Thread: Number of young hunters dropping in Oregon

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The number of youth hunters is dropping as Oregon's population continues to shift to urban areas.

The East Oregonian reports Oregon youth hunting license sales for hunters ages 12-17 have dropped by more than 17 percent in the last 10 years.

The total number has dropped from 22,000 in 2001 to 18,000 in 2010 as the state's population has grown.

Too bad but not very surprising. I'd also blame the need for instant gratification. Maybe they moved to shooting things on their phone or playstation.

It also reduces the number of young people who become acquainted with firearms and take hunter safety courses.

Maybe but i think its due to lack of hunting land with a lot of it now being pay to play and closed gates . When i was a youth all the rancher lands and leased blm lands all had welcome to hunt signs . you don't see that anymore . I used to see deer everywhere now your lucky to see one on the over crowed public lands. Plenty of deer on private land where you pay $500-1000 for some yahoo in a jeep to drive you up the the heard and say pick your deer might as well go to safeway.

I grew up hunting Hepner unit then the last year I hunted there just prior to hunting season we got a notice that I think 10,000 acres maybe more was closed up (least to a pay and play club) ODFW offered western but like so many others we went any way and it was crazy over crowing first time . I had seen some does cross me and some morons started shooting up hill at them just so happens i was at the top of the hill and i heard the bullets wizzing over my head as i ducked maybe there was a buck maybe just some guys screwing around my fried was also shot and so that was his last hunt he came back sold his rifle and pretty much took the stance that hunters and gun owners are a bunch idiots who should not even own guns. One of my brothers stopped hunting after that as well. It was a bad experience .

This was about 15 years ago thats when all the fee clubs started to take over a lot of welcome to hunt land for profit and i think that the decline in hunting started then . I still hunt and as much as I want my Daughters to hunt with me but i really am thinking twice about taking them .

Plus there is not a lot of deer and elk like past due to Cougars since they outlawed the use of Dogs for hunting them so less area to hunt less deer and elk to hunt . Lack of educated hunters shooting it up its no wonder a parent wont take their kid in the woods.

When i was a kid my dad made me go hunting the first year and i did not want to go. I did not have a phone or playstation unless you count pong and night driver on the atari system.

Good thing though i am introducing my Brother in law and nephew to hunting hopefully it won't be another fiasco like that one above.

I'm sure their stats are correct but our club does 6 hunters safety classes a year and all are over booked.

i blame it on the strict hunting and fishing laws of oregon. Oregon is filled with a hole bunch of nature preservationist and they dont want you to hunt or fish. All the states around still thrive with lush hunting area's where as in Oregon the hunting land keeps shrinking. It often makes me wonder why i still pay hundreds of dollars each year to hunt but i wont probably wont ever get my tag i really want, the big horn sheep tag.

And don't blame the kids cause they are playing Video games.

Blame the Dads or lack of Dads to take them out hunting.

This is a trend that started probably in the 70’s but the numbers are becoming more noticeable as of the last ten years or so. While many have posted good reasons for the drop one thing does stand out – a family cannot ever be guaranteed tags for all members from year to year. Whereas in the past you went and bought general tags for everyone hunting and planned on it each year now a family will all put in and draw maybe two or less get tags. This has effectively broken up the traditional hunting parties that went year after year consistently. If parents cannot plan on this once traditional outing on a regular basis then I think a lot have decided there is no use in instilling hunting and outdoor skills. I was still teaching Hunter’s Safety when the lottery system started and it was obvious many parents had their children attend with the intent of having them put in for tags in the hope of increasing their draw chances.

Originally Posted by RVTECH

While many have posted good reasons for the drop one thing does stand out – a family cannot ever be guaranteed tags for all members from year to year. Whereas in the past you went and bought general tags for everyone hunting and planned on it each year now a family will all put in and draw maybe two or less get tags. This has effectively broken up the traditional hunting parties that went year after year consistently.

In Oregon, if everyone that puts in together picks one member to be the party leader and then everyone lists the party leader's license number on their application, the party will all draw together or not draw at all. If the party does not do it this way, then yep, the party will get broken up.
That's for draw tags. In western Oregon there are plenty of General Season opportunities for deer, unlike eastern Oregon's deer hunts.
Two years ago we brought my 2 nephews into the hunting population when we went elk hunting. Last year only one went because of other obligations. (school, work) I'm hoping that both will be able to go again this year.

Heading out Friday with my youngest to chase deer. Not all of them are too busy playing video games to go have some real fun.

Some of us are still trying. I have been hunting with my youngest since he was 10(mentored youth) and this year he gets his own tag and license. I started hunting with my dad when i was 12/13 in 1984(?). Now all three generations hunt together every year. And for us it's not so much about meat in the freezer as the memories and experiences shared as a family in the woods.

At the risk of being flamed for posting this on a gun forum, if party tags are an issue then you could always switch to bow hunting. My dad started teaching me how to shoot when I was a kid and I've been bow hunting with him for 15 plus years now. It's good father/son time and we've never had to worry about getting tags. I hope to start my little guy when he comes of age as well.

There several reason for declining numbers of hunters as shown by the replys

Less hunters that means more game for me but i do agree with the OP that Kids are not learning gun safety in a real life situation . they are not leaning the real power and what a bullet can really do.

what they are learning about guns is off video games and tv which is not about marksmanship but about killing everything in sight without restraint without regards to safety in a fantasy world with no hands on guidance so when they do get a gun in there hands and depending on their up bringing will not have the proper respect for what the gun is capable of doing in careless hands.

Hunting is a tradition to be passed down from father to son or daughter, memories built in the field or at the range . A growing experience .

