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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: fouzman]
#4808011
12/05/13 05:09 AM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 980
ryorgensen
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 980 |
I'm more worried about TPWD hurting than anything else. We should all do everything we can to recruit new folks into the outdoors.
Robert
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: cmc]
#4808859
12/05/13 04:50 PM
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 13,774
1860.colt
emoji colt.45
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emoji colt.45
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 13,774 |
why the hell is there more and more people in the woods everytime I go? There maybe a new study I haven't read but if you listen to NRA and other conservation organizations hunters are a dying breed. would rather be hunting than working, but a wise person realizes bye working can aford to hunt.
i'm postaddic
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: chalet]
#4809249
12/05/13 06:59 PM
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 13,774
1860.colt
emoji colt.45
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emoji colt.45
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 13,774 |
I grew up hunting Jack Co when it was 1 buck, no doe, and didn't have any pigs to speak of. Definitely remember hearing more than a few shots opening weekend. After that it would taper off and if you heard someone shoot it was worth discussion back around camp.
Think a big difference these days is with a 5 deer limit plus pigs there is a lot more shot opportunities for a hunter. Same amount of hunters but they are doing a lot more shooting.
first lease got on was 1 buck, had 3 days for doe, but real reason, it had hog's, 24-7 365 for around $200.00 a gun. times have changed.
i'm postaddic
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: 1860.colt]
#4809423
12/05/13 07:53 PM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 177
Yellowhammer
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 177 |
By the numbers Hunting license sold by state from 2004-2013 http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/Subpages/LicenseInfo/HuntingLicCertHistory20042013.pdfFrom 1958-2003 http://wsfrprograms.fws.gov/Subpages/LicenseInfo/HuntingLicCertHistory.pdfIn 1958 there were 408,682 licenced hunters in Texas. In 2013, there were 1,036,946 licensed hunters. Nation wide in 1958 there were 14,138,182 licensed hunters compared to a US pop. of 171.98 million people or roughly 8% In 2013 there were 14,631,327 licensed hunters compared to a populaition of 316.16 million, or 4.6%. The peak of hunting license sales in the US was in 1982 with 16,748,541 when the population was 231.66 million so theere was 7.2%. I got that from the linked data if my math is correct. So the percentage of the population who hunts is shrinking, but the numbers of hunters is stable to growing slightly. Take into accountthe shrinking land available to hunting, and the number of people being forced to public land due to the rising cost of leases, and you see the problem.
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: Yellowhammer]
#4811224
12/06/13 05:04 AM
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 90
klp
Outdoorsman
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Outdoorsman
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 90 |
The place we hunt has been hunted for 60+ years. My Dad remembers growing up hearing shots all the time throughout deer season. Compared to now when he hardly hears any. I also remember when i started hunting hearing more shots than i do now (hardly hear any now).
A newspaper interviewed my great grandma about wild life in our area. In the article she mentions that the bucks aren't as big as they use to be back in the day (this article was in in the mid 90's). Dunno what that means but I also hunt different now then they did back then.
As a side story, when i was getting my hunters education and took my exam. I talked to the young guy next to me and he commented he hope he passed. He was going hunting the following weekend and has never shot a gun or hunted. I was immediately concerned for the deer he was hunting (but i hope he had a good experience).
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: klp]
#4811239
12/06/13 05:15 AM
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 110,840
dogcatcher
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 110,840 |
Nationwide in the last 25 years 41 million acres of agriculture land has been lost to urban expansion. 41 million acres is the size of the state of Indiana. During this 25 years Texas has seen a lot of growth in population, a good chunk of that 41 million acres were in Texas.
I am sure somewhere there are stats on this just for Texas, but I am no looking anymore. It is pretty simple to see that as land for hunting decreases, the price of leases will go up, and up, even if the number of hunters remain the same. During these same last 25 years, Texas has also gain a few million people, even with a loss of hunter from the base population, we have gained through the increase in population.
Combat Infantryman, the ultimate hunter where the prey shoots back. _____________"Illegitimus non carborundum est"_______________
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: klp]
#4811245
12/06/13 05:18 AM
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 110,840
dogcatcher
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 110,840 |
As a side story, when i was getting my hunters education and took my exam. I talked to the young guy next to me and he commented he hope he passed. He was going hunting the following weekend and has never shot a gun or hunted. I was immediately concerned for the deer he was hunting (but i hope he had a good experience). Interesting because when the TP&W shortened the hunter ed class time, there were a lot people on THF were all for it. But then I guess they already knew everything.
