Podcast from Midwest Whitetail - The death of deer hunting?

[jjas]

I listened to this and found it interesting.

www.midwestwhitetail.com/whitetail-watch-podcast/

Thoughts?

[Deleted]

I agree with the topic. I have three sons (20, 22, 24). All three went hunting with me at times and all love/like to hunt. Currently, non are hunting and don't have time and or money to hunt. The #1 reason is college loans and classes for two of them. I listen now and I bet they don't bring this up. The next is time. All three are very busy with their new lives and new roads they are traveling. I'm hoping that once they get married and or settle down they come back to hunting. I know my youngest will, but not sure the older two. They can't avoid the equipment or on lower priority. Now both parents have to work and forced to do home stuff. They once again are out of touch.

1. Kids have no money and or work 100% of the time for college current and future costs. Most parents can't avoid 100%!!!
2. Parents work (home) on weekends and not hunting.

They miss the root causes again.

3. One more. The little wood plots around their homes are gone for a lot of kids.  No where to hunt with their BB or pellets guns.  I don't hear any of that topic either.

[dbd870]

I listened to some of it had to bump forward some here and there as it tended to ramble a bit but it mostly says what many have been saying for a while now.

[beermaker]

I skipped through it and can identify and agree with many opinions. What I don't agree with is the notion that we (hunters) have created and are responsible for the dwindling supply of private land and the "leasing culture." Here is what just happened in my own family and has happened to two other farms that I previously had permission to hunt.
-My uncle (by marriage) and his brother farmed 1k +/- acres with a few hundred acres of woods and a good amount of land that bordered public land. Several family members and friends have enjoyed hunting on their land for decades. Although I moved away several years ago, I still hunted there anytime I had the opportunity to spend a few days with my parents.
-The uncle died a few years back and his brother soon after. My aunt and her sister-in-law leased out the crop land, but made sure the family still had hunting rights.
-My aunt and her sister-in-law have both passed and now the land is tangled up in a trust that holds 25+ beneficiaries. NONE of them have any interest in hunting or farming.
-The land will be auctioned and purchased by a "mega" farmer. That is the only person/business that will be able to afford the land. My guess is that the selling price will be well in excess of $1 million.

This is just one example of "farmer Bob" dying and his family selling the farm. They don't farm, don't hunt, often don't get along, don't want to pay the taxes, and want the money.

I apologize for rambling on, but it's Friday night and too damn hot to do anything else.

[dbd870]

Kind of what happened to my grandparents farm. 6 kids; they all had other jobs or their husbands did and none of them wanted to farm it. This was SE Ohio and the deer are thick around the area. A few of my cousins and I have remarked more than once we wish it was still in the family.

[jjas]

beermaker

What I don't agree with is the notion that we (hunters) have created and are responsible for the dwindling supply of private land

I think there is little doubt that hunters have jumped in with both feet into the mega business that deer hunting has become.

It's nuts what we spend on hunting. I looked @ new bows in a magazine the other day and the vast majority of them were around (or over a $1,000). That new Ravin crossbow is $2,000. 25 years ago if someone had told most of us that we would be spending thousands of dollars on cameras, bows, guns, camo, blinds, food plots, leasing, land purchases, etc...to kill a timber goat, I think the majority of us would have laughed and said that would never happen. But it has.

Does that mean we are responsible for the amount of dwindling land available to hunters? Not all of it. Sprawl and big farming has taken a lot of land out of hunting use. But we have shown the willingness to spend crazy money on leases to try and "grow" that trophy buck and it has squeezed a lot of hunters out of hunting as many of them can't afford it.

I've hunted a long time. But as I've gotten older (as hunters in general have), when the private land I have access to now is gone, (depending upon my age when that happens), I don't know if I'll try to secure additional properties to hunt. If I can afford to, I may end up looking into going on a guided hunt every few years, or perhaps just call it a day...

[boonechaser]

Depending on what area of state you live there are still plenty of hunting properties available to hunt here in southeastern Indiana. I chose to hunt my own farm and a neighbor ING landowner but have access to at least 5 other 100 plus acre properties. Properties are out there just gotta look.

[duff]

In the age of instant access to everything we all want to scroll through an online list to pick our next hunting spot. That is why these lease companies are so successful. I agree if a guy put the efforts to find a spot you may be suprised.

The cost to hunt is on par with all other aspects of life...the dollar continues to lose buying power. So we work harder and get bigger pay checks only to spend more on the same things. Look at real estate or vehicle as compared to bows.

Or kids sports. Never would have heard of folks shelling out hundreds or thousands to play ball. Now it is so rampant many towns have lost the rec leagues that are so much more affordable and no traveling!

So in my own experience hunting is lower priority to my family functions. I still go plenty but not like I did when i was out of college and no or very young kids. Job takes a lot out of me too. I donxt knock on doors like i used to. I dont scout or shoot like I used to and I dont rely on deer to feed us like I used to either. I know I am not the only one either. I did not listen to the pod cast either.