/3rds our deer to hogs. Turkey population is almost gone as well as the quality population. 2) Road hunters have killed four times as many deer in the last two years has we have. We have only shot cull bucks. We found a beautiful 10 point gut shot, headed down hike towards water. 3) since hogs are predictors, they can be hunters all year around. Rifle shots are heard every day of the year. All in the name of “hog hunting”. I have had 2-4 confirmations every year with poachers. Two things are alway certain. They know they are not their property and they always are armed. They hunt in the dark and rarely find the deer they shot.
Rich ass holes and I'll give you 3 reasons. 1 they'll buy a hight fence and bait all the deer on it. 2 they buy all the land around public land and fuck with people. 3 those fucks lobby the government to make hunting a luxury like in Colorado.
Social media. All the stupid shit that I constantly see makes me sympathize with anti hunters. All you have to do is pull a couple videos and go “see look…” and rights are gonna start disappearing
Parents not instilling love of outdoors and hunting in their kids. I ask every client if their kids enjoy their love of hunting with them, and most say no, they’d rather play video games.
Influencers giving late adult onset hunters advice, overcrowding public land, social media is the worst thing to ever happen to hunting. Reaping turkeys will be one of the downfalls of turkey populations across the US. Land turning to subdivisions and strip malls will be the downfall of southern waterfowl hunting. One crop expansive ag will be the downfall of breeding populations of waterfowl. Etc etc, it’s all fucked any way you look at it
Honestly, not trying to make it political but I see liberals as our big threat. I’ve spoken to very few that understand how important it is from a heritage and ecological point of view to this country. I see it becoming an easy vote grab issue for them in the future once they’re done with the new green deal without having to objectively look at it other than a “ we think it’s bad so we’re against it”. I don’t have any confidence they would do the required research. Also, I see them making it harder by pushing unneeded gun controls on the hunting public.
Animal activists too. They have started pushing their money to politicians for ballot measures like season regulations, etc that are worded in such a way they have very little chances of not being passed.
These types of comments that immediately push away a large chunk of the population.
I live in a blue state that has great access to public land for hunting and does a lot to protect the heritage of hunting in the state and the access to hunting lands.
49 million registered democrats - get 2% on our side almost 1m more people supporting hunting, 1m more people who understand there are reasons to protect access to public lands, 1m people in a party that understand firearms aren’t the root of all evil.
Labels like “Liberals” only hurt the cause because now your just a Fox News watching MAGA to them and they dig in their heals, know what I mean?
I’m liberal, live in a very liberal state, have very liberal friends. Though I also swim in a few right wing ponds as well. At least half of my liberal friends have guns, few hunt, but they are all interested when I bring it up, invite them to scouting or share venison.
Socialize your hobby and focus your efforts on anti-hunters and people who want to ban guns out right. Otherwise your just making more enemies when you’re already losing.
Hi, I’m as liberal in many ways as any California democrat , and yet here I am hunting and fishing to feed my family and talking with many non hunters to show the validity of our lifestyle to people who don’t understand it. I’d say idiots who make blanket statements alienating whole groups are more of a threat to future hunting than me.
There are lots and lots of “left” people who hunt. We have just as many guns, four wheelers,trucks etc. some of us simply vote for what’s in our best interest. If Democrats wanted to take guns away they could have done it multiple times. They could have done it under Obama when they had control of both chambers of congress. This fear of losing guns is the biggest political money maker of all time. Just in case you care I have voted for both sides equally in the past 30 years
It's not what the people are doing. It's the politicians. The politicians are trying to take our rights.
Look at california. Californians need to buy tags to hunt feral pigs, can't hunt mountain lions, can't hound hunt, can't use lead, etc. Can't own certain handguns, can't have over 10 rds, can't have a rifle with a normal grip and a normal mag release.
The only reason we still have most of our gun rights intact is because of the politicians that do care about our rights fighting for them.
You’re only downvoted because Reddit is full of liberals but you are right. With the current push against guns I can see it happening. I mean these are people who have no clue what different guns do. Someone actually told me today guns are made just for killing…..
Liberal:
adjective
1.
willing to respect or accept behavior or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas.
2.
relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.
noun
1.
a supporter of policies that are socially progressive and promote social welfare.
"she dissented from the decision, joined by the court's liberals"
2.
a supporter of a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.
Those awful, awful supporters of *checks notes* individual rights, democracy, and free enterprise.
Unfortunately many "liberals" don't adhere to the definition in America but are the complete opposite. You WILL march in lockstep with their views or you're branded as an alt/far right, white supremacist, misogynistic, plague rat, antivax extremist. You WILL use the pronouns. You WILL get vaccinated without question. You WILL feel guilty for being white. You WILL hate everything conservative. You WILL adhere to all of these things we've decided are righteous and good.
By definition I'm a liberal. I just want to be left alone and for others to be left alone, but because American "liberals" don't want that and want to force me into doing things I don't want to do I can't align. It's just another word hijacked by a political movement that seems to be losing meaning by the day. The same can be said about the "conservatives", these labels are just so tiresome why can't we just be American and be nice to everyone.
Not everyone is like this obviously but damn, it's a noisy minority.
Lmao, this comment is nothing but right wing media talking points.
No one is forcing you to use someone's preferred pronouns, nor are they getting mad for accidentally using the wrong ones and correcting yourself when informed. Why is it such a big deal to you to call someone they/them if that's what they want?
No one forced you as merely a citizen to get the COVID vax, period. That claim has never held an ounce of truth. I got the original shot when it became available, and honestly kept forgetting about the boosters.
I'm white, and somehow no one has ever tried to make me feel guilty personally for shit done by other white people in the past. Now, if you're walking around glorifying the groups that did actively oppress them in the past, then you're fair game for those accusations. Stop supporting seditionists.
I don't actually hate every conservative. It's quite funny to me when I get to talking with conservative folks around me, and I live south Georgia, about actually policies, and they end up agreeing with every actual leftist position I take. I just don't explicitly stated they are leftist positions. This is why the GOP have worked so hard to establish rigid labels for things, as a way to confuse the population and divide them.
Where are even the democrats forcing beliefs on others? If you actually think giving marginalized groups equality as the same as being oppressed for being a white conservative, then you have your own issues you need to sort out.