Hunting is not cheap unless you live in the woods ranch or farm and hunting in your back yard
the cost of tags, or just to apply for draw tags and not getting one , gas ect and only a slight chance you will be bringing home some gamey meet when you could buy a side of beef for about the same price.

This year i will be taking my Nephew out on his first hunt and his father who has not hunted since he was a kid so i am doing my part and i am pretty excited about it.

That's part of the allure of bird hunting for me. Nearby, not overly regulated (yet), inexpensive tags, lots of good exercise, and plenty of trigger time. To put it in perspective, I go deer/elk hunting every year, but it takes 9 months to plan. I've got a box of shells I reloaded for my 338 I use for elk hunting. I made them in about 20 years ago and there's 15 left.

This thread makes me want to tell this story

Some years ago i took my deer to be processed I came out and was waiting in the parking lot and this guy had pulled up beside my truck and was waiting to unload the deer he had in the back .

He had this big smile on his face and a glow of a pregnant woman and i looked into the bed of his truck and there was a little forky in there nothing impressive at all and i was thinking what heck is all glowing about so i kind of looked at him and gave a nod then he said with a big smile and glow and i'll never forget it

"My daughters first deer"

Parental apathy followed by liberal influences on our society and high cost of tags all play a huge factor, in my not so humble opinion.
That being said, if you have a kid, a rifle or bow, and can afford a tag then there's no excuse not to take them hunting. Even if they're just riding along, it's having an impact. I've taken my kids since they could barely walk or talk, and if we're not busy hunting, we stop to pick mushrooms or eat. Numerous neices, nephews, and neighbor kids and I can't think of one child that I've taken out in the woods that doesn't get excited over hunting, fishing, mushroom picking, or just getting lost in the woods
Also, any kid over 9 can hunt in the state of Oregon. My 9 year old is going on his first mentored hunt with me this year, and I've taken 2 others in the past two years. For kids 9-12 (they don't have to be Oregon residents but you do) there is the mentored hunt, which doesn't cost a thing besides your license and tag. Check out the regulations for all the info, but basically you just buy your tag, you mail in a form that's in the regs, and you follow your kid around while they do the shooting. If they get one it fills your tag as they're too young to buy one. They also don't have to take a hunters safety course but I'd still do it.

the party will all draw together or not draw at all.

While this system exists party draws became so infrequent it caused many to try a different tactic - having everyone in the group put in individually in the hopes a few would get tags and the rest went along for the trip anyway. That is what my group did and we are now down to just two. The lottery system was a well designed plan that did exactly what it was intended to do - reduce hunter congestion in the most popular units (the Upper Deschutes is a prime example), disestablish the traditional party hunts and reduce overall hunter numbers. Selling ad space in the synopsis, raffle and special hunts and unfairly doubling the tag application fee were ways make up the lost revenue from the declining tag and license sales. While the General Western Season alternative exists not many from the East Side take advantage of it due to distance, unfamiliarity of the terrain and the overall hunting environment. Regardless I still believe part of the decline is simply the Law of Diminishing Return. As a parent of a teenage daughter I see (and know) considerably fewer parents in my scope of acquaintances that are hunters, (or any style of outdoorspeople) than the parents I knew when I was my daughter’s age.

When my mom was growing up ('50s-'60s,) her dad hunted for food. The trips were half "boys week out" camping trip, half pure survival: ammunition was cheaper than meat at the grocery store. She never went along, but she did learn proper gun safety, and she did shoot on occasion (she's neither pro nor anti gun now. She has no desire to own or fire one, but has no problem with them, either.) So I'm not that far removed from "hunting for survival's sake." At the same time, it was purely hunting for food, not sport. My grandfather never hunted for sport, never got a head mounted or anything of that sort.

My dad grew up in the city, and learned target shooting in Boy Scouts. And his parents were both from middle class city dwellers, so no hunting for food or hunting for sport there. Growing up, I had nearly zero exposure to guns other than .22 pistol 'can plinking' at my maternal grandparents house until I entered Boy Scouts myself. My whole experience is target shooting, not hunting. I have no reason to hunt for food, and to me "the thrill of the hunt" has no major attraction.

Ahh the good ol' days - 48 pages of no nonsense and fit in your shirt pocket.

Originally Posted by RVTECH

Ahh the good ol' days - 48 pages of no nonsense and fit in your shirt pocket.

If only it was that size now. Got to love bureaucracy.

I hunted under those regs my second or third year of hunting I bet I still have that Synopsis around here somewhere.

What has the total number of hunters done in the last 10 years.

Are there as many kids now as 10 years ago (ruling out the illegals that shouldn't be hunting)

Most states have a wildlife department made up of hunters.Oregon has one made up of environmentalists.that could care more about a snail, or spotted bird than people who enjoy the hunting sport.
They do nothing to enhance the sport. Ever year we lose more land available to the hunter, and the price for hunting and fishing keep going up.They (the Oregon Department of Very little fish, and NO Wildlife) announced last year they would no longer spend money to enhance Oregon's warm water fisheries.

Arrogant bunch! Actually they never have anyway.

I live in SW Oregon (Douglas county) We have lots of BLM land closed to us hunters, because the large timber holders lock gates that lead to BLM or other public land.This should NOT be allowed, but they have the money to lobby.

Just last year we lost thousands of acres of BLM near Sutherlin, when Roseburg Forest products locked off roads leading to those areas in the Hinkle Creek unit, and Marvin hill area.Those are just a couple that I know of. I'm sure there have been many more. In my opinion, no one should be allowed to close roads leading to OUR land.

I know there are many other reasons for declining numbers of hunters and fishermen, but Ridiculous fees and poor management of our resources by the ones paid (very well) to so, is a big part of the problem.