Combat Infantryman, the ultimate hunter where the prey shoots back. _____________"Illegitimus non carborundum est"_______________
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: dogcatcher]
#4811280
12/06/13 05:36 AM
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461
rifleman
Sparkly Pants
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Sparkly Pants
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461 |
Shortened it and started letting 9yos take it....
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: rifleman]
#4811328
12/06/13 06:06 AM
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 110,840
dogcatcher
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 110,840 |
Texas loses about 200,000 acres per year to urban expansion, http://www.texaslandconservancy.org/who-we-are-mainmenu-34.htmlHow many deer leases would be lost every year?
Combat Infantryman, the ultimate hunter where the prey shoots back. _____________"Illegitimus non carborundum est"_______________
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: TxAg]
#4811409
12/06/13 08:43 AM
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Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 527
Daven
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 527 |
who controls the animals in urban (?) areas? Or are they just allowed to multiply and fester? Don't know what it is like now, but there was an island back home that you couldn't hunt. There were some of the scraggliest, nastiest looking deer ( some even deformed) on there that you'd ever see...
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: Daven]
#4811815
12/06/13 03:00 PM
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 248
JRPurvis
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 248 |
Deer inside towns are still regulated by the county rules. But, because they are in town and firing guns inside city limits is highly regulated, most are protected. If the town thinks the deer numbers are a problem, they can decide to relax the rules on firearms, allow bow hunting, or hire someone to clear out deer through the use of special permits.
Deer quality is not measured by antler size
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: JRPurvis]
#4811860
12/06/13 03:17 PM
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461
rifleman
Sparkly Pants
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Sparkly Pants
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461 |
A lot of it taken over by urban sprawl will be taken over by HOAs and liberals.
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: rifleman]
#4811885
12/06/13 03:23 PM
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 5,271
Palehorse
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 5,271 |
A lot of it taken over by urban sprawl will be taken over by HOAs and liberals. Which one is worse? Another thing that comes with urban sprawl is rats and cockroaches. Maybe they just thrive around HOA's and liberals.
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: Palehorse]
#4811892
12/06/13 03:26 PM
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 28,048
Navasot
Hollywood
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Hollywood
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 28,048 |
Wonder if that has only rifle deer hunters..
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: Navasot]
#4811958
12/06/13 03:50 PM
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461
rifleman
Sparkly Pants
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Sparkly Pants
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 44,461 |
Nav, despite what you may think, a hunting license is required for the archery only season.
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: rifleman]
#4811985
12/06/13 03:59 PM
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Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 182
TexastoaD
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 182 |
Its not the decrease in hunters, its the increase of liberal non hunters.....
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: TxAg]
#4812193
12/06/13 05:00 PM
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 16,352
aeb
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 16,352 |
Compared to 20 or 30 years ago there is quite a bit of land that s no longer available for hunting. That means the hunters are moving to other areas that already had their fair share of hunters. You can draw a 10 mile circle around south half of Abilene, a lot of that land was deer hunting land 10 years ago, today there are houses, subdivisions, ranchitos, and businesses on a lot of that land. That is a lot of old hunting leased land that the hunters have moved away from. I think this is a big part of it. I also know there are many ranches that were once leased that are no longer avaialble. 50 years ago the rancher looked at Hunters as an additional source of income. Now adays his kids probably don't ranch and don't live there. They also don't care much for the ~$5k a year they can make leasing the place, and just keep it for family use. What land that is still available or affordable gets more pressure. We have gone through a major transition in my area east of Abilene. Fifty years ago, we really didn’t have enough deer to hunt. Twenty-five ago, we had a good population but most of the tracts were fairly large. The land owners permitted hunting but only in limited amounts. Today, our area has undergone major changes. The next generation of absentee landowners have divided and sold off their holdings, primarily to DFW folks. I have one immediate neighbor whose place was a little over 700 acres. The only hunters on the place were his two nephews. Today, it is owned by six different owners with only one owner residing on the property. All the other tracts are owned by non-residents or hunting groups. Lord only knows how many hunters pass through Luther’s original 700 acres in a hunting season. Opening day is like a war zone.