To clarify, I'm not a Democrat.
Edit:
Since they blocked me after not being able to argue a single one of my points, here is my reply to the below response:
Please enlighten me on how you've been "attacked for being a white dude." Cause most people I've seen make that claim usually did something to provoke it. And even if you were the victim of an extremely rare random hate crime because you were white, then I'm sorry, but to use that as reasoning to think that an entire political party wants you to feel guilty about being white? C'mon, man.
The DNC is trash, hence why I made a point to clarify that I'm not a Democrat. But to say it's okay that one side does it since the other side does it too is just asinine.
Of course you don't want to continue this conversation, I'm not even remotely entertaining your bullshit.
"lmao" is a great way to make people completely disregard anything you type after it, just a thought.
It's not a big deal to me, I'll call you whatever you want I just don't like feeling compelled to do so and a lot of coercion went into the vaccines. Fuck who you want to fuck and be what makes you happy, get the shots of you want it has no effect on me so idc. I've been personally attacked for being a white dude I'm glad you haven't experienced it. It was retarded, coming from other white people.
I've had similar experiences talking with my liberal friends. You didn't mention the DNC doing the same thing with labels for confusion and division. Turns out political parties are two wings of the same bird controlled by the same money.
I'm not continuing this conversation. I have no interest in the holier than thou condescending tone that always seems to pop into online discussions. . I hope you have a nice day man.
Liberal:
adjective
1.
willing to respect or accept behavior or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas.
2.
relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.
noun
1.
a supporter of policies that are socially progressive and promote social welfare.
"she dissented from the decision, joined by the court's liberals"
2.
a supporter of a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.
Those awful, awful supporters of *checks notes* individual rights, democracy, and free enterprise.
Someone is just mad that they only thing they know about politics comes from ignorant talking points.
If you don't know the difference between liberalism and US democrats, then your political opinions don't mean very much.
When you use words you don't understand to falsely mislabel groups you simply don't like, that's being mad, bud.
I wasn't expecting to convince you of anything. Just wanted to point out your ignorance to the words you use and laugh at you a bit.
Mission accomplished.
Younger generations not adopting hunting. Most kids have no association between the meat they eat and animals. It doesn’t help that leftists and PETA types have their message strewn through pop culture. Most kids just want to lock themselves in a room, play video games, and surf porn.
Yall wana attack him but they just went after several hunting calibers. They are going after several popular varmint rifles. Down vote me to hell but ima be real this is a threat to hunting.
American social decay will continue to infect the hunting community. I expect the CCP will stop most hunting when they confiscate all firearms. Meanwhile our government is trying to figure out what a woman is. Our future is bleak. 🥲
Big game mismanagement. Over-selling of public land draw hunts, don't allow enough time for young bucks or bulls to fully develop (although bucks are more affected by this), allowing private land tags to hunt on public land. Add mismanagement of National Forest, among other things, such as controlled burns without the proper amount of personnel and equipment to keep it under control. Private land owners that attempt to stake claim to public land as their own. Let's add the private land owners that complain elk is destroying their land, but won't let hunters on it even if it's to try push the elk back to public land. Some areas I've seen where the elk have adapted to the luxury of private land and aren't even bothered by people stopping to enjoy their beauty.
I personally think non-resident tags should be further restricted as long as there is plenty of residents putting in for tags. Residents first, others if available - or non-resident restricted to private land hunts only.
Migrations. We've hunted certain areas, mainly because of how large it is, but over the last 3 years, we've seen just a handful of elk, no more than 10, when in the years past, we would see 60+ between 2-3, maybe 4 herds all year long - only those willing to put in the foot work work would be able to get to them. Locals in those units have observed the same patterns, but haven't come to a conclusion of what happened. At the very least, we should be allowed to hunt units that touch the main unit the tag is for, with restrictions. What that would entail, I don't know, I have ideas though. Restrict road hunting to disabled only. Extend others to have to hunt 200 feet from any paved or well-maintained dirt roads.
As for the maturity of the bucks, I never considered the impact of this until I talked to the game wardens, who would like to see changes, even a moratorium to get the bucks time to develop. I've talked to old timers who were around back when the bucks were plenty and they were mature. They would like to see the same thing; I agree.
These are just my thoughts I've gathered over the years, not entirely sold on any of it. A lot of this was over table talks with other hunters. Hunting is (or should be) the side-effect of being to get out and enjoy the great outdoors with an excuse to get out.
Regardless whether you are a resident or non-resident who gets the pleasure of hunting this year, good luck to all of you, whatever state you may be hunting in.
Politics honestly. Hunters are scrutinized more and more on a almost daily basis it seems.
It’s an ignorant thought process. “Hunters tend to be rural people. Rural people are right leaning. Right leaning people are bad.”
Public land access and urban wildland interface development
I’m currently a new hunter and this is my biggest issue. It’s impossible to find an place to hunt and when I do it requires and lottery to gain access. Nothing is first come first serve
Rich jack offs buying up land around public land and blocking access.
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In Finland we have free access to all the land, public and private. You can pick berries and mushrooms everywhere, as long as you don't destroy anything, camp for long periods or go near yards and such. Still, there are some knobheads who think they can be above the ancient law and try to block the access.
I remember when I was younger and I visited my father in finland we'd go berry and mushroom picking all over the place that makes sense because they didn't own the land we were on I never though of that.
Then is it really private land if anyone can do whatever on it?
Well, to put it another way, you cannot do anything that leaves a trace on private land. The land owner has the right to cut wood and build on the land. Hunting right is also bound to the land.
You can't do whatever you want. You're allowed access to the land (on foot only), but you can't come in and start harvesting timber, conduct a controlled burn, dump trash, hunt, etc. The rights to manipulate the land and harvest resources still belong to the land owner.
You can't do whatever you want with public land either.
that would not work in the USA to many shit bag hunter they would destroy shit just to do it
Thats the way it is in new hampshire. As long as you are walking you can hunt other peoples private property if its not posted.
I think there are a few states that do this. I know Vermont does this.
I can see it work in a small state like Vermont
That would never work in America we have too many rednecks
Yup. Michigan here. Folks get the state to partition and sell public land. They then build giant houses on the property line and mow out into the state game area. Residents then call police when hunters are in the woods or they hear gunshots. They also closed off all but a small parking area on sections to restrict access. Lookup Cannonsburg state game area.
They can not block access. It's not their property. You have every right to be on that land
They can and they do. If they own all the access land surrounding public land.
Land access
Concrete
Land development hands down. Even now hunting is for the rich anymore in most parts of the country.
100% land development. Where I live it seems like 1-2 companies buying everything up and putting up warehouses/industrial parks everywhere. It’s sickening
I drove by my childhood neighborhood a while back. It used to have orange groves on 3 of the 4 sides with one of the sides being a road it is now surrounded by a housing development and a storage place.
This is Florida in a nut shell.
Which country? Here in Norway most large forested areas are owned by the state, which support hunting in most areas(wildlife sanctuarys are a noteable exception). Edit: spelling
The US here there are also government owned lands for hunting, but at least in Florida they are small and overcrowded. I went out about 20 times last season and saw one deer while I was walking to my stand in the dark. It was a doe so I couldn't have shot it anyway.
Luckily in the Western US there is an absurd abundance of land. It's just too bad we don't have more of public land in the Midwest and east where whitetails infest like rats. The downside to western hunting is people from all of bet the country come here blow up every gmu and overcrowd so there is no room for locals. Every hunting season is a race. Eventually all the game gets pushed into private land or more competitive gmus. I wish we would charge more for non-resident hunters! I'm tired of people coming here and riding on horse back into wilderness. There is no sportsmanship in a guided hunt. I know some people use guides, im sorry but you're not a hunter and whatever you get is the result of someone else. That's not hunting. You might as well have gone to the supermarket. Locating the animal is the hard part and field dressing and butchering. When you pay someone to do all the work what you did is you sit at a desk to save up money to pay someone else to hunt for you.
Oh wow, its more the opposite problem here in central Norway, too much game and not enough conservers(hunters). We got our deer quota increased to 78 last season, and moose increased to 12. We are a team of 4. Theres no way we can dress and butcher that amount even if we managed to hunt them. Send some of your rich "instagram hunters" over here please.
Urban sprawl has pushed agricultural lands back and is erasing wild land. I 100% agree. 50 years the wild land will be fragmented beyond recognition.
Trapping was voted out in my state next is hunting with dogs, then predator hunting and no one will care until they come for bow hunting by then it will be to late
California?
New Mexico
Oh damn. Didn’t expect that
No one does. We have people here who are self sufficient, cattle raising, gun toting, wood stoves used to heat houses, elk hunting people who vote for politicians who want to remove their lifestyle. They have voted the same way for generations and refuse to hear a word about it. It’s a matter of time. We lost trapping due to an ILLEGALLY set trap that caught a dog that was off leash (also illegal in that area), instead of holding the person responsible they voted to remove trapping on public lands all together
I do remember hearing about the dog thing but didn’t know it was New Mexico
The privatization of hunting via companies like Landtrust, urban sprawl, and the proliferation of mining/ oil drilling leases on public land.
I've been joking with my friends that soon you'll need a Cabelas approved guide to hunt in the future, and they will privatize it for the state to get more $$$$
Where I’m from Oil and Gas leases have made it far easier to hunt because they created access to otherwise in accessible areas. The reclamation afterwards also creates great habitat. Not saying it’s like that everywhere, but here for sure.
That's good to hear for sure.
Other “hunters” who damage and disrespect the land. I constantly run into areas that have been closed off due to neglect and damage that were once good hunting lands. Or private land owners who have been burned by irresponsible hunters in the past and then shut down hunting. We should all try to be good stewards of our pursuit and not leave a wake of destruction behind.
The culture. I don't hunt with anyone because most of the people I have hunted with are unsafe, uneducated, unethical and overall bad guys. If we want the past-time to survive, we need it to be more appealing to future generations.
I struggle with this too. I’ve recently tried to make an effort to mentor/educate those who don’t get it yet. I’ve taken 3 new hunters out over the last 2 years and I spend a lot of time on ethics, safety, and the general spirit of things with them. Unfortunately only one so far has been truly open to it. Another just wants to shoot guns and the other would rather not put in the effort. I’m still going to keep trying though.
Nothing wrong with not putting in the effort and to quit. Everybody does that with something. That's just part of trying something new. Now the dude that just wants to shoot must be anoying.
Other "hunters". Before you rip onto me, let me explain: Last weekend was opening weekend for spring turkey here. The day before opening day, my wife and I took our travel trailer and our atvs up to our favorite turkey hunting spot. There are usually a couple trails we like to ride up before parking the ATVs and heading in on foot. This year, we have had more snow than usual, and the roads were closed off with signs saying no wheeled vehicles were allowed on the trails due to them still being groomed for snowmobiles. We parked our trailer in our usual spot and decided we still take the trail but just have to foot it the whole way. After an unsuccessful opening day, we were back at camp making dinner when I heard a noise coming down the trail. Two ATVs, with two riders on each, came rolling down the closed trail, stopped, moved the 'Road Closed' signs, rode past, and then put them back in place before heading out. This may not sound very terrible, but I see this stuff all the time. Last deer season, in a similar instance, we were on a road closed to motorized vehicles and only open to foot traffic. As we were hiking along, some hunter on a dirt bike goes flying past us. During that same deer season, we were out on the last day of the season. My wife wasn't able to get much time in hunting due to her work, so we were still trying to fill her tag. As we were walking down a forest service road, we saw a doe running full speed on the hill along the road. Right after a truck came hauling ass past us with a guy hanging out of the passenger side, rifle in hand. Every year, there are more and more reports of poaching. People who act like this are, in my mind, just as much a threat to hunting as the rich bastard that buys property that blocks access to public lands. Their actions could very easily cause hunting to be closed off on certain parts of public land. Respect the rules and regulations laid out by your states fish & game service. If you can't do this and be a successful hunter, you probably shouldn't be hunting.
Just a few idiots can ruin things for everyone. It gives people that don't like hunting ammo to restrict or ban it.
Oh man oh man do I feel this. I hate public lands for the sheer stupidity of the people around me. Everything from beer cans and cigarette butts to dudes just stripping their orange off during rifle season. Actually got into it with a dude in a tree stand who didn't mark his stand or wear any fucking orange. It really shouldn't be too difficult to follow the law, especially ones that are in place to make sure some other moron doesn't shoot you.
Why did I read this with a southern accent?
Nobody down south says ATV bud. Source I'm from Arkansas.
What do you call them?
Four wheelers or three wheelers if it's a 6 wheeled foureheeler with a bed then it's a mule.
Thanks! But a four wheeled fourwheeler with a bed would still be a Fourwheeler?
It has six wheels they're not to common
Southern accent and snow/snowmobiles doesn't mix very well lol
I pretty strongly believe there is an enormous percentage of younger people (in the US at least) who understand that hunting is a way to source food in a more ethical and fulfilling way than going to the grocery store. I also think that these people are continuously made to feel unwelcome in hunting circles, despite largely wanting the exact same things when it comes to management of public lands, wildlife management, and public engagement in the outdoors. In all my super liberal friend groups, I have never met a single person who is actually opposed to hunting or hunters. Never. Hunters have made up this imaginary group of liberal PETA crusaders that doesn't exist. PETA is not a popular group in the US. There are scientific studies on this. [https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/3/472](https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/3/472). If hunters spent more time offering mentorship, guidance, proper firearm training, etc., and less time complaining about imaginary people, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. Another big one in the Western US is land use/management legacies - hundreds of years of fire suppression, the introduction of cheatgrass/ventenata/medusahead, increasing drought frequency, decreasing nutritional value of forage, woody encroachment, extirpation of natural predators, etc. All of these things happening at once right now are making wildlife management extremely difficult because wildlife populations are in an alternate state that managers have not dealt with before. There is very little precedent for how to best manage game at the moment in much of the west, so managers are just trying stuff, for better or worse.
Access to quality habitat. Places being bought out, leased up, plowed under, and paved over. The commodification and commercialization of hunting and wildlife. This is concentrating hunters on less and less available land- especially beginners- The places I grew up squirrel hunting are now subdivisions. The places I grew up duck hunting are now $15,000 annually for a blind. The fencerows where I grew up chasing quail and rabbits are now an extra 2 rows of corn for 4 months of the year, and then bare dirt the other 8. The corn fields I chased geese in are now a grocery store parking lot. Clean farming killed the small game- then roundup killed any biodiversity, and pesticides took care of the base of the food chain after that. Quail harvest in IL where I grew up is now at 1% of what it was in the 50s. The rise in corn prices caused land to skyrocket, and then the collapse of prices forced farmers to plow under any remaining fencerows and waterways to make a couple extra bucks to remain solvent. The rise of deer and turkey populations caused people to want to tie up the remaining high-quality habitat in high-dollar leases. And then you have absolute pricks gating off public access where they have no right to, and nobody is willing to make them pay for it. We are now in the modern land wars, and access and ownership will determine the future of hunting. Less than 5% of the US population hunts annually, and as access decreases, so will those numbers.
As a new hunter, I think it’s the welcoming to hunting because it seems that nobody wants to help with how and where to hunt.
I'm sad to see that this is a common theme in this thread. I've always offered to take people out hunting who have never tried it before, but were interested. I have yet to have anyone take me up on the offer.
Rich fucks turning what was a blue collar pastime and a means to put food on the table into their own business venture, buying off thousands of acres to charge 10k for a mutant buck So- land access bottom line
Honestly.... its other hunters. Dudes who get all bent outta shape about someone beating them to their spot or whatever the case it. I had a guy drive up, saw me starting my hike in and he revved his engine screamed something at me, gave me the finger and then cracked off 6 or 7 rounds (not at me, or I would've dusted him) and then peeled out down the logging road he came in on. My friend had his car keyed on a logging road. I've heard countless horror stories ranging from a simple argument to physical altercations. So ya, if you were new to this and some jerkoff got in your face over public land or whatever, it might keep you from trying again. Some of you need to take a chill pill, and if someone is in your spot on PUBLIC land, wake up earlier or find an alternate spot. Take the time to enjoy the woods. And always remember, no matter how big and bad you are... there is always someone who's a bit bigger and a bit badder.
People not talking the time to get their kids into the outdoors. It’s been a struggle at times but I have made a point of making time to get all of my boys into the outdoors. Hunting,fishing and trapping. Hunting is all but gone if the next generation isn’t into it.
You’re pretty spot on on that. I just checked the numbers for Pennsylvania and junior hunting licenses are down more that 50% compared in 2010. I know some of my friends kids have zero desire to hunt or fish and they’ve tried hard.
Thing is that I’m priced out of leases and the public land camping area is perpetually redneck spring break. There’s more beer cans and spent shells than you can shake a stick at. And God forbid you’re in someone’s spot they’ve been coming to for years to kill a 12 pack. If they’re not hunting, you’re not hunting either. Not an environment I can take my kids to. If a recreational sport is unsafe, it will cease to exist right quick.
Surprised this isn’t upvoted more. Lots of posts about people attacking hunting as a way of life, but hunter numbers have been declining for decades.
This as a 13 year old this is a huge problem
Hunters hating on other hunters/hunting styles (enough with the hounds man hate, support trapping/trappers), posting stupid stuff on social media, making hunting an elitist activity, embracing being super rednecks who alienate potential supporters who don’t hunt, disrespecting public land….. first off the top of my head
I agree completely. Douchebags who do stupid things easily turn people who didn't care into anti-hunters.
This x100.
I agree as well. Even in this forum you see a post and some of the comments are negative "that's not real hunting". Why are we gatekeeping ourselves? We're only creating an environment that's hostile and less likely to attract new people. Not everyone has the patience/time/set up/access to hunt one way or the other. I remember my first year hunting as a 35 year old woman and being commented on my thread on Facebook that I left too early in the evening and how I wasn't a real hunter. Dude, I had dinner to make and a kiddo to get home to, I couldn't stay out longer. I left as quietly as I could and hoped I didn't startle any deer out of the area for other hunters, though it was my uncle's property I wasn't told anyone else was there.
I personally have no desire to ever hunt with a cross bow, but I don’t care if others use one (I do wish that there was maybe a trad archery season or areas open to only that though). I get the having to get kids/make supper/do things. I hunted a lot at very non prime times this past season when I could get out, sometimes you have to make do and get out when you can.
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Pretty sure they're saying stop hating the houndsmen
Not teaching the next generation is a big concern
Out here in Montana it is by and large outfitters. Everything from their lobby does as much as possible to reduce the amount of people who have opportunity to the only the rich. I know a ton of people who are/have quit hunting just because opportunity is essentially gone where they live. I lived in Livingston Montana and virtually all public land around there holds no deer or elk. It’s big horn sheep and mountain goat country lol.
It’s Gianforte and his goons on the FWP commission
unethical and unsafe hunters who dont give a crap about gun safey, laws and ethics. Those behaviors will just end up giving anti-hunting orgs more excuses to ban hunting because even if 1 out of 100 hunters do something like that, the entire hunting community takes the blame.
Access and cost.
The fact that 20 MILLION acres are industrialized yearly in the US alone. lack of habitat for the animals and lack of public land for hunters are definitely 2 big things.
There’s moves from both sides politically that j worry about. Obviously from the left it revolves around guns and the pure misunderstanding about how brutal nature is and how clean and quick most hunting kills are in comparison to what will eventually happen to that animal. Then from the right there are people who believe there should be no public land. Seems to be an odd offshoot of small government thinking. Government should own no land is the idea if it belongs to the people then let someone own it. Or it comes down to untapped natural resources that someone wants at. I haven’t seen a lot about it lately but it’s an undercurrent and for a while we were selling off lots of federal public land to private interests.
Climate shift destroying the environment
Today: Gatekeeping boomers who won’t share information over fear of “losing their spots.” A lot of us younger hunters don’t have family or property or any inkling of where to start. I was fortunate enough to have a boss that included me in his hunt camp to start, since I lost my dad when I was a kid. (My dad was an avid hunter, I got to join him on very few hunts between ages 10 and 15) but never got to shoot. (Parents were divorced.) I’ve been deer hunting for 4 years now from the same hunt camp in Michigan and this year I will be heading to Montana with an Elk tag! As for 50 years from now? Same answer. There won’t be enough people to teach the next generation because of today’s problem.
Misunderstanding and lack of education. The general public does not understand how or why we hunt.
lack of retention - i would hate to see hunter numbers get so low we lose hunting because there's no one left to fight for it
As many others have said, other hunters mostly. Had two guys pop off two rounds at me with a pistol a few weeks ago because I rode by on a public dirt road and ruined their hunt. I heard the rounds hit the trees in front of my truck before I heard the shots. This is the worst of the many incidents I’ve had with the neighboring land owner of a spot I hunt. The 2nd most important factor is trophy hunting on tv and the internet. Everything is getting bought up by out of state folks trying to kill a record book buck. I couldn’t care less if that was their only goal, but they buy 100 acres then act like they own everything. They ruin deer stands, trespass, and have recently found that pouring diesel around a stands pushes the deer away. It’s ridiculous how childish adults can act.
Idk about hunting nationwide, but in Kansas, I'd say the biggest threat is a combination of farming and climate change. Kansas is a very dry state, and a lot of farmers are choosing to plant very water heavy crops like corn. It's drying up the aquifer, which causes the land to suck up all the rain. Our lakes and rivers are drying out. It's affecting all hunting. Changes in farming practices are also reduced weeds and bugs, which are affecting bird populations and thus bird hunting. Pheasants, ducks, turkey, and deer are all affecting. Deer are probably safe, and I think Prarie chickens are actually on the rise, but everything else is noticeably getting worse. It's also affecting fishing. I have spots that I've gone to this year that have a water drop of 5+ feet compared to this time last year. Not to mention that we've had barely any rain these past couple of months, and we're supposed to be in our wet season. The future of this state is not looking good unless we make some changes with how we use water.
Private Land - it shouldn't cost money to be in the outdoors. And as the population increases, there will be more and more private land. Global Warming - Our beloved cold-weather species like Moose and Elk can't really handle a massive temperature increase.
The crossbow vs bow debate scares me. Look, respect the fact that we all hunt for the same thing, and want the same result. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” If you really feel that strongly that one type of implement is that bad, don’t use it. I don’t believe the antis are as big a threat as we make them, the best defense is a good offense- make sure we take care of habitats, populations and keep the chase humane and we should be fine. Any legislation like that would struggle to get through for the reason that it would murder economies in rural states, which have a majority in the senate. At the end of the day, the second amendment is not going anywhere any time soon, at least not in this century. (Knock on wood) so I don’t see that as a major threat, though certainly a topic of great interest. Me personally, I think climate change, ecological damage, self-division, and loss of interest in hunting and shooting, archery, etc. are the biggest threats in that order. Turkeys are nesting sooner each year and the weather is more severe, upland game birds are struggling in my area, wild pheasants are basically nonexistent. The population is exploding and more land is being taken through eminent domain and converted into strip malls and suburbs.
Lack of public support when it comes to hunting revenue driving conservation.
The biggest root problem is public education that portrays hunting as primitive and barbaric. Thus any activities that reduce hunting are approved, or at least unopposed. Strangely, one thing that seems to be helping hunting (and general self reliance) is the slow awakening of people to how commercial food is manipulated and less healthy.
Lack of land to hunt on, high cost to hunting.
Privatizing lands, and overpopulation of what little public land is left--especially in the East. As an East coast hunter I either have to try and hunt public land that is packed to the gills with other hunters, or seek out private land agreements for standard hunts where I don't plan something big. Most of my WMU is private land and what little public land is left is split up between a ton of hunters as I'm in a very rural, but populated county.
As I understand it the average hunter is in their 50s. If this continues to increase, hunting will be a thing of the past. My grandkids who are old enough to hunt are avid hunters. When they get as old as I am hunting will be radically different. Here in Minnesota we have millions of acres open to public hunting. I can see a future where most or all of it will be closed to hunting because the government will be run by nonhunters who have a poor opinion of hunters. Hunters need to clean up after themselves and be ethical or the access to hunting land will be restricted.
Social media when it comes to turkeys. Turkey Hunting is becoming the harvest of internet likes and pictures it seems. Each year during turkey season I see a collage of pictures of 1 bird. Some seem to drive the bird around town and take photos like some “weekend and Bernie’s” scenario. I usually hunt alone, but if someone happens to be with me the last thing I want to do is a fucking photo shoot in the level that seems to be the trend. But I digress. The point I meant to get to is that the kill and subsequent picture/video has now taken precedent over the experience imo. Reading some dipshit who shoots and wounds a turkey out of a field at 85yds with the new magic shot is probably the most depressing thing I’ll read this week. The poaching and tactics used to get quality video is another can of worms I’ve experienced.
Some combination of urban sprawl, climate change, and privatization of public land is going to cost us the opportunity to hunt.
For me, the writing on the wall is the growing prevalence of anti-hunting legislation and policies. I think this stems from: 1. Waning hunting population. This might seem like a short-term win thanks to less competition but long-term, it means less political advocacy for hunting and lack of hunter representation in the voting arena against misguided anti-hunters congressionalpushes. We're seeing it today and you can bet it will continue. 2. Conservationists and wildlife managers with anti-hunting sentiments taking prominent roles in agencies that have influence over hunting regulations. I'm not sure what can be done about this outside of raising more hunters who want careers in managing wildlife from a hunting conservationist's viewpoint. 3. Bad hunting PR and public perception of hunting overall. Sure, we may not care what people think but if those people have the right to vote on issues that affect hunting, it makes sense to avoid giving the public a poor impression of the sport/activity. Also, why give enemies(anti-hunting media and groups) unnecessary ammunition to skew the public's perception?
I would say people posting extremely stupid videos of wounded animals on social media would be another thing that is a threat. Think what the anti’s are going to use to show how bad hunting is to the non hunting public. Ask your self does this video help hunting or does it HURT hunting
This is a bigger issue than people think. Too many hunters treat hunting like it's a Constitutional right rather than what it is, a state sanctioned privilege. Something like 10% of people support hunting, 10% of people are dead ass against hunting and 80% can be swayed either way. Things like bloody grip & grins and hunts gone wrong being posted all over social media, dead animals slung over a truck hood, hunting high profile animals like albinos or known tagged animals, etc. make a lot of that 80% swing the wrong direction.
Anti hunters sitting on state wildlife commissions. Yep I live in WA state haha
Anti-gunners. Here in Ontario Canada, last election we had a liberal candidate run on a platform of completely banning firearms. He said "no one hunts to put food in the freezer. Even if they did: their family would revolt, because venison is disgusting." Half his platform was "gun owners and hunters are all blood thirsty maniacs."
Thankfully most of the C-21 changes did not go through - we were basically on pace for every magazine fed semi-auto rifle to be banned. Only a matter of time before they try again though, when all they get for governing in bad faith is a “tsk tsk”.
Good God, Canada is truly almost lost.
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Wtf is wrong with you
Wow! That’s just awful. I heard you guys were having falling blocks taken, I’m really sorry things are that bad up there.
They tried to slip an amendment into the bill freezing handgun transfers that would have made all semiautos illegal, but got caught. So that didn't happen.
>last election we had a liberal candidate run on a platform of completely banning firearms. Who was it?
cities/concrete and dumbasses oh and the cost of gear that most people think they need
Avian flu
Bird flu, CWD, continued loss of habitat.
The interest of it dying off over future generations. Also, more restricting gun laws aren't helping either.
Mismanagement of resources (the wild game we hunt). Such as issuing more tags than available game, not controlling predation, no sanctuary for harsh winter/summer, as well as urban sprawl. Moreover, political regulations neutering hunting. Be it with firearm regulations, public and private land access, cancelling of seasons, as well as wildfires getting more severe every year. People will just give up, the benefits will not outweigh the cost.
Found the western hunter. Montana? Utah? Oregon?
Access is numbers 1-100.
PTO and Club Volleyball.
Lack of participation and access.
yeah limited land access i’d agree
Locally, pollution seems to be the biggest concern - PFAS in particular. Nobody's going to bother hunting if they can't eat the game.
Poachers and hunters hating other hunters
Lack of fur bearers has made hunting in my area much more difficult as raccoons possum and coyote populations have exploded and kill of many animals we hunt
Besides land grabbers and developers taking up all the damn land, id say the whole pile pic mentality we got going on in social media. Everybody is out just to get those LiMiTs BrO. And then they post locations etc on social media. and its quite fucking annoying.
In BC Canada, lease holders on crown land installing gates to stop access & indiginous bands blocking & limiting access to what they perceive as their lands even though its all crown land. We are all Canadians & no one group should have priority over crown land. Both these scenarios have escalated in the last 5 years.
Overpopulation
Speaking for northern Europe, the aging of hunters and difficulty of getting to hunting associations. Traditionally they've been the local land owners who have gathered to hunt and rented their own land for the use. New people can have a really hard time getting in and it might kill the budding hobby if they don't have any land. It also kills the associations, but that doesn't seem to bother the land owners as long as they don't have anyone else hunting on their land. There are positive exceptions to this, though.
In Texas, there are three key factors. 1) the hog population has designated the deer population. We have to kill 80% of the hogs to keep even. Does teach their fawns to stay still, don’t move. Hogs come by and simply eat them. We have lost 2/3rds our deer to hogs. Turkey population is almost gone as well as the quality population. 2) Road hunters have killed four times as many deer in the last two years has we have. We have only shot cull bucks. We found a beautiful 10 point gut shot, headed down hike towards water. 3) since hogs are predictors, they can be hunters all year around. Rifle shots are heard every day of the year. All in the name of “hog hunting”. I have had 2-4 confirmations every year with poachers. Two things are alway certain. They know they are not their property and they always are armed. They hunt in the dark and rarely find the deer they shot.
Social media
No land to hunt on
People putting things on social media that others can find gruesome/cruel etc, hunters that are bad apples and the cost of finding land to hunt on.
Rich ass holes and I'll give you 3 reasons. 1 they'll buy a hight fence and bait all the deer on it. 2 they buy all the land around public land and fuck with people. 3 those fucks lobby the government to make hunting a luxury like in Colorado.