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: rifleman]
#4812197
12/06/13 05:01 PM
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 28,048
Navasot
Hollywood
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Hollywood
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 28,048 |
Nav, despite what you may think, a hunting license is required for the archery only season.
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: aeb]
#4820982
12/09/13 04:47 PM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 177
Yellowhammer
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 177 |
who controls the animals in urban (?) areas? Or are they just allowed to multiply and fester? Cars, trucks and disease. The next generation of absentee landowners have divided and sold off their holdings Don't forget that this is often done just so they can pay the taxes on the land they inherited. Many of these ranchers/farmers where "land rich" but had to work the land to make it pay and did not have any other wealth. When they died and the kids inherited, they did not have the capital to pay the taex without selling a portion of the land.
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: upsslim]
#4821694
12/09/13 07:32 PM
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 13,774
1860.colt
emoji colt.45
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emoji colt.45
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 13,774 |
Maybe the numbers are decreasing because deer hunting is becoming a rich mans sport. With the price of leases, guns, ammo, stands, bait, and gas it is getting hard for the average man to hunt. I'm not rich but I'm not poor and I can't afford a lease. I to make do with hunting on public land. A lot of people can't even do that. Hunting license, fishing license, WMA permit= $105. That's a week worth of food for a lot of people. Just my $.02 worth. whin i thought i was rich, making that easy money. was fixing up a house ta live in, run up a credit card was making payment's. went to a credit adviser, who looked at income vs money going out. asked what other bills we had. told about Family lease bout $200.00 a year. thats your problem was the advise, we walked out, payed bills off on our own. like u went to public land. leases getting higher & higher. people doing the work only to lose lease to higher bidder. More money ya have the more Freedom ya have, do to Government shut down, can't aford ta get to WMA land, dont do no good ta complain. keep your head held high & your powder dry.
Last edited by colt.45; 12/09/13 07:35 PM.
i'm postaddic
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: TxAg]
#4824525
12/10/13 03:49 PM
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 2
BigCloud
Green Horn
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Green Horn
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 2 |
Possibly lease owner management knowing the amount of time, effort and moneys spent to produce trophy bucks. Computer age with applications letting them keep tabs on expenses. You want to hunt, what's the hunt actual worth.
BigCloud
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: klp]
#4826980
12/11/13 04:45 AM
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Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 980
ryorgensen
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 980 |
The place we hunt has been hunted for 60+ years. My Dad remembers growing up hearing shots all the time throughout deer season. Compared to now when he hardly hears any. I also remember when i started hunting hearing more shots than i do now (hardly hear any now) ). Ammo is crazy high and for a while it was hard to find. I think most people don't target practice as much. $2-$4 a bullet has made people think twice about shooting cans,etc. Just like gas prices...when gas was $1 a gallon there was a lot of Sunday driving just sight seeing. Not near as much of that now....a lot has changed in a short time...
Robert
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: TxAg]
#4828651
12/11/13 08:19 PM
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 494
817cd
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 494 |
I have hunted in Jack and Palo Pinto all my life on our family place. When I was a kid you couldn't see a house from any point on our property other than ours and one neighbor. Never heard a gun shot besides our own. Now you can see about 20 driving the perimeter. A bunch of bigger places that had old ranchers forever divided up from family growth or older folks moving in the city and selling the ranch ends up splitting up 100 acres for 10 ranchets or whatever realtors call em. The way most people think why sell 100 acres to one person when you could sell ten 10 acre places for more money. I think each one of them has a family member who target practices their ARs all day on sundays or sky blasts their shotgun during dove or duck season. There are also a lot more shots because everyone has an AR these days instead of just a trusty deer rifle.
Never used photoshop and never will. Photoshop is for liberals.
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: TxAg]
#4831078
12/12/13 04:21 PM
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 116
pinkmist black hog down
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 116 |
Might be the amount of legal hunters. It seems that every year I see more and more people throw caution to the wind and hunt illegally, wether its not getting a license at all or just not using tags etc..
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Re: If hunter numbers are decreasing then..
[Re: pinkmist black hog down]
#4831150
12/12/13 04:48 PM
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 13,774
1860.colt
emoji colt.45
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emoji colt.45
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 13,774 |
makes me feel kinda dumb. had hogs every night coming inta feeder's waited till got my hunting licnce so could legaly put some hog in freezer, & dogs run em out before could get legal shot of. all due to Government shut down.
i'm postaddic
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