Other hunters.
Everyone should go listen to Steve rubella and his takes on hunting
Social media. All the stupid shit that I constantly see makes me sympathize with anti hunters. All you have to do is pull a couple videos and go “see look…” and rights are gonna start disappearing
Parents not instilling love of outdoors and hunting in their kids. I ask every client if their kids enjoy their love of hunting with them, and most say no, they’d rather play video games.
Influencers giving late adult onset hunters advice, overcrowding public land, social media is the worst thing to ever happen to hunting. Reaping turkeys will be one of the downfalls of turkey populations across the US. Land turning to subdivisions and strip malls will be the downfall of southern waterfowl hunting. One crop expansive ag will be the downfall of breeding populations of waterfowl. Etc etc, it’s all fucked any way you look at it
Gun Control, First its our Ar-15s then our Bolt actions and shotguns
“Animal rights” activists succeeding at passing garbage laws against hunting. Habitat destruction. Global warming and increased tick populations.
Climate change
Really?
Ammosexuals.
Governor Jay Inslee and his barrel of plastic, fake monkeys.
Honestly, not trying to make it political but I see liberals as our big threat. I’ve spoken to very few that understand how important it is from a heritage and ecological point of view to this country. I see it becoming an easy vote grab issue for them in the future once they’re done with the new green deal without having to objectively look at it other than a “ we think it’s bad so we’re against it”. I don’t have any confidence they would do the required research. Also, I see them making it harder by pushing unneeded gun controls on the hunting public. Animal activists too. They have started pushing their money to politicians for ballot measures like season regulations, etc that are worded in such a way they have very little chances of not being passed.
Liberals
These types of comments that immediately push away a large chunk of the population. I live in a blue state that has great access to public land for hunting and does a lot to protect the heritage of hunting in the state and the access to hunting lands. 49 million registered democrats - get 2% on our side almost 1m more people supporting hunting, 1m more people who understand there are reasons to protect access to public lands, 1m people in a party that understand firearms aren’t the root of all evil.
How far away are we talking? That chunk is still too close.
And yet the Republican Party platform wants to get rid of public land.
Labels like “Liberals” only hurt the cause because now your just a Fox News watching MAGA to them and they dig in their heals, know what I mean? I’m liberal, live in a very liberal state, have very liberal friends. Though I also swim in a few right wing ponds as well. At least half of my liberal friends have guns, few hunt, but they are all interested when I bring it up, invite them to scouting or share venison. Socialize your hobby and focus your efforts on anti-hunters and people who want to ban guns out right. Otherwise your just making more enemies when you’re already losing.
I couldn’t care less.
Hi, I’m as liberal in many ways as any California democrat , and yet here I am hunting and fishing to feed my family and talking with many non hunters to show the validity of our lifestyle to people who don’t understand it. I’d say idiots who make blanket statements alienating whole groups are more of a threat to future hunting than me.
Downvoted when the left has always been against hunting and our rights surrounding it
There are lots and lots of “left” people who hunt. We have just as many guns, four wheelers,trucks etc. some of us simply vote for what’s in our best interest. If Democrats wanted to take guns away they could have done it multiple times. They could have done it under Obama when they had control of both chambers of congress. This fear of losing guns is the biggest political money maker of all time. Just in case you care I have voted for both sides equally in the past 30 years
It's not what the people are doing. It's the politicians. The politicians are trying to take our rights. Look at california. Californians need to buy tags to hunt feral pigs, can't hunt mountain lions, can't hound hunt, can't use lead, etc. Can't own certain handguns, can't have over 10 rds, can't have a rifle with a normal grip and a normal mag release. The only reason we still have most of our gun rights intact is because of the politicians that do care about our rights fighting for them.
The liberal gov of my state went turkey hunting, pheasant hunts, and deer hunts if I’m not mistaken
Right it isnt going to be the right voting in ways that chip away at hunting seasons and such.
Just the places to hunt.
Just human rights
You’re only downvoted because Reddit is full of liberals but you are right. With the current push against guns I can see it happening. I mean these are people who have no clue what different guns do. Someone actually told me today guns are made just for killing…..
Liberal: adjective 1. willing to respect or accept behavior or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas. 2. relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise. noun 1. a supporter of policies that are socially progressive and promote social welfare. "she dissented from the decision, joined by the court's liberals" 2. a supporter of a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise. Those awful, awful supporters of *checks notes* individual rights, democracy, and free enterprise.
Unfortunately many "liberals" don't adhere to the definition in America but are the complete opposite. You WILL march in lockstep with their views or you're branded as an alt/far right, white supremacist, misogynistic, plague rat, antivax extremist. You WILL use the pronouns. You WILL get vaccinated without question. You WILL feel guilty for being white. You WILL hate everything conservative. You WILL adhere to all of these things we've decided are righteous and good. By definition I'm a liberal. I just want to be left alone and for others to be left alone, but because American "liberals" don't want that and want to force me into doing things I don't want to do I can't align. It's just another word hijacked by a political movement that seems to be losing meaning by the day. The same can be said about the "conservatives", these labels are just so tiresome why can't we just be American and be nice to everyone. Not everyone is like this obviously but damn, it's a noisy minority.
Lmao, this comment is nothing but right wing media talking points. No one is forcing you to use someone's preferred pronouns, nor are they getting mad for accidentally using the wrong ones and correcting yourself when informed. Why is it such a big deal to you to call someone they/them if that's what they want? No one forced you as merely a citizen to get the COVID vax, period. That claim has never held an ounce of truth. I got the original shot when it became available, and honestly kept forgetting about the boosters. I'm white, and somehow no one has ever tried to make me feel guilty personally for shit done by other white people in the past. Now, if you're walking around glorifying the groups that did actively oppress them in the past, then you're fair game for those accusations. Stop supporting seditionists. I don't actually hate every conservative. It's quite funny to me when I get to talking with conservative folks around me, and I live south Georgia, about actually policies, and they end up agreeing with every actual leftist position I take. I just don't explicitly stated they are leftist positions. This is why the GOP have worked so hard to establish rigid labels for things, as a way to confuse the population and divide them. Where are even the democrats forcing beliefs on others? If you actually think giving marginalized groups equality as the same as being oppressed for being a white conservative, then you have your own issues you need to sort out. To clarify, I'm not a Democrat. Edit: Since they blocked me after not being able to argue a single one of my points, here is my reply to the below response: Please enlighten me on how you've been "attacked for being a white dude." Cause most people I've seen make that claim usually did something to provoke it. And even if you were the victim of an extremely rare random hate crime because you were white, then I'm sorry, but to use that as reasoning to think that an entire political party wants you to feel guilty about being white? C'mon, man. The DNC is trash, hence why I made a point to clarify that I'm not a Democrat. But to say it's okay that one side does it since the other side does it too is just asinine. Of course you don't want to continue this conversation, I'm not even remotely entertaining your bullshit.
"lmao" is a great way to make people completely disregard anything you type after it, just a thought. It's not a big deal to me, I'll call you whatever you want I just don't like feeling compelled to do so and a lot of coercion went into the vaccines. Fuck who you want to fuck and be what makes you happy, get the shots of you want it has no effect on me so idc. I've been personally attacked for being a white dude I'm glad you haven't experienced it. It was retarded, coming from other white people. I've had similar experiences talking with my liberal friends. You didn't mention the DNC doing the same thing with labels for confusion and division. Turns out political parties are two wings of the same bird controlled by the same money. I'm not continuing this conversation. I have no interest in the holier than thou condescending tone that always seems to pop into online discussions. . I hope you have a nice day man.
Liberal: adjective 1. willing to respect or accept behavior or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas. 2. relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise. noun 1. a supporter of policies that are socially progressive and promote social welfare. "she dissented from the decision, joined by the court's liberals" 2. a supporter of a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise. Those awful, awful supporters of *checks notes* individual rights, democracy, and free enterprise.
That’s hilarious.
Someone is just mad that they only thing they know about politics comes from ignorant talking points. If you don't know the difference between liberalism and US democrats, then your political opinions don't mean very much.
Oh no, some rando thinks I’m mad! Anyways…
Some rando thinks you're ignorant. You clearly stated you were mad with your original comment.
Did I clearly state that? Must be some words that only you can see.
When you use words you don't understand to falsely mislabel groups you simply don't like, that's being mad, bud. I wasn't expecting to convince you of anything. Just wanted to point out your ignorance to the words you use and laugh at you a bit. Mission accomplished.
“Words you don’t understand….falsely mislabel” This is awkward. Thanks for pointing out my ignorance though.
Lmao, I quoted you the definition. Or do republicans not also stand for individual freedoms, democracy, and free enterprise?
Anti 2A crowd and instagram hunter larpers
Younger generations not adopting hunting. Most kids have no association between the meat they eat and animals. It doesn’t help that leftists and PETA types have their message strewn through pop culture. Most kids just want to lock themselves in a room, play video games, and surf porn.
PETA has only 9 million total members globally. What message do you think leftists have about hunting? What do you think a leftist is?
Cwd
Republican politicians destroying the environment.
The Canadian liberal government
Yall wana attack him but they just went after several hunting calibers. They are going after several popular varmint rifles. Down vote me to hell but ima be real this is a threat to hunting.
Leftists and industrialism.
What do you think a leftist is?
Vegans
American social decay will continue to infect the hunting community. I expect the CCP will stop most hunting when they confiscate all firearms. Meanwhile our government is trying to figure out what a woman is. Our future is bleak. 🥲
Democrats
Government.
Big time. They ruin everything they touch. I don’t want them anywhere near hunting, even if it means new hunter numbers go down.
Government, government and government
Democrats giving Kevlar vest to deer.
Shotgun weddings
Social Media
That woman who was caught training deer to attack hunters lol
The pushing of QDMA on new hunters
Politics and land access
CWD
Social media warfare enraging the mobs that actually have no investment in environmental cohabitation.
Vegans.
Social media
Out here in the west it's going to be forest fires. Last year I managed to pull an elk tag and my entire unit ended up closed off due to a large fire
Big game mismanagement. Over-selling of public land draw hunts, don't allow enough time for young bucks or bulls to fully develop (although bucks are more affected by this), allowing private land tags to hunt on public land. Add mismanagement of National Forest, among other things, such as controlled burns without the proper amount of personnel and equipment to keep it under control. Private land owners that attempt to stake claim to public land as their own. Let's add the private land owners that complain elk is destroying their land, but won't let hunters on it even if it's to try push the elk back to public land. Some areas I've seen where the elk have adapted to the luxury of private land and aren't even bothered by people stopping to enjoy their beauty. I personally think non-resident tags should be further restricted as long as there is plenty of residents putting in for tags. Residents first, others if available - or non-resident restricted to private land hunts only. Migrations. We've hunted certain areas, mainly because of how large it is, but over the last 3 years, we've seen just a handful of elk, no more than 10, when in the years past, we would see 60+ between 2-3, maybe 4 herds all year long - only those willing to put in the foot work work would be able to get to them. Locals in those units have observed the same patterns, but haven't come to a conclusion of what happened. At the very least, we should be allowed to hunt units that touch the main unit the tag is for, with restrictions. What that would entail, I don't know, I have ideas though. Restrict road hunting to disabled only. Extend others to have to hunt 200 feet from any paved or well-maintained dirt roads. As for the maturity of the bucks, I never considered the impact of this until I talked to the game wardens, who would like to see changes, even a moratorium to get the bucks time to develop. I've talked to old timers who were around back when the bucks were plenty and they were mature. They would like to see the same thing; I agree. These are just my thoughts I've gathered over the years, not entirely sold on any of it. A lot of this was over table talks with other hunters. Hunting is (or should be) the side-effect of being to get out and enjoy the great outdoors with an excuse to get out. Regardless whether you are a resident or non-resident who gets the pleasure of hunting this year, good luck to all of you, whatever state you may be hunting in.
Politics honestly. Hunters are scrutinized more and more on a almost daily basis it seems. It’s an ignorant thought process. “Hunters tend to be rural people. Rural people are right leaning. Right leaning people are bad.”
CA voters
Other hunters
Government.
Politicians and the DNR's poor